The Worst Witch

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The Worst Witch is a series of children's books 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.

Contents 1 Books 1.1 Film and television 2 Television Series Episode Guide 3 Characters 3.1 Mildred Hubble 3.2 Ethel Hallow 4 Comparisons to the Harry Potter series 5 External Links

[edit] Books

• The Worst Witch - First published in 1974
• The Worst Witch Strikes Again - First published in 1980
• A Bad Spell for the Worst Witch - First published in 1982
• The Worst Witch All At Sea - First published in 1993
• The Worst Witch Saves the Day - First published in 2005

[edit] 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, portaying 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 Season One. New characters were also added, such as Frank Blossom (the school's caretaker), Mrs Tapioca (the school's cook), and two students from ethnic minorities - Ruby Cherrytree and Jadu Wali. 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 [Paislie Reid] and Ethel Hallow's benign younger sister Mona (Anabel Barnston). Evil blonde Belladonna Bindweed (Francesca Isherwood) 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 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 replaced Miss Nightingale.

[edit] Television Series Episode Guide

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

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. To date, the last 4 episodes remain unshown on ITV1

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.  ?
11.  ?
12.  ?
13.  ?

[edit] Characters

[edit] 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 Miss Hardbroom. After several years at Cackle's Academy, Mildred endeavours on to University, training at Weirdsisters College in Cambridge. 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.

[edit] Ethel Hallow

Ethel Hallow is Mildred Hubble's worst enemy. She's a straight 'A' student, comes from a prominent witch family, and gives the impression of being a model student to her classmates. However, when no one's looking, she loves to torture Mildred.

[edit] Comparisons to the Harry Potter series

The Worst Witch series shares similarities with Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling, but pre-dates it by 23 years. Note: these similarities are subjective.

Worst Witch	Harry Potter	Similarities
Cackle's Academy	Hogwarts	A boarding school for magical education Located in an ancient castle Features great halls and classrooms typical of an English boarding school Near to a forest with forbidden entry
Mildred	Harry	Scruffy hair (and general appearance) Unconfident, and unfamiliar with previous experience of magic Often feels lonely or upset, and has a tendency to wander the castle Enjoys the feeling of 'freedom', and yearns it, through broomsticks or otherwise Has conversations with, and enjoys a friendship with, their respective pets (Tabby/Hedwig) Often in danger of exclusion, particularly at the end of a book; when they will typically foil an evil plan (or simply have 'an adventure')
Enid	Ron	Forms the main character 'Trio' with Maud/Mildred or Harry/Hermione "Too big" with large hands and a tall stature Clumsy The most 'jokey' (particularly in common with the movie's interpretation of Ron)
Maud	Hermione	Rather bright Level headed Frequently bickers with hero
Miss Cackle	Dumbledore	Benevolent head teacher. Elderly, grey haired, and sagely Understanding of students, particularly Mildred/Harry; despite the counter-arguments from Hardbroom/Snape Takes an active role in attempting to help Mildred/Harry achieve their potential An affinity for sweet things, and can act rather kind
Miss Hardbroom	Professor Snape	Antagonist to hero (but not necessarily villain) Dresses entirely in black, and have black eyes and black hair Tall and thin with a piercing stare Hero often assumes they are evil Teaches the Potions class A feared teacher who expresses contempt for Harry/Mildred and their friends
Ethel Hallow	Draco Malfoy	Blonde haired, attractive and snooty From a rich family and a long line of great wizards and witches Favoured by their 'evil' Potions teacher Turned into animals (Ethel a pig, and Draco a ferret) Father is a school governor

[edit] External Links

• Fan Site detailing the similarities between Harry Potter and The Worst Witch