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The Worst Witch

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The Worst Witch is a series of children's novels written and illustrated by Jill Murphy. The title refers to the main character, Mildred Hubble, who is the worst student at Miss Cackle's Academy for Witches. It is also the name of the first book in the series.

Mildred is well meaning, but tends to let her enthusiasm get the better of her, and does things without thinking. The benevolent headmistress, Miss Cackle, is generally understanding, whereas Mildred's form teacher, the virago Miss Hardbroom thinks she just isn't trying hard enough.

Other characters in the books include Mildred's friends, Maud Moonshine and Enid Nightshade. Maud is a rotund and more sensible girl than Mildred, but usually finds herself caught up in her friend's problems; Enid (introduced in the second book) is a practical joker who is more likely to get them all into trouble than Mildred. The three of them have a strong rivalry with their highborn, snobbish, vindictive classmate, Ethel Hallow.

Murphy (who began writing before she was 18) has said that the Worst Witch books were based on her own school, with Singing becoming Chanting, Chemistry becoming Potions and so on.

Novel series

Film and television

The first book in the series was made into a film starring Fairuza Balk, Tim Curry and Diana Rigg in 1986. The film followed the plot of the first book of the series, portraying the incidents of Mildred turning herself invisible and turning Ethel into a pig, Miss Cackle's evil twin sister Agatha plotting to take over the school, and the Grand Wizard viewing the Halloween Broomstick formation (sabotaged by Ethel's faulty broom she lent to Mildred).

A TV series based on the books starring Georgina Sherrington and Felicity Jones (as Mildred Hubble and Ethel Hallow respectively) was broadcast from 1998 to 2001. The series also starred veteran British actress Una Stubbs as the eccentric Chanting teacher, Miss Bat. Felicity Jones was replaced by Katy Allen after the first series, it was explained away by plastic sugery. New characters were also added, such as Frank Blossom (the school's caretaker), Miss Crotchet, the music teacher in the third series who replaced Miss Bat and two students from ethnic minorities - Ruby Cherrytree and Jadu Wali. New recurring characters included Merlin, a wizard apprentice who befriended Mildred, his 2 mean-spirited aquaitances, Charlie, Frank's nephew who really wanted to be a wizard, Mrs Cosy, the nervous owner of the nearby tearoom and Mistress Hecate Broomhead, the evil school inspector who later became a brief headmistress. The first season dramatised The Worst Witch and The Worst Witch Strikes Again, and the second series dramatised A Bad Spell For The Worst Witch and The Worst Witch All At Sea. Both of these two series also contained original stories. The third and final series continued with purely original material.

When it was no longer realistic that Mildred would still be at school, the series relocated her to a magical university in Cambridge and was retitled Weirdsister College: The Further Adventures of the Worst Witch, and saw the return of Felicity Jones as a reinvented Ethel Hallow.

In 2004, a new series based on the 1998 series was made, entitled The New Worst Witch. It centred on the adventures of Mildred's equally bungling cousin, Henrietta "Hettie" Hubble, played by Alice Connor. Set once again at Cackle's Academy, Hettie was joined by new friends Cresentmoon "Cressie" Winterchild and Ethel Hallow's benign younger sister Mona. Evil blonde, Belladonna Bindweed, filled Ethel's shoes as the series' new antagonist. New teachers included Deirdre Swoop (previously a Weirdsister College character) and Miss Nightingale, replacing the original Miss Bat/Miss Crotchet and Miss Drill. Also, Kate Duchêne, the original actress for Miss Hardbroom, did not return, much to the disappointment of many fans. In the second series of The New Worst Witch, Myrtle Widget replaces Miss Nightingale.

