Doctor Who spin-off review: Class: The Audio Adventures: Mock

Quill’s and Charlie’s history is explored in Mock, the first episode of Doctor Who audio spin-off box set Class: The Audio Adventures: Volume 4.

The fourth volume of Doctor Who spin-off series Class: The Audio Adventures begins with the students taking a mock exam. Naturally, Miss Quill is overseeing it. Even more naturally, she’s using it as a good excuse to insult the students at every opportunity. But it’s not long before things get strange and she starts hearing voices…

The previous volume ended with Sweet Nothings, an episode that was very heavily focused on Quill. It also partially explored the antagonistic relationship she shared with Charlie, which on television was less friendly and more “master and servant”.

The same is true of this episode but to a much larger extent. Quill and Charlie have to work together, especially when Quill starts hearing voices telling her things that no one else should know – things that only she and Charlie can possibly know. Naturally, they have to work together in this little adventure – if they can trust each other enough to do that, that is.

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Sole survivors

The relationship between Quill and Charlie was always an interesting one. They’re both the only survivors of their world, but that’s not something that brings them together. On the contrary, Quill had fought hard for the freedom of her own race before their planet was invaded by the Shadow Kin.

A particularly smart move that writer Alfie Shaw made with this episode was reminding us of the complex history that these two share. The audios haven’t really explored that in-depth, so it’s great to be reminded of that in a very natural way. To be honest, the history is told in a more satisfying manner than the TV series did in its first episode.

It also has to be said that I’m enjoying Dervla Kirwan’s take on Miss Quill more and more. What really helps is how much she and Greg Austin sell Quill’s and Charlie’s antagonistic relationship. When recasting characters, it’s not just the performance that matters, but the chemistry shared with the existing cast, too. Quill was mostly with a new character in the previous episode, but hearing her with Charlie, it does become a little easier to forget that it’s not Katherine Kelly voicing the role anymore.

Mock was a great way of both reintroducing both Quill’s and Charlie’s shared history, while at the same time, looking at their relationship in a fresh way. Another decent episode for these two characters.

Do you think Quill’s and Charlie’s unique relationship in the TV series worked well? Do you think their history should have been explored more deeply? Let us know in the comments below.