Thu, Oct 22, 1998
"Onward, ever striving onward, Proudly on our brooms we fly. Straight and true above the treetops Shadows on the moonlit sky." The strains of the school song can be heard echoing through the vaulted halls of the converted Gothic castle, which is Cackle's Academy. The young witches fly in on their broomsticks across the dark wooded slopes and over the school gates for the start of another year. Miss Hardbroom is taking a register of the first years as they arrive. She is very pleased to see Ethel Hallow come flying in and make a perfect landing, but has to inform Miss Cackle that Mildred Hubble hasn't yet arrived. Miss Cackle wonders if Walker's Gate can be left open a little longer, but Hardbroom is a stickler for discipline and insists that it be closed on time. Mildred Hubble arrives breathless, at the other side of the gate. As she searches for the handle the door slams shut and the key is turned. Mildred is about to call out, but stops herself in time as she reads the notice on the door - "Latecomers will report to the back entrance where they will stand and wait until they are dealt with by me." signed C. Hardbroom. Inside the courtyard, Miss Cackle is making a speech of welcome to the girls. At that moment Mildred, in full flight, dangling dangerously from her broomstick, rises up over the gates. Miss Cackle, Miss Hardbroom and the new girls watch, transfixed, as Mildred hanging on for dear life dives down, swoops along the courtyard and crashes straight into the school dustbins, breaking her broomstick in half. Mildred hasn't gotten off to a good start. Everyone has a laugh at her expense, but Maud Moonshine comes to her rescue with some parcel tape. Mildred's broomstick will never fly perfectly again. The next few days are full of madness and mystery as Mildred comes to terms with all the rules and age-old traditions of Cackle's Academy. What an odd place it is! There is no electricity in the school, there are bats in her bedroom, and a cold north wind whistles through twelve-inch thick ever-open glass-free windows. The first two weeks are devoted to broomstick flying. If you don't make the grade, you don't stay for the course. After all, who's ever heard of a witch who can't fly a broomstick? There's no real need for it anymore, but Cackle's is a very traditional establishment, unfortunately for Mildred, who is afraid of heights. Ethel and her friend Drusilla Paddock think this is a great joke. Mildred is warned that, though she may a scholarship girl, if she doesn't pass her Broomstick Aptitude Test, Miss Cackle will be forced to ask her to leave. It looks like Mildred Hubble is going to be out of the school before she's hardly begun. But when the time comes, with a little bit of magic from somewhere unexpected, she stays the course and manages to perform some extraordinary manoeuveres...
Thu, Oct 29, 1998
Mildred Hubble and Maud Moonshine are now best of friends and, often to be found in their company, are Ruby and Jadu. Ethel and Drusilla however, are always trying to stir up trouble between them, taunting Maud Moonshine by calling her "Moonface" and delighting in telling Mildred how hopeless she is. Now that they are a few weeks into the term, homesickness is taking its toll of the first years. Miss Hardbroom makes everyone write a letter home, telling their parents that they are well and doing fine, which only makes everyone feel worse - apart from Ethel and Drusilla, who apparently have no room for public sentiment. Part of their problem is the food - liver in cold, greasy gravy, fish with gazing eyes and lumpy milk puddings. As a result they've resorted to eating too many sweets. There's a disgraceful scene in the Great Hall when Ethel "accidentally " trips Mildred and her plate of stew lands all over Miss Hardbroom. Miss Cackle decides that the only answer is to set an example by eating exactly the same food as the girls - for the whole week. "If it's good enough for the headmistress it's good enough for them!" Meanwhile, the warm and motherly school cook, Mrs. Tapioca, comes to Mildred's rescue and invites her down to the kitchen to sample her fresh pasta and pizzas. Mildred spots an extraordinary contraption, which Frank Blossom has created for catching mice. It's ridiculously large and complicated for such a small task. She also notices an interesting cupboard, which Mrs. Tapioca tells her is where the staff keeps their own food. Mildred has an idea and later she suggests to the others that they have a midnight feast. This gets an enthusiastic response from all but Ethel. Miss Cackle takes a class in simple shape-changing, and their hats are magicked into an amusing range of headgear. The girls are really enjoying themselves. Miss Cackle uses the opportunity to give them a lecture on the finer details of shape-changing: hats are easy because a witch's hat is already magic, but "suppose you wanted to make cheese, for instance" - and off she goes in a trance dreaming of all the wonderful things she's missing by restricting herself to school food. Miss Cackle also tells them the legend of Sir Walter's Wet Week. Centuries ago, Baron Overblow refused to give shelter to Sir Walter one wild and stormy night and left him in the rain to die. As a result every year it rains for a week and the water, like tears of pity, flows down the walls. On the last night of the week there's always a big storm and Sir Walter walks the corridors, looking for revenge! Ethel and Drusilla hatch a plan to scare Mildred's lot by pretending to be the ghost of Sir Walter but the tables are turned and they get more that they bargained for thanks to Miss Cackle and to Frank's amazing cheese protector! Miss Cackle has proved her point over the school food but agrees to change the rules and declares Saturdays to be pizza days, much to everyone's delight!
