Get a first look at the ‘Doctor Who’ spinoff ‘Class,’ which features a warning from the Doctor himself

The Doctor may not be making regular appearances in “Class,” but he is definitely present for the first teaser trailer of the upcoming “Doctor Who” spinoff series. And he’s there to give a warning.

“I can travel through space and I can travel through time, but I can’t always be there when you need me,” the Doctor says in the trailer. “Sometimes, you have to take survival upon yourselves.”

The trailer, revealed during BBC America’s “Class” presentation at New York Comic Con, features glimpses of the Coal Hill School, where the show will take place, as well as flashes of the main cast. And it’s dark — which is not surprising considering the title of the first episode is “For Tonight We Might Die.”

Also released in conjunction with the NYCC events is a new synopsis for the show: “It’s a new term at Coal Hill Academy, and students are preparing for their Autumn Prom. But when the school comes under attack, four alienated students must form an unlikely alliance to defeat them. And this incursion is only the beginning.”

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Starring Vivian Oparah, Greg Austin, Sophie Hopkins, Fady Elsayed and Katherine Kelly, “Class” will offer a different look at the “Doctor Who” universe — one that has the added complication of teenage issues like friendships, homework and everything that comes with prom.

In addition to the “Class” teaser trailer at NYCC, BBC America also showed a first look at the upcoming “Doctor Who” Christmas special. The special is titled “The Return of Doctor Mysterio” (perhaps a reference to the past Spanish-language incarnation of the show’s title) and seems to have a bit of a superhero element. Watch the video below.

The “Doctor Who” Christmas special will air in December and, “Class” will debut alongside the rest of the next season of “Doctor Who” next spring.

tracy.brown@latimes.com

Twitter: @tracycbrown