Doctor Who's Class will take a leaf from Torchwood's playbook; the spinoff will feature an LGBT character in a lead role.

The nation is reeling from Sunday's Orlando massacre, but the creative minds behind the next Doctor Who adventure wants fans the world over to remember that the Whoniverse is a safe an inclusive environment. Although Class showrunner Patrick Ness was keeping the news under wraps, he felt the announcement needed to be made sooner rather than later.

"Been asked if Class will have LGBT representation in it. Will a lead character with a boyfriend who he kisses & sleeps with & loves do?" Ness tweeted on Monday. "We were keeping that secret, but today that secret doesn't seem very important. #lovewins."

"So I can't wait for you to meet the characters of Class, all of em, all their sorrows & joys & goofiness & loves & losses. Roll on Autumn..." Ness added.

Class will focus on a group of students (played by Vivian Oparah, Greg Austin, Sophie Hopkins and Fady Elsayed), who, together with their teacher, will battle Coal Hill's latest bout of chaos.

"Coal Hill School has been a part of the Doctor Who Universe since the very beginning, but that has come at a price. All the time-travelling over the years has caused the very walls of space and time to become thin," the BBC teased last year. "There's something pressing in on the other side, something waiting for its chance to kill everyone and everything, to bring us all into Shadow. Fear is coming, tragedy is coming, war is coming. Prepare yourselves, Class is coming."

Find out more when Class comes to the BBC and BBC America later this year.

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