Top-rated
Thu, Nov 5, 1998
It's time for the presentation of the kittens - the black cat will sit decoratively on the end of each girl's broomstick when they fly. Mildred nearly doesn't get one at all, and when she does there are no black ones left, so she has to make do with a tabby. Meanwhile, Frank is looking after his nephew Charlie for a few days and brings him to the school. Charlie is fascinated by the girls but finds it hard to believe that they're really witches. When Ethel brags about her family portraits that adorn the walls, Charlie insults her lineage. He annoys her even more by asking whether boys can be witches. Of course Mildred and Ethel disagree. When Tabby can't even manage to cling onto Mildred's broom, Ethel lays into her about how hopeless she is. Mildred has been looking up spells in the library and, pushed too far, tries to turn Ethel into a frog - only to find a pig in front of her. The pig trots off, and the chase is on to catch it and turn it back into Ethel before Miss Hardbroom discovers what's happened - and Mildred gets into trouble once again! Charlie gets mixed up in all this by memorizing a simple reversing spell, which comes in handy when Mildred turns Ethel into a pig. When Frank brings Ethel to Ted's pig farm, Mildred and Charlie must rescue her before the farmer brings them to the market. Charlie manages to save the day, though not before the pig becomes a duck and Charlie becomes a donkey!
Thu, Nov 12, 1998
"Moonlight! Starlight! The Bogies will be out tonight! Give us a candle - give us a light! If you don't you'll get a fright. It's Punkie Night tonight! Time to meet - for a trick or treat! It's Punkie Night tonight! Punkie Night, Punkie Night, Punkie Night, tonight!" All of Mildred's attempts to revise her potion notes fail, and when Miss Hardbroom gives them the test of making a laughter potion, Mildred and Maud create one that's a slimy green colour - Ethel Hallow (who never worries about tests) makes one that's bright pink. Fearing the worst, they swallow the potion and wait for the results to set in. Soon, everyone's giggling as the potions do their work, except for Mildred and Maud - who discover they are invisible. Miss Hardbroom sends them to Miss Cackle's office, where Mildred is severely reprimanded, and called the Worst Witch. Mildred is determined not to get into any more trouble, but Halloween is near, and Mildred's class is chosen to put on a flying display. In a rare show of democracy, Miss Hardbroom draws the parts out of a cauldron, and Mildred is chosen to play the main character. She will have to perform fancy broomstick-flying moves. H.B. insists that Mildred's broom, stuck together with parcel tape, be replaced with Ethel's - a Slozzinger-Hazletwig. Ethel is still furious about Mildred turning her into a pig, and whispers a few words to the broomstick. The Chief Wizard, Egbert Hellibore, attends the Halloween celebration. He expects a fine presentation, in the tradition of Cackle's Academy. All goes well until Ethel's broom starts behaving in a most unorthodox way and Mildred crashes into Chief Wizard Hellibore. The ceremony is ruined and Mildred is in deep disgrace. Ethel is triumphant. That night, Mildred decides to run away...
