The Worst Witch (1998 TV series) facts for kids

Quick facts for kids The Worst Witch
Series title card
Genre	Children's Fantasy Magic
Written by	Martin Riley (23 ep.) Garry Lyons (12 ep.) Clive Endersby (2 ep.) Graham Mitchell (2 ep.) David Finley (1 ep.)
Directed by	Andrew Morgan (16 ep.) Stefan Pleszczynski (15 ep.) Alex Kirby (5 ep.) John Smith (4 ep.)
Starring	Georgina Sherrington Felicity Jones Una Stubbs Clare Coulter Kate Duchêne Jessica Fox
Theme music composer	Paul K. Joyce
Opening theme	"Onwards Ever Striving Onwards" by the Choir of Wispers School for Girls
Ending theme	"Onwards Ever Striving Onwards"
Composer(s)	Paul K. Joyce
Country of origin	United Kingdom Canada
Original language(s)	English
No. of series	3
No. of episodes	40 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)	Michael Haggiag Arnie Gelbart Dan Maddicott
Producer(s)	Angela Beeching (30 ep.) Michael Haggiag (10 ep.)
Production location(s)	Twickenham Film Studios, London Loseley Park, Guildford Castell Coch, Wales (Opening) Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Running time	30 minutes
Production company(s)	United Productions
Release
Original network	ITV (within CITV) (UK) CBC (Canada)
Original release	22 October 1998 (1998-10-22) – 26 January 2001 (2001-01-26)
Chronology
Followed by	Weirdsister College (2001) The New Worst Witch (2005–07)
Related shows	The Worst Witch (1986 film) The Worst Witch (2017–20)

The Worst Witch is a fun British-Canadian TV show about a school for young witches. It follows the adventures of Mildred Hubble and her friends as they learn magic. The show is based on the popular The Worst Witch books by Jill Murphy.

The series first aired from 1998 to 2001, with 40 episodes over three seasons. It was later followed by Weirdsister College and The New Worst Witch, which continued the magical stories. A new version of the show was also made by the BBC in 2017.

Meet the Cast and Crew

The show stars Georgina Sherrington as Mildred Hubble and Felicity Jones as Ethel Hallow. It was shown on ITV in the UK and later on HBO. Una Stubbs, a famous British actress, played the quirky chanting teacher, Miss Bat.

After the first season, Katy Allen took over the role of Ethel Hallow. The story explained this change as a "witch-over," a magical makeover! Other main characters included Emma Brown as Maud Moonshine, Jessica Fox as Enid Nightshade, Joanna Dyce as Ruby Cherrytree, and Harshna Brahmbhatt as Jadu Wali.

The first two seasons brought to life stories from Jill Murphy's books. The third season featured brand new adventures.

Main Characters

Students at Cackle's Academy

• Mildred Hubble (Georgina Sherrington) – Mildred is the main character. She's a kind-hearted but very clumsy witch-in-training. Mildred often mixes up spells and causes chaos at Miss Cackle's Academy. She has long, dark plaits and never ties her shoelaces! Even though she's a bit of a disaster, Mildred is creative and always tries her best. She often saves the school from trouble, which keeps her from getting expelled. Mildred has a long-running rivalry with Ethel Hallow.

• Ethel Hallow (Felicity Jones - Season 1; Katy Allen - Seasons 2–3) – Ethel is Mildred's main rival. She's a smart student from a famous witch family. Ethel acts sweet and innocent around teachers but is often mean and snobby to other students. She loves to tease Mildred. Ethel tries hard to get Mildred expelled, but she never succeeds. In her second year, Ethel changed her look with a "Witch-over" to hide that she was Sybil Hallow's sister.

• Maud Moonshine (Emma Brown) – Maud is Mildred's best friend. She wears glasses and has her hair in bunches. Maud is very loyal to Mildred and helps her on most of her adventures. She is usually gentle but can be fierce when her friends are in trouble. Maud often tries to be the voice of reason, especially when Enid suggests mischievous plans.

• Enid Nightshade (Jessica Fox) – Enid is another close friend of Mildred's. She joins Cackle's Academy later and is known for her wild practical jokes. Enid's attempts to help often get Mildred into more trouble! She knows many spells and sometimes uses them for fun, even if they don't work as planned.

• Drusilla Paddock (Holly Rivers) – Drusilla is Ethel's best and only friend. She can be a bully but isn't as mean as Ethel. Drusilla often seems unsure about Ethel's plans. She sometimes helps Mildred and her friends, but usually goes back to Ethel's side. In the final season, Drusilla and Ethel end their friendship for good.

