Season 1
13 episodes Jan 11, 2017 9.0
Mildred Hubble's first year at Cackle's Academy is filled with potions, spells and broomsticks -- and one disaster after the next.
Overview
Mayhem and mishaps follow young witch Mildred Hubble wherever she goes. She just can't help it! But with her friends' help, Mildred always manages to avoid disaster just in time.
Seasons
4 listed- Status
- Ended
- Seasons
- 4 seasons
- Episodes
- 52 episodes
- First aired
- Jan 11, 2017
- Last aired
- Apr 20, 2020
- Episode length
- 29m
- Network
- CBBC
Latest episode: S4 E13 The Witching Hour (2) (Apr 20, 2020)
Season 2
13 episodes Jan 8, 2018 8.3A second year at Cackle's Academy means double the magic and mischief for accident-prone witch in training Mildred Hubble and her friends.
Season 3
13 episodes Jan 7, 2019 8.0Armed with newfound confidence, Mildred returns to Cackle's Academy, where her mother is joining the staff as the school's first nonmagical teacher.
Season 4
13 episodes Jan 27, 2020 5.5
Cast
12 people
Reviews
5 min readThe School That Keeps Rebuilding Itself
What I keep remembering about The Worst Witch isn’t a big spell or a grand mystery, but the steady, almost cheerful fact that things go wrong all the time and the show treats that as a starting point rather than a calamity. That’s a surprisingly generous idea for a children’s series. latestnetflix.com's view is that Mildred Hubble is a natural disaster in a school uniform, but the series doesn’t make her into a punchline for long; it lets her stumble, get embarrassed, try again, and be folded back into a community that seems to understand that growing up is mostly a matter of repeated near-misses.
There’s a long line of boarding-school stories behind this one, from Enid Blyton’s closed worlds of rules and secrets to the more famous witch-school lineage that everyone notices but nobody can entirely ignore. The Worst Witch arrives in that conversation with a lighter touch and a clearer moral purpose. It’s not trying to seduce kids into some counterfeit aristocracy of magical excellence.
Quite the opposite. The fun comes from awkwardness: dropped cauldrons, panic, social misreads, the constant sense that Mildred is a beat behind whatever the room expects of her. That puts the series in an interesting place culturally.
It’s a remake and a reinvention, yes, but it also feels like a response to the anxieties of overachieving childhood — the pressure to be gifted, polished, and on-message before you’ve even figured out who you are.
Delyth Thomas and the other directors give the show a bright, readable grammar. Nothing is left murky for long. Corridors are cleanly lit, costumes are easy to identify at a glance, and the visual design prefers clarity over gothic atmosphere.
That might sound modest, but it’s part of the show’s intelligence. It knows its viewers are doing two things at once: following the story and learning how a screen world works. So the camera keeps things legible.
A raised eyebrow matters. A nervous glance across a dormitory does the work of a page of exposition. When the series is at its best, it understands that small movements — a hand clenching around a broomstick, a glance cut short, a pause before saying the wrong thing — are enough to carry real feeling.
Audience Opinions
Limited evidence
"A charming and grounded magical school story that wins over families through warmth, relatable childhood mistakes, and genuine hard work."
Viewers responding to the series highlight its sincere, classic fairy-tale atmosphere, noting how refreshing it is to follow young students navigating everyday friendships, mischief, and personal growth rather than heavy apocalyptic battles. As [latestnetflix.com]() notes, audiences find the heroine's journey particularly reassuring because success requires patience and persistent effort rather than effortless spellcasting, making it an engaging and comforting watch for younger viewers.
What viewers praise
- Relatable Character Growth Audience reactions celebrate the focus on everyday peer dynamics and earning success through resilience and effort.
Common complaints
- Lighter Stakes Viewers seeking intense fantasy conflict or grand, high-stakes magical warfare may find the gentle school-life focus less compelling.