Top-rated
Thu, Nov 19, 1998
A distressed Mildred runs off with Tabby in her bag, and stopping to rest in the valley below she comes upon a group of witches. They are planning to take over Cackle's Academy by turning everyone into frogs while they are asleep! Mildred, thinking on her feet, casts self-defense spell on the witches, but it doesn't stick. Miss Drill, meanwhile, has decided to take a ride in the forest. She is angry with the others for not taking her fears about "shifty" witches seriously. She comes across Mildred's things, and decides to investigate. To her surprise, she discovers the witches have planted Mildred's feet in the ground. Miss Drill comes to the rescue and yanks her from the ground, praising her untied bootlaces. Back at the school, the evil witches have turned Miss Cackle into a frog. Mildred and Maud, who have decided to become friends again under the circumstances, team up to trap the witches. Maud will create a diversion while Mildred will try to re-create the wrong spell, "in exactly the right way". They end up in the lab where Mildred casts the spell on the witches, shrinks them, and puts them in a box. Miss Cackle is furious when she discovers her jealous twin sister in the bunch, and demands that they concede defeat. Agatha, Coldstone, and Bindweed disagree very loudly and the box is closed until they decide to take a no-retaliation oath according to the Witches Code. They reluctantly agree, and are restored to their original sizes. Miss Cackle is so pleased with Mildred for coming to the rescue of the Academy that she decides to forget all about the celebration foul-ups.
Thu, Nov 26, 1998
A new term and Mildred arrives back at school with trepidation. Thinking that some extra responsibility might do her some good, Miss Cackle asks Mildred to look after a new first year, Enid Nightshade. On the surface the new girl seems rather quiet - even dull. Mildred has been put on probation by Miss Cackle, and if she does one tiny thing wrong, she's out. She throws herself wholeheartedly into watching Enid and Maud feels left out. Meanwhile, Mr. Blossom has waged a war against a wayward fungus that has spread all over the school. One night, as he is skulking about the halls pulverizing it, he sees a monkey - too much spray? Enid's true character is discovered while the girls are rehearsing for a play with Miss Drill. When Enid has had enough of Ethel's snootiness, she unties the rope holding the scenery upright, and it falls on her head. She passes out cold, and the girls are punished. Their punishment is to scrub the floors, a task of which Enid quickly tires. She runs off leaving Mildred alone with the scrub-brush. When Mildred's curiosity finally gets the better of her, Mildred abandons the scrubbing and goes to find Enid. She opens the door to her room and the monkey escapes. Mildred thinks she'll do Enid a good turn and chases it on her broomstick, which ends in disaster. Miss Hardbroom thinks the monkey is Ethel, but in fact it's Enid's cat, which she's turned into a monkey for fun. She is obviously cheekier than she looks! Mildred will have to watch her or she'll be in even more trouble than usual.
Thu, Dec 3, 1998
Miss Cackle's birthday is a day of indescribable boredom where the girls are all expected to sing, recite or chant for her in the Great Hall. Maud is getting special coaching for her chanting and Ethel is playing solo violin. Mildred is starting to realize that looking after Enid is becoming a liability and Maud is feeling decidedly left out. On the morning of the birthday celebrations, Enid, determined not to sit through the whole interminable performance, drags a reluctant Mildred into a store cupboard. Eagle-eyed Ethel however, has spotted them and locks the door on them. Maud sees what has happened but before she can do anything, Miss Hardbroom appears, and ushers her into the Great Hall. Inside the locked cupboard Mildred is in despair - she'll definitely be expelled now. Piles of old furniture surround them and, high up on one wall is an arch that which leads to who-knows-where? Buried beneath the furniture, they find a broken broomstick that they temporarily repair with Enid's sash and very shakily they manage to take off - just as Miss Hardbroom comes bursting through the door. At Miss Cackle's birthday celebration, the proceedings are in full swing when suddenly; Mildred and Enid fly out through an archway at the top of the Hall. Maud, thinking quickly, introduces them as the surprise item - a double display on solo broomstick! Despite their clownish acrobatics, Miss Cackle decides to take it kindly. Their display may not have been delicately performed, but it showed "team spirit and initiative and effort". Mildred breathes a sigh of relief - they have gotten away with it! But Miss Hardbroom, doing one of her sudden materializing acts, tells her that the prize should go to Maud, "You have her to thank for saving you from a fate worse than death!"
