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 featured Greg Austin as Charlie Smith, Fady Elsayed as Ram Singh, Sophie Hopkins as April MacLean, Vivian Oparah as Tanya Adeola, Jordan Renzo as Matteusz Andrzejewski and Katherine Kelly as Miss Quill.

It saw April briefly become Shadow King, and take control of the entire army. April's parents, Jackie and Huw, found out about their daughter's dealings with aliens. Charlie Smith opened the Cabinet of Souls, to use it, for the first time, though he put the device back inside again.

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
to be added

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.
 * Dorothea Ames says that there are still men who won't listen to a woman smarter than them.

Coal Hill School

 * The Governors are a new system of authority, installed at Coal Hill Academy as part of the renovations by EverUpwardReach Ltd. Presumably they have replaced Ian Chesterton and the previous board of Governors.

Individuals

 * Ram Singh is a Sikh, as is his father.
 * April MacLean becomes 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. 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 Andrzejewski 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 (the latter from a distance only).

Technology

 * The Cabinet of Souls could destroy all the petals.

Organisations

 * Miss Quill briefly suspects 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 points out, "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 term "brave heart", a phrase that was often used by the Fifth Doctor with respect to Tegan Jovanka.

Ratings
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Filming locations
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Production errors
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Continuity

 * Quill and Ames still talk about the Arn. (TV: Co-Owner of a Lonely Heart) Quill mentions the Arn's function to kill her if it gets removed. (TV: For Tonight We Might Die)
 * Quill wonders whether Ames is part of UNIT. (TV: The Invasion et al.)
 * The Governors are mentioned again. (TV: The Coach with the Dragon Tattoo, Co-Owner of a Lonely Heart)
 * Ever Upward Reach is mentioned. It is also written right below the name of the school. (TV: For Tonight We Might Die)
 * The killer petals go into action. (TV: Co-Owner of a Lonely Heart)
 * Quill wonders whether Ames, too, is a robot. (TV: The Coach with the Dragon Tattoo)
 * Quill mentions how the Governors didn't help with the Shadow Kin (TV: For Tonight We Might Die) nor the guy with the dragon tattoo (TV: The Coach with the Dragon Tattoo), and Dorothea Ames mentions that they felt that this time they were distracted from the main threat, the petals. (TV: Co-Owner of a Lonely Heart)
 * Tanya tells Jackie and Huw about April's heart's state. (TV: For Tonight We Might Die)
 * Tanya mentions April's action of cutting a rift to the Underneath. (TV: Co-Owner of a Lonely Heart)
 * Tanya mentions that April healed 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)
 * Ram mentions how lost he felt after losing Rachel. (TV: For Tonight We Might Die, The Coach with the Dragon Tattoo) He also mentions how April helped him get over her. (TV: Nightvisiting)
 * Huw and Jackie indirectly mention Huw's inability to drive properly. (TV: Nightvisiting)
 * Charlie continues his poor treatment of Miss Quill, by dismissing her opinion on his lies. (TV: Co-Owner of a Lonely Heart)
 * Ram and April talk about why he followed her to the Underneath. (TV: Co-Owner of a Lonely Heart)
 * April has another Shadow attack. (TV: For Tonight We Might Die, Co-Owner of a Lonely Heart)
 * Quill slaps Charlie, and the Arn caused her pain, proving its enslaving ability. (TV: For Tonight We Might Die)
 * 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)
 * Maggot is continuously used as an insult. (TV: For Tonight We Might Die)
 * April use the same line against Corakinus, that he once used against her about death. (TV: For Tonight We Might Die)
 * Ames mentions her deal with Quill, and also says Quill still has to do parents' evening. (TV: Co-Owner of a Lonely Heart)
 * 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
to be added