Coal Hill defenders

The Coal Hill defenders were a group of students and a teacher from Coal Hill Academy that were assembled by the Twelfth Doctor to protect the school from any alien threats that came through a tear in space-time. The Doctor selected them because two of them were alien acquaintances of his and an additional three human students had impressed him.

The group officially consisted of the human students April MacLean, Tanya Adeola and Ram Singh, the Rhodian student Charlie Smith, and the Quill teacher Miss Quill.

Matteusz, an additional human student, was also met by the Doctor (TV: For Tonight We Might Die) but wasn't considered one of the four central students in the group. (PROSE: What She Does Next Will Astound You, TV: Brave-ish Heart) When he was available, Matteusz still assisted the defenders in fighting alien threats like the Lankin (TV: Nightvisiting) and the killer petals. (TV: Co-Owner of a Lonely Heart, Brave-ish Heart) Ram questioned why he hung around with them. (TV: Detained) The Governors, in their fact file concerning Charlie, considered Matteusz to be part of the group formed by the Doctor. (TV: Co-Owner of a Lonely Heart)

The tear the group were tasked with monitoring had been opened by an excess in artron energy around the school, and after an attack from Corakinus and the Shadow Kin the Doctor was able to close the tear. However, he warned that he couldn't fully close the tear, and that Coal Hill would continue to transmit like a beacon across the universe to any nearby aliens who wished to use the tear to enter to Earth. He felt the students were quite capable of dealing with what came through the tears, citing April's altruism, Tanya's intelligence, Ram's passion, and Charlie and Quill's alien knowledge. (TV: For Tonight We Might Die)