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Richard Roxburgh narrates Class Of -who knew?

That other TEN show that has been sitting on the shelf for 12 months finally gets an airing.

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Tonight TEN finally launches Class Of, its factual series about a class of under-performing students at 9:30pm.

This one from Shine Australia has been sitting on the shelf for a year. Hands up who remembers seeing the promo during last year’s MasterChef finale? But the show never appeared (blame The Renovators?).

Then there was talk it would screen at the beginning of the school year. That never happened.

Now it’s finally launching off the back of Puberty Blues.

The line-up tonight is certainly an odd-mix of shows: MasterChef: All Stars, The Shire, Puberty Blues and Class Of. Puberty Blues is easily the pick of the bunch, but I have no idea why it’s sandwiched in between The Shire (is that a Sutherland Shire link?) and Class Of.

I haven’t had time to write a formal review of Class Of, but I finally got around to watching the first episode yesterday. To my surprise Richard Roxburgh is the narrator. Who knew? I’ve seen nothing to publicise this. He isn’t even listed on the “About” page on the official website. Isn’t his credibility the reason he was hired in the first place?

As for the show itself, it’s not bad, it’s just not very TEN. It feels more like an ABC2 or SBS doco.

You’ll see a group of kids at Bradfield College in northern Sydney who were filmed across nine months. The college is a TAFE college for Years 11 & 12 with teaching shaped around the kids and their various strengths. In the first episode the teachers all seemed very dedicated and patient, and the kids were a bit of a handful. So I can see that this is aspiring to a Choir of Hard Knocks and To Sir With Love sensibility.

There’s also no way of hiding the fact this is a class of 2011 (it’s acknowledged in the show, if no longer in the title).

All up, this has its heart in the right place and surely didn’t deserve a 12 month delay. It will probably struggle with a TEN audience, hence the later timeslot, and probably needed a sexier approach to work with a broad audience.

By the way, did I mention Richard Roxburgh is the narrator?

3 Responses

  2. Fantastic show! I stumbled across it flicking channels (away from farmers wife). Had never seen or heard of this show so checked here and found your article.

    If only shows like this got as much publicity as Bingle or the shire…

    Sigh.. now if I could just write a letter to my high school self and give myself some much needed advice

  3. That line-up’s a mess. I’m reluctant to turn over for PB in case my eyes are assaulted by The Shire which will, no doubt, be running late.

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