The Worst Witch (2017 TV series)


The Worst Witch is a British-German fantasy children's television series about a group of young witches at a school for magic. It stars Bella Ramsey and is based on The Worst Witch books by Jill Murphy. It is the fifth adaptation of The Worst Witch series after the 1986 television film, the 1998 television series, the 2001 television spin-off and the 2005 television spin-off.
The series is an international co-production between CBBC, ZDF and Netflix The series was made available to stream internationally on Netflix on 22 July 2017. It will be made available to members in the UK, Ireland and Germany after its premiere on CBBC and ZDF. The series premiered on CBBC on 11 January 2017. A second series was confirmed in June 2017 and began airing from 8 January 2018. The second series premiered on Netflix Australia on 27 July 2018. The third series began airing on 7 January 2019. The fourth series began airing on 27 January 2020.

Characters

;Notes

Episodes

Series 1 (2017)

Series 2 (2018)

Series 3 (2019)

Series 4 (2020)

Production and casting

In November 2014, it was announced that a new series of The Worst Witch was in development with the BBC. The cast of the show was announced in October 2016. Game of Thrones actress Bella Ramsey was cast as Mildred and said filming the series "was really good", but there were some challenging elements and described learning the stunts as "hard." Ramsey drew similarities between herself and Mildred. Meibh Campbell played the role of Maud Spellbody for series 1, but was replaced by Megan Hughes from series 2. Of her casting, Hughes said working on the show is "great and I love the experience" and that she is "so grateful for the opportunity." Hughes had two auditions before being offered the part of Maud. Hughes' mother, Claire, added that Hughes has an "amazing time" and is "really happy, really positive" throughout filming. Tamara Smart gained the part of Enid Nightshade after four months of auditioning, which she described as "very long" yet "nerve racking but at the same time very exciting." Smart was excited about the "amazing experience" when she got the part. Jenny Richardson and Miriam Petche were cast as sisters Ethel and Esmerelda Hallow. Tallulah Milligan, the daughter of Coronation Street and Waterloo Road actress Angela Griffin, was cast as Drusilla Paddock. Griffin said Milligan "absolutely loves" working on the show. Dagny Rollins plays the role of Felicity Foxglove.
The Worst Witch is filmed at Peckforton Castle, Peckforton Cheshire, England and Burg Hohenzollern, Swabian Alps, Germany. The second series is also filmed at Adlington Hall, Adlington, Cheshire, using their grand hall, minstrel's gallery and their countryside and woods backdrop.