The Worst Witch (1998 TV series)
| The Worst Witch | |
|---|---|
Series title card
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| Genre | Children's Fantasy Magic |
| Based on |
The Worst Witch by Jill Murphy |
| 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 Jessica Fox |
| Theme music composer | Paul K. Joyce |
| Opening theme | Onwards Ever Striving Onwards |
| 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.) |
| 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 – 26 January 2001 |
| Chronology | |
| Followed by |
Weirdsister College (2001) The New Worst Witch (2005-06) |
| Related shows |
The Worst Witch (film) (1986) The Worst Witch (2017 TV series) (2017) |
The Worst Witch is a British-Canadian ITV television series about a group of young witches at a school for magic. The series stars Georgina Sherrington and Felicity Jones, and is based on The Worst Witch books by Jill Murphy (published from 1974 onwards). It aired for a total of 40 episodes spread over three series between 1998 and 2001, before being followed by Weirdsister College. Most episodes revolved around the school, following the adventures of Mildred and her friends. The series was later followed by The New Worst Witch, which ran for two series and chronicled the experiences of Mildred's younger cousin Hettie as she attended the school.
On 2 November 2014, it was announced that a new series was in development with the BBC.
The series stars Georgina Sherrington and Felicity Jones (as Mildred Hubble and Ethel Hallow respectively), and was broadcast from 1998 to 2001 on ITV, and later on HBO. The series also stars 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 as a magical makeover (a "witch-over"). 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 Langstaff, a wizard apprentice who befriended Mildred, his two mean-spirited acquaintances – Barry "Baz" Dragonsbane and Gary "Gaz" Grailquest, Charlie, Frank Blossom's nephew who really wanted to be a wizard, Mrs. Cosie, the nervous owner of the nearby tearoom and Mistress Hecketty Broomhead, the evil school inspector who later became a brief headmistress. Also as a character who appears more than once is Egbert Hellibore, chief wizard and headmaster of Camelot Castle, where Merlin, Charlie, Baz and Gaz live.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.
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