Television Series Episode Guide

79 episodes (1998-2005) - original UK broadcast dates

1st Series (1998) - transmitted from 22nd October 1998 to 28th January 1999

  1. The Battle of the Broomsticks
  2. When We Feast at the Midnight Hour
  3. A Pig in a Poke
  4. A Mean Halloween
  5. Double, Double, Toil and Trouble
  6. Monkey Business
  7. Miss Cackle's Birthday Surprise
  8. The Great Oudoors
  9. The Heat is On
  10. Sorcery and Chips
  11. Let Them Eat Cake
  12. Sweet Talking Guys
  13. A Bolt from the Blue


2nd Series (1999) - transmitted from 4th November 1999 to 3rd February 2000

  1. Old Hats and New Brooms
  2. Alarms and Diversions
  3. It's a Frog's Life
  4. Crumpets for Tea
  5. The Inspector Calls
  6. Animal Magic
  7. Carried Away
  8. The Dragon's Hoard
  9. The Genius of the Lamp
  10. Up in the Air
  11. Fair Is Foul and Fouls Are Fair
  12. Green Fingers and Thumbs
  13. The Millennium Bug


3rd Series (2000) - transmitted from 9th November 2000 to 26th January 2001

  1. Secret Society
  2. An Unforgettable Experience
  3. Which Witch is Which
  4. The Witchy Hour
  5. Learning the Hard Way
  6. The Hair Witch Project
  7. Just Like Clockwork
  8. Cinderella in Boots
  9. Art Wars
  10. Power Drill
  11. Better Dead Than Coed
  12. The Lost Chord
  13. The Unfairground
  14. The Uninvited


4th Series (2001) - hereafter known as Weirdsister College: The Further Adventures of the Worst Witch
Transmitted from 12th December 2001 to January or February 2002

  1. The All-Seeing Eye
  2. Never On Friday
  3. The Gargoyle
  4. The End Of Misery's
  5. All That Jazz
  6. Dreamcatcher
  7. Dr. Foster, I Presume
  8. The Seventh Sense
  9. The Golden Cauldron
  10. Good Friends
  11. Shaky Foundations
  12. The Whisperer
  13. The Gate of Power


5th Series (2004) - hereafter known as The New Worst Witch
Transmitted in 2 blocks: 5th January to 7th February 2005 (eps. 1-6) and 2nd September to 14th October 2005 (eps. 7-13)

  1. Give a Witch a Bad Name
  2. The Confidence Trick
  3. Rules Rules Rules
  4. No Place Like Home
  5. Trick or Treat
  6. Truth or Lies
  7. Deadly Doubles
  8. The Levitating Boomerang Broomstick
  9. The Visitors
  10. The Bewitching of Mona Hallow
  11. The Black Hole Club
  12. Time After Time
  13. The Enemy Within


6th Series (2005) - transmission began 20th October 2006, but was suspended after episode 9 on 15th December 2006, after which weekday CITV was abolished. Therefore, the last 4 episodes remain unshown on ITV1, although the CITV Channel has managed to broadcast all 13 episodes (though sporadically). The Australian Broadcasting Corporation showed all 13 episodes in early 2007 - see and

  1. The Curse of Cackles
  2. Lost and Found
  3. Girls Will Be Boys
  4. Next Week’s News
  5. The Big Sleep
  6. Back to Basics
  7. The Friendship Test
  8. King Kong Kittie
  9. The Wish Wimble
  10. Hettie's Final Warning
  11. Mr Perky Pentangle
  12. Saturday Witch Fever
  13. The Odd Couple

Characters

Mildred Hubble

Mildred Hubble, the heroine of the Worst Witch book series, is a clumsy, bungling young witch-in-training, who never seems to get anything right at Miss Cackle's Academy for Witches. She is tall, with long, straggly dark plaits, and can't quite seem to tie up her bootlaces.

Mildred doesn't come from a witch family like most of the other girls, but earns a scholarship at Cackle's Academy by writing a first-class piece of creative writing which greatly impresses the headmistress, Miss Cackle. Although her mathematics and science skills leave much to be desired, Mildred is tenacious and channels her creative energy into her quest to become an accomplished witch.

She means well and tries very hard, but she is adventurous and impulsive, which often gets her into trouble with her teachers - most notably the cruel Miss Hardbroom. After several years at Cackle's Academy, Mildred endeavours on to University, training at Weirdsisters College in Cambridge, where she seems to improve in her skills, and meets up with Ethel again. Mildred is briefly seen in the first episode of the New Worst Witch series, now an accomplished and successful witch, escorting her younger cousin Hettie on her first day at the Academy.