Recommended for
Families with younger children Fans of boarding school fantasy stories Viewers looking for gentle, earnest magic series
Buzz & Rumors
Public reportsBehind the Broomsticks: The Making of The Worst Witch (2017)
The Worst Witch (2017) charmed audiences with its whimsical take on witchcraft and schoolyard misadventures, but what went on behind the scenes? While the series kept its magical antics front and center, latestnetflix.com contends, a few details about its production and cast have trickled out—enough to give fans a peek at the real-life spellwork that brought Mildred Hubble’s world to life.
A Reboot with a Fresh Cast
The 2017 adaptation of Jill Murphy’s beloved book series 
marked a departure from the earlier Worst Witch iterations, with a new generation of young actors stepping into the cauldrons. Tamara Smart took on the role of Mildred Hubble, the well-meaning but accident-prone witch, while Lydia Page and Megan Hughes played her best friends, Maud Spellbody and Enid Nightshade 
. The trio’s chemistry was a cornerstone of the show, though little has been revealed about their off-screen dynamic. Rumor has it the young cast bonded quickly, with Smart later calling the experience "a dream come true" in a rare interview—though no direct quote is confirmed in the available evidence.
Veteran actors Clare Higgins and Raquel Cassidy anchored the adult cast as Miss Cackle and Miss Hardbroom, respectively . Their on-screen rivalry was a highlight, but behind the scenes, the two reportedly shared a warm rapport, with Cassidy later praising Higgins’ ability to balance authority with warmth . Shauna Shim, who played the mischievous Ethel Hallow, rounded out the core cast, though her behind-the-scenes contributions remain largely undocumented.
Directors and Creative Shifts
The series boasted a rotating roster of directors, including Delyth Thomas, Lindy Heymann, Nick Leather, and Sallie Aprahamian . Each brought a distinct visual flair to the episodes, though the division of labor isn’t fully clear from the snippets. Thomas and Heymann directed the bulk of the series (52 episodes each), suggesting they were the primary creative forces . Nick Leather and Sallie Aprahamian also contributed, but their specific episodes or stylistic influences haven’t been detailed in the available sources.
One notable absence is Brian Grant, who directed 13 episodes but isn’t listed among the series’ creators . His involvement appears to have been limited compared to the core four, though why remains unconfirmed. The show’s creator, Emma Reeves, adapted the scripts from Murphy’s books, but her behind-the-scenes role beyond writing isn’t widely publicized .
Production Secrets and Challenges
Filming took place primarily in the UK, with Cackle’s Academy brought to life through a mix of practical sets and CGI . The series’ magical effects—from broomstick flights to potion explosions—were a blend of green-screen work and physical props, though the exact techniques haven’t been disclosed. Rumors suggest the young cast underwent basic broomstick training to sell the flying scenes, but this remains unverified.
The show’s four-season run (2017–2020) wrapped with a finale that left Mildred’s story open-ended . While no major behind-the-scenes drama has surfaced, the series’ cancellation after Season 4 was met with fan disappointment. Netflix’s involvement in streaming later seasons may have extended its lifespan, but the decision to end the show wasn’t publicly explained .
What We Still Don’t Know
For all its charm, The Worst Witch (2017) keeps much of its production under wraps. Details about budget constraints, on-set pranks, or cast conflicts—if they existed—haven’t emerged in the available evidence. The young actors’ transitions to other projects (Smart later starred in Artemis Fowl, for example) suggest the experience was a positive one, but concrete anecdotes are scarce.
One lingering question: Why did the reboot deviate from the books in certain plotlines? The show’s writers took creative liberties, but the reasoning behind these changes hasn’t been addressed in the sources. Fans have speculated about time constraints or network demands, but without official commentary, it’s all guesswork.
For now, The Worst Witch (2017) remains a delightful, if somewhat mysterious, addition to children’s fantasy TV. Its legacy lives on through streaming, even if its behind-the-scenes stories stay locked in the academy’s archives.
Entertainment rumors and trivia aggregated from public reporting. Treat speculation as unverified unless a cited source confirms it.
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