Highly Anticipated ‘Doctor Who’ Spinoff Will Feature a Male Lead With a Boyfriend

Doctor Who's spinoff series, Class, has been kept under wraps by show creator Patrick Ness — a good thing for fans who want to avoid spoilers. 

But in the aftermath of the shooting at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, that left at least 49 people dead and 53 injured — the deadliest in modern U.S. history — Ness was compelled to let one secret slip. 

After attending a vigil for the Orlando shooting victims in Cardiff, Wales, the out gay writer decided it was the right time to reveal via Twitter that Class will feature a male character in a romantic on-screen relationship with a boyfriend. 

It's unclear which character in the upcoming spinoff Nass is referring to, but it's safe to presume it will be at least one of its confirmed male leads played by Greg Austin and Fady Elsayed. Class, which will premiere on BBC America sometime in the fall, will be set in the fictitious Coal Hill School. The school has been a staple on Doctor Who since the beginning of the series, and most recently, has been the place of employment for the Doctor's former companion Clara Oswald. 

But Class will instead focus on the students in the school, and has been described by its producers as a coming-of-age story (the kind with aliens thrown into the mix). 

"Class is dark and sexy and right now," Doctor Who showrunner Steven Moffat said. "I've always wondered if there could be a British Buffy — it's taken the brilliant Patrick Ness to figure out how to make it happen." 

The news also comes at an important time for LGBT representation in television, a sphere that has been mired in controversy after the recent slew of LGBT characters' deaths. 

Perhaps, Class will school the world on how to tell these stories the right way.  

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