• Ruby Cherrytree (Joanna Dyce) – Ruby is another one of Mildred's friends. She is tall with frizzy hair and loves all kinds of electronic gadgets. Ruby is very inventive and often creates wacky inventions. These inventions almost always go wrong, leading to funny and sometimes dangerous situations!

• Jadu Wali (Harshna Brahmbhatt) – Jadu is a sensible and quiet friend of Mildred's. She is eager to learn and usually behaves well. However, she sometimes gets pulled into Mildred's crazy plans. In one episode, Jadu even tried to rebel against the school rules with Mildred!

Teachers at Cackle's Academy

• Miss Amelia Cackle (Clare Coulter) – Miss Cackle is the kind Headmistress of Cackle's Academy. She often gets tired of Mildred's mishaps but is much fairer than Miss Hardbroom. Miss Cackle loves cheese and cream cakes! She has an evil twin sister named Agatha, who tries to take over the school more than once.

• Miss Constance Hardbroom (Kate Duchêne) – Miss Hardbroom is the strict Deputy Headmistress. She is tall, thin, and often looks grumpy. She seems to dislike Mildred especially. Miss Hardbroom is very good at magic and can appear out of nowhere. She believes in strict rules and discipline. Despite her scary nature, she sometimes shows a kinder side.

• Miss Imogen Drill (Claire Porter) – Miss Drill is the PE (Physical Education) teacher. She is the only staff member at Cackle's who doesn't have magic powers. Miss Drill is strict about fitness but is often the most understanding teacher towards Mildred. She loves the outdoors and takes the girls on runs in the forest.

• Miss Davina Bat (Una Stubbs) – Miss Bat is the slightly odd Chanting teacher. She lives in the staff room's stationery cupboard and eats strange foods like flowers and cat food! Miss Bat is not very reliable in a crisis. She left Cackle's at the end of Season 2.

• Miss Lavinia Crotchet (Polly James) – Miss Crotchet replaces Miss Bat as the Chanting teacher in Season 3. She is similar to Miss Bat but a bit more modern. She has a magical barrel organ that she tries to tune.

Other Important Characters

• Griselda Blackwood (Poppy Gaye) and Fenella Feverfew (Julia Malewski and Emily Stride) – Griselda and Fenella are older students who are good friends with Mildred and her group. They often help Mildred with spells and potions. They seem to know all the secrets of the Academy, including hidden rooms and old books.

• Charlie Blossom (Nicholas Pepper) – Charlie is the nephew of the school caretaker, Frank Blossom. He helps Mildred in one episode and later wants to become a witch! When that doesn't work out, he becomes a student at a wizard school called Camelot College.

• Frank Blossom (Berwick Kaler) – Frank is the caretaker at Cackle's Academy. He is very superstitious and loves Mrs. Tapioca's Italian cooking. He often helps out the girls.

• Mistress Hecate Broomhead (Janet Henfrey) – Mistress Broomhead is a strict inspector from the Witches' Guild. She tries to close Cackle's Academy. It turns out she was a bully named Wilhelmina Wormwood when she was young!

• Mrs Cosie (Sheena Larkin) – Mrs Cosie owns the local tea rooms, which are "out of bounds" for the students. Miss Cackle loves to visit for cream cakes. Mildred and her friends once saved Mrs Cosie's tea rooms from being sold.

• Sybil Hallow (Charlotte Knowles) – Sybil is Ethel's younger sister. She starts at Cackle's Academy in the year below Mildred. Sybil is shy and easily scared at first. She later becomes more confident and even saves the school from disaster sometimes.

• Grand Wizard Egbert Hellibore (Terrence Hardiman and Richard Durden) – The Grand Wizard is the head of Camelot College for Wizards. He often visits Cackle's with his wizard students. He thinks wizards are better than witches.

• Mrs Tapioca (Annette Badland) – Mrs Tapioca is the school cook. She is Italian and wishes she could cook more Italian food for the students. She is kind to Mildred and sometimes gives her special food.

Episodes

List of The Worst Witch episodes

Awards and Recognition

The series was nominated for "Best Children's Drama" by the Royal Television Society in 1999.

In 2000, Georgina Sherrington, who played Mildred Hubble, won a Young Artist Award for "Best Performance in a TV Comedy Series – Leading Young Actress."

Images for kids

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  Series title card

See also

In Spanish: The Worst Witch (serie de televisión de 1998) para niños