Ethel Hallow

Ethel Hallow is Mildred Hubble's acid-tongued rival. She's a straight 'A' student, comes from a prominent witch family, and gives the impression of being a model student to her classmates. She is spoiled, snobbish and vindictive; though when the presence of the school's tutors is near she can turn on the charm and act sweet and innocent, playing the role of a victim to Mildred's apparent "bullying". Ethel is not given a physical description though in the book illustrations she is a tall, skinny and rather ugly young girl, whereas in the television series she is shown as a rather attractive young girl and then matures into a beautiful and popular teenager in Weirdsister College. Strangely enough, Mildred and Ethel overcome their hatred of each other and become friends. Even so, in the episode, where Enid visits, Ethel has no qualms about snitching on them.

No explanation is given but in the first book of the series, it is revealled that Ethel and Mildred were enemies prior to the story. Ethel takes pleasure in taunting Mildred about her inability to train her cat into riding a broomstick and Mildred responds by turning her into a pig. From there on Mildred and Ethel resent each other and Ethel vows to get Mildred expelled. She does not succeed. In the first books she is revealled to have no friends but her rather idiotic, though kindly, sister, Sybil, makes an appearance. A friend of hers, Drusilla, is mentioned in 'The Worst Witch all at Sea' as a one-liner. She later plays a bigger part in "The Worst Witch to the Rescue" where she hides Mildred's talking pet tortise up a tree. In the tv series Drusilla is Ethel's bumbling sidekick. They are shown to be allies, not true friends. They stick with each other because nobody else likes them. However, in the episode,"The Unfairground" they break friends because Drusilla agrees with what Mildred and the Gang are doing. They never make up as Drusilla is never seen again after the following episode.

Maud Moonshine

Maud is Mildred's best friend at Cackle's Academy. She is a short,plump girl with wide glasses and stringy hair which she wears in bunches. She is fiercely loyal to Mildred and assists her on most of her adventures, often against her better judgement. Though in 'The Worst Witch strikes Again', Maud grows jealous of Mildred and Enid's budding friendship and turns on Mildred, siding with the friendless and vindictive Ethel. However she tires of Ethel's constant degrading of Mildred and annuls their "friendship", siding with Mildred and becoming friends with Enid. In America, Maud's surname was changed to "Spellbody".

Enid Nightshade

Another of Mildred's closest friends who made her debut in 'The Worst Witch strikes Again' after she is transferred to Cackle's Academy and Mildred is assigned as a guardian to her, much to the irritation of Miss Hardboom. At first Mildred think she will simply be a nuisance and a pain, but in fact Enid turns out to be a wild practical joker whose attempts to make Mildred like her only result in Mildred getting into trouble. Enid turns her cat into a monkey and enchants a vaulting pole so that Mildred is catapulted into the air and into Miss Hardbroom's study.

Enid is tall, well-built and rather muscular for a girl. She has long fair hair and large limbs, in comparison to the tv series where she is small, waiflike and has dark hair. She takes an instant liking to Mildred and hopes to be her friend, implying that she is not a judgemental girl. She is overall friendly and kind-hearted but sometimes oversteps the mark in her attempt to befriend and help people.

Miss Hardbroom

The fearsome deputy headmistress of Cackle's Academy. Tall, scrawny and sour-faced,she strikes fear into the students' hearts, especially Mildred's, whom Hardbroom seems to have a particular resentment of although she really has done nothing wrong. Miss Hardbroom devotes all her praise and pampering to the shallow Ethel Hallow and constantly degrades Mildred in front of her and all the other students. She believes Mildred is lazy and stupid and does not try hard enough, even though Mildred can be clever and caring when given the chance.

VHS and DVD Releases

  • in the United Kingdom Series 1 was released on VHS in the uk on six video sets in 2000, the best of was released on DVD in 2002.
  • in the USA Series 1 & 2 were released on dvd in 2004
  • In Australia Series 1,2 & 3 and Weirdsister College and both series of the new worst witch were released in 2007.


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