Patrick Ness is a man with with a pretty stellar writing pedigree. Not only did the man behind Doctor Who spin-off series Class pen the book upon which the fantastic A Monster Calls is based, soon more of his novels – the Chaos Walking series – are to be made into a film starring Star Wars’ Daisy Ridley and the latest Spider-Man, Tom Holland.

Recently, though, he’s been talking to Yahoo! News about his new novel, Release. During that interview, however, the subject soon veered to his BBC3-based Whoniverse work, and Ness had plenty to say about Class, and the rumour and conjecture surrounding the possibility of a second series.

Just prior to the series making its leap to BBC America in mid-April, Ness told Yahoo!’s Alex Moreland that he was “proud of the show”, and that by the end of the Class’ first season he felt he was “flying with these characters and their stories, the things that are possible”. He also commented that he saw the season as “worldbuilding,” for the characters and their motivations, and that he feels that there is still “lots to come,” and a “lot of stories to be told.”

However, the series has been the subject of contradictory reports about its future following BBC3 and BBC1 runs, and it would appear its future very much depends on how the US takes to Mrs Quill and the young adult adventures of the pupils of Coal Hill School. Ness, however, seems positive. He says he is “Still hopeful, still really, really hopeful!” and that “BBC America is very excited… they love the show, and so fingers crossed!”

So, how has it performed in its slot immediately after Doctor Who across the pond? Well, the results are probably a little troubling. While figures show that it has settled into a viewership groove somewhere a little below half of what is achieved by Doctor Who itself, it suffered a notable 57% drop-off in viewership after the first episode, presumably after stateside Whovians decided it simply wasn’t their thing. That was a significantly more pronounced drop than between Doctor Who‘s opener ‘The Pilot’ and follow-up ‘Smile’, but whether it’s bad enough to seal its fate is still far from certain.

On a more encouraging note, Ness says he has plenty of “evil plans” for another outing, should we get one, and that – as was the case when he put pen-to-paper on season 1 – he has the whole larger arc for the next run planned out. Let’s hope we get to see what he has in store.

You can read the full interview, and it’s well worth your time, here.

Or, you can see if you agree with our wish-list for Class season 2 here.