Amazon.co.uk Review
The Best of the Worst Witch DVD contains seven episodes of CITV's hugely popular Worst Witch series. Based Jill Murphy's internationally bestselling books that are said to have been an inspiration to JK Rowling and the Harry Potter books, the 25-minute episodes chronicle the hilarious adventures of would-be witch Mildred Hubble. Aimed at 5-11 year olds, the DVD starts with Mildred's first day at Miss Cackle's Academy for Witches, a secondary boarding school which emphasises discipline and traditional values but which also teaches young girls how to ride broomsticks, chant and cast spells. Mildred gets off to a flying start when arriving late on her broomstick: she crashes into the school bins!
The strong storylines (taken from three series) mainly focus on whether Mildred will make the grade as a bona fide witch, and her continuing rivalry with snooty Ethel Hallow. Whether Mildred is turning Ethel into a pig or being transformed into a frog, pre-teenagers will relate to the heroine, learning from her the importance of determination, imagination and friends. There are admirable performances from Georgina Sherrington (winner of Hollywood's "Young Artist Award") as Mildred, Kate Duchêne as the stern Miss Hardbroom, Claire Coulter as the kindly Headmistress and the renowned Una Stubbs as the eccentric Miss Bat who spends school holidays in the cupboard! The stories are not scary and the special effects are used sparingly but with good results--particularly spectacular is the image at the start of each episode of students arriving for school on broomsticks.
Entertaining, amusing and captivating, it's a real treat for pre-teenagers. --Tracey Hogan.
Customer Reviews:
Wonderful!.......2007-02-09
I bought this for my niece but, being of an age where I grew up reading the original novels, I couldn't resist watching it with her. The casting of this show is perfect, with Mildred being very likeable and a good realisation of the character. Miss Hardbrrom, too, is fabuluosly domineering and played with a repressed, wry twinkle in her eye which is a nice touch. The setting of the castle makes you feel chilly as you watch, and the stories are played out with sincerity, humour and well paced suspense. The show is a wonderful realisation of classic childrens stories which will be much enjoyed by children, and possibly their aunties as well!
Milly.......2006-06-19
The DVD has many of good episodes for the three series of The Worst Witch originally shown on CITV. I feel they have missed one excellent episode which is the televised version of The Worst Witch All At Sea which was the final book until lately. Fans of the series will find many of there favourite episodes on this DVD.
A must for pre-teen girls.- simply a superb girl's series,.......2005-01-16
An excellent series based around Mildred, a young witch starting at Miss Cackle's Academy for Witches (a boarding witch's secondary school). It's based on the few 'Worst Witch' books by Jill Murphy (an easy good read as well) - which were an inspiration for Harry Potter, but lacks those book's home life and complete world view. There are three TV Worst Witch series (year 7, 8 and 9 at school) - so it's well suited to younger secondary and primary school girls (6+). For some annoying reason only series one is available in the UK, although series 1 & 2 can be cheaply imported from the US via Amazon.co.uk resellers. In the US the series was appallingly dubbed in `American' but fortunately a 'UK English' version is always available as a DVD option. This DVD has seven episodes taken from all three series, including the first one screened, and three from the unavailable series three, and so is very good value for a fiver or so. The episodes on the DVD are: Series One - Battle of the broomsticks, A pig in a poke. Series Two - Old hats & new brooms, It's a frogs life. Series Three - The Witchy Hour, The Unfairground and The uninvited.
These DVD's are still my 11 year old daughters favourite viewing. They aren't as dark & scary as Harry Potter (as Mildred, like eternal preteen boy Just William, never grows up). Plus all the child & adult cast are really excellent in their roles - Miss Hardbroom [Kate Duchene] even turned down a role in the Harry Potter film to remain true to her TV character. The special effects are actually quite good as well and even the 'Cackles Academy' theme tune very catchy.
Typical quotes: "Magic must not be used for selfish or trivial ends!" - Miss Cackle, "Confidence and control, Mildred - that's the secret of success." - Miss Hardbroom. So highly recommended for non-boy offspring - this series is easily a notch above the average TV sitcom or teen movie. The new Worst Witch (Mildred's cousin) is now screening on CITV, which is also great, but sadly (and fortunately) only Miss Cackle's actor remains in the cast.
The Worst Witch - but the best entertainment!.......2004-08-27
I watched these when my daughters were very young on TV. Now that they are older, we are enjoying them over again in video & DVD. These books were around when I was young! Its the closest to Harry Potter you can get, all filmed beautifully, wonderful scripts and there is a real 'magic' about Mildred Hubble and her friends Maud & Enid and their adventures at Cackle's Academy. If you liked the Narnia series, then these are a just as wonderful treat for kids. The series is suitable for younger children as well as pre-teens, so its something you can all watch together! We love 'em!
FANTASTIC!!!.......2002-07-05
This is a really good DVD for children and adults who eithe enjoyed the books or enjoyed the series on CITV a couple of years ago, these stories predate the latest series shown recently on CITV "Wierdsister College" The imagination involved in this masterpiece is incredible and is only let down by a slightly average cast. It is rumerered that J.K.Rowling used The Worst Witch as inspiration when she wrote the famous Harry potter books.
The stories centre around Milly who is "The Worst Witch" and she just cant seem to stop getting into trouble, no matter what she does everything seems to go wrong for her, but Milly is no ordinary girl and is at no ordinary school, Cackles Academy is a school for witches where the girls learn spells and potions as well as broomstick flying. Imaginative and immensly enjoyablethe Worst Witch is certainly good light fun for all the family, adults and children alike!!!
DVD:
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- The Bone Collector [2000] (REGION 1) (NTSC)
- The Golden Compass [2007]
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- The New Adventures Of Pinocchio [1999]
- The Return of the King [1980] (REGION 1) (NTSC)
DVD List
DVD
Children's TV
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Television
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Categories
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DVD
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Video
The Worst Witch - Vol. 1
The Worst Witch - Vol 2
The Worst Witch - Vol. 3
The Worst Witch Strikes Again (Young Puffin Books)
A Bad Spell for the Worst Witch (Young Puffin Books)
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