The Worst Witch(2017-2020) TV series is a charming, pre-Harry Potter witch tale with timeless appeal, writes GEMMA JOHNSON
TITLE: The Worst Witch
CREATOR: Jill Murphy (books), adapted by Emma Reeves
CAST: Bella Ramsey, Clare Higgins, Raquel Cassidy, Meibh Campbell, Tamara Smart
ORIGINAL RELEASE: 11 January 2017 to 20 April 2020 on CBBC
NUMBER OF EPISODES: 52
Review of The Worst Witch (2017-2020)
Long before there was Harry Potter, there was Mildred Hubble and I loved her so very much.
You see, Mildred was just an ordinary girl, just like me, who by sheer fate ended up at Miss Cackle’s Academy where she could learn to be a witch. I wanted to be Mildred.
The Worst Witch began as a series of books written by Jill Murphy in the 1970s. We had copies of the books in our school library at primary school, it was a Catholic primary school and it felt slightly forbidden to read them given that witchcraft was seen as ‘the dark arts’.
In 1998, the original television series aired with multiple spin offs and adaptations to follow in the years after.
The most recent version, and the one we viewed for this review, aired in 2017 and ran until 2020.
In this version of The Worst Witch, Mildred is played by Bella Ramsey who has since gone on to enjoy incredible success in a range of well-known films and TV programmes, including Game of Thrones.
The Episode: Season 1, Episode 1: Selection Day
Mildred starts her day making toast and looking lovingly out of the window at the magical castle that stands on the horizon.
Her day dreaming abruptly ends with the arrival of a strange girl on a broom who lands on her balcony.
Unintentionally, Mildred then arrives at Miss Cackles Academy via the back of a broomstick flown by her new witchy friend, Maud.
Miss Cackle is the head teacher and is a loveable auntie figure, handing out anti sickness sweets when the baby witches are transported around the school tour by the click of a finger.
However, as a grown adult, the character that I now most identify with is Miss Hardbroom who is sarcastic and grumpy, she reminds me of Professor Snape, who I also adore.
“I truly despair for the future,” Miss Hardbroom declares as she watches the new arrivals land at the academy. I feel the same when I look at social media content.
Mildred is not a witch, she is not made of magical genes and so the entrance exam, and selection process, doesn’t go well for her.
But wait, what’s this… Miss Cackle has an evil twin called Agatha and she is intent on causing damage to the witches at the academy resulting in a magic throw down between the warring sisters.
Mildred intervenes and is granted entrance to the academy – let the magical adventures begin!
Our The Worst Witch Review
We really like how magical the programme is, it makes us want to be a witch.
This is more realistic than Harry Potter because there aren’t too many special effects and the academy isn’t as grand as Hogwarts.
Mildred is our favourite character because she is fun and she isn’t scared about making a mistake.
There isn’t anything that we don’t like about the programme and we don’t think that there is anything that they could change to make it better. We love it.
Our Final Thoughts
Mildred is brave and she isn’t afraid to stand up for what she believes in but more than that she is incredibly relatable, she could be any one of us and that is one of the reasons why we love Mildred so much.
Each generation has their own version of Mildred whether that be through the books, the 1980s film or any of the series, she was often the first introduction to witches that we had, pre Harry Potter generation of course!
Despite all of the adaptations, the true essence of Mildred’s character isn’t lost and we look forward to seeing future interpretations of our favourite baby witch. Long live Mildred Hubble.
Stay Spooky!
Gemma, Michael, Finlay, and Aubrey
Junior Paranormal Events
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