Brave-ish Heart (TV story)

Brave-ish Heart was the fifth episode of Class. It was written by Patrick Ness, directed by Philippa Langdale and followed on from the cliffhanger ending of Co-Owner of a Lonely Heart.

Synopsis
Battling through the Shadow Kin realm, April knows that there is no going back: she has to defeat Corakinus.

On Earth, the invasion of the petals in rapidly snowballing. Confronted with the threat of the planet's extinction, new headmistress Dorothea attempts to force Charlie into making a transformation decision. But Miss Quill has other ideas for him.

As Charlie, Matteusz and Tanya try to stop the petals from annihilating the human race, April must fight the terrifying force of Corakinus, light years away from home.

Plot
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Cast

 * Miss Quill - Katherine Kelly
 * Charlie - Greg Austin
 * Ram - Fady Elsayed
 * April - Sophie Hopkins
 * Tanya - Vivian Oparah
 * Matteusz - Jordan Renzo
 * Dorothea - Pooky Quesnel
 * Corakinus - Paul Marc Davis
 * Varun - Aaron Neil
 * Jackie - Shannon Murray
 * Huw - Con O'Neill
 * Student 1 - Moses Adejimi

Real world

 * Ames mentions governments and their habits of tripping over themselves in their selfish concerns about rights.
 * Huw MacLean, upon hearing about aliens and other worlds, is convinced he must be having a mushroom flashback.
 * Ram mentions that footballers usually act without thinking.
 * Corakinus moans at the behaviour of teenagers upon seeing Ram and April kiss.
 * Ames says that there are still men who won't listen to a woman smarter than them.

Coal Hill Academy

 * The Governors are a new system of authority, installed at Coal Hill Academy as part of the renovations by EverUpwardReach Ltd.

Individuals

 * Ram Singh is a Sikh, as is his father.
 * April MacLean becomes the Shadow King.
 * On April's eighth birthday, Jackie got her a blue dress, which became her favourite.

Species

 * Matteusz says that Venus flytraps ingest living matter, but makes the claim that, unlike the killer petals, they don't have souls, though Ames hints to the contrary.
 * Corakinus refers to April as a maggot, which April calls Corakinus in return.
 * The killer petals can't be hurt in any way, according to Dorothea Ames. However, Matteusz works out that the Shadow Kin can defeat them, leading this to be their solution.

Locations

 * Varun Singh works at a dental practice at Franley House.
 * The Underneath and the Shadow Palace appear.

Technology

 * The Cabinet of Souls could destroy all the petals.

Organisations

 * Quill briefly suspects that Dorothea Ames is part of UNIT.

Popular culture

 * Ram calls April "Frodo".

Religion

 * In Shadow Kin religion, they believe that the universe will crush them if they do not defeat it all.
 * Sikhs are normally obligated to grow their hair out long in a practice called Kesh, and wear turbans, as Ram's father Varun does, but Ram himself keeps his hair short, noting, "it's modern times; gotta look sharp." He also quips, "Have you ever tried going through airport security in a turban?"
 * Ram still has a kangha that his father gave him, and wears a kara on his wrist.
 * Ram says that where he came from, they believe that doing good deeds is a safe-way to get to God.

Story notes

 * The title of this story is a parody of the movie "Braveheart". Coincidentally, the term "brave heart" was also a phrase that was often used by the Fifth Doctor.

Ratings
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Filming locations
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Production errors
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Continuity

 * Ram has been searching for April in the Underneath since he jumped through the rift after her. (TV: Co-Owner of a Lonely Heart)
 * Quill and Ames are still talking about removing Quill's arn, (TV: Co-Owner of a Lonely Heart) and she mentions the arn's function to kill her if it gets removed. (TV: For Tonight We Might Die)
 * Quill wonders whether Ames is another robot. (TV: The Coach with the Dragon Tattoo)
 * Quill mentions the Governors' absence during the Shadow Kin's attack (TV: For Tonight We Might Die) and the Leaf Dragon's killings. (TV: The Coach with the Dragon Tattoo)
 * The killer petals go into action. (TV: Co-Owner of a Lonely Heart)
 * Tanya tells Jackie and Huw about April's heart's state, (TV: For Tonight We Might Die) and mentions April's action of cutting a rift to the Underneath after healing Jackie. (TV: Co-Owner of a Lonely Heart)
 * Quill says Charlie lied about the Cabinet of Souls working from the beginning, (TV: For Tonight We Might Die) having overheard him telling Matteusz about it. (TV: Co-Owner of a Lonely Heart)
 * Ram mentions how lost he felt after losing Rachel. (TV: The Coach with the Dragon Tattoo) He also mentions how April helped him to move on. (TV: Nightvisiting)
 * Huw and Jackie indirectly mention Huw's inability to drive properly. (TV: Nightvisiting)
 * Ames mentions her deal with Quill, and also says Quill still has to do parents' evening. (TV: Co-Owner of a Lonely Heart)
 * April says she knows what kind of guy Ram is despite his football ego, much like Rachel did. (TV: For Tonight We Might Die)
 * Charlie mentions how he lost everything once before on Rhodia. (TV: For Tonight We Might Die)
 * April use the same line about death against Corakinus that he used against her. (TV: For Tonight We Might Die)
 * The anchor of a life blood that Kharrus installed on Corakinus gets broken, meaning the new link between April and Jackie is severed. (TV: Co-Owner of a Lonely Heart)

DVD releases

 * Brave-ish Heart was featured in the series one DVD boxset, which was released in the UK (Region 2) on 16th January 2017, followed by a Region 1 release on 11th July. The Region 1 release contained an additional blooper reel and various deleted scenes that were not present on the Region 2 release.

Blu-ray releases
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