Thu, Dec 10, 1998
It's half-term, and the girls are off on a "strictly no magic" camping trip with Miss Drill and Miss Hardbroom. Mildred soon breaks this rule, after she attempts to lighten their loads. After a lot muttering and moaning, the group arrive at their destination, only to find they have been double-booked with a team of Canadian boy scouts. Much to Miss Hardbroom's displeasure, the two groups decide to "embrace the democracy of the great outdoors" and share the campsite. The girls are getting along extremely well with the boys and Miss Drill is getting on even better with their team leader, Serge Dubois. But Miss Hardbroom is convinced it will all end in disaster and resolves to have nothing more to do with the trip. The next day, Miss Drill and Serge decide to send the group on a treasure quest. Of course Ethel and Drusilla are on one team, and Mildred is on the other. Ethel lets her competitiveness get the better of her when the other team gets to the treasure map before her. She magics a few natural phenomenas, and when Mildred retaliates, things get completely out-of-hand. With a heavy blizzard raging, Drusilla sprains her ankle and it is Mildred who runs to save her. Miss Drill suspects magic and begs Miss Hardbroom to stop the blizzard, but it takes a bit of convincing, since she still miffed by the situation. When H.B. finally quells the roaring winds, everybody comes together in a celebration of tea and marshmallows.
Top-rated
Thu, Dec 17, 1998
A heatwave has struck Cackle's Academy and Miss Bat has let the girls practice their Chanting outside. The girls use it as an opportunity to sunbathe on the broomshed roof, until Miss Hardbroom catches them and punishes them by making them clear out the locker room. Meanwhile Miss Hardbroom is fed up with Miss Bat's irresponsible attitude to teaching and her habit of eating flowers. A row subsequently develops ending with Miss Bat locking herself in the staffroom cupboard until further notice. Miss Cackle magics the girls a refreshing summer drink, and then sets them a task of re-creating the drink by natural means only. For once Ethel and Drusilla team up with Mildred and her friends. After several unsuccessful attempts to make the drink using natural products, Mildred asks Miss Bat for help, saying that she believes flowers are the key ingredient to the drink. While out collecting flowers, Mildred and Drusilla have a fight and end up in the river, causing Miss Hardbroom to separate them and make the challenge a competition. Mildred and her friends manage to successfully re-create Cackle's magic drink using flowers, while Ethel cheats by using a potion. Ethel then sabotages Mildred's drink by spiking it with chilli sauce, but causes further chaos when her magic drink results in a severe case of the Foster's effect, sending Miss Cackle, Miss Hardbroom and Miss Bat shooting through the Great Hall ceiling when they taste it.
Thu, Jan 7, 1999
During a potion lesson to make the elixir of life, Mildred accidentally drops a cyberpup, lent to her by Ruby, into her cauldron. The potion froths and gurgles and overflows the sides of the cauldron. A creaking and groaning sound fills the classroom. The desk and floorboards are coming to life - as trees! The potion laboratory is wrecked. The cyberpup has also come to life - not harmless anymore, but spiky and ravenous and requiring endless attention. Miss Cackle seizes the opportunity for a complete modernization of the laboratory and decides to invite the Chair of the School Governors (who happens to be Mr. Hallow, Ethel's father) to inspect the damage and hopefully pay to re-equip the laboratory. Mr. Hallow arrives practically bursting with gadgets. He's keen to build the potion lab of the future: All Hallows Information Technology - The Software for Sorcery. Computers are installed and initially the girls are very excited - so are some of the staff, though not Miss Hardbroom. Meanwhile, unseen by anybody, Ruby's cybermonster seizes the opportunity to download onto the computer. Soon, the staff and students are feeding it nonstop. This attention is not enough for it however, and it plans to hook up to the Internet and enslave the world. Mildred becomes more and more concerned that her friends are becoming zombies at the mercy of the computers. While she is in the library, Fenella and Griselda draw her attention to an old fairy book and tell her the story of the Snow Queen who places a splinter of glass in Kay's heart, which puts him under her power. The comparison is obvious and Mildred looks for a spell that could undo the attention of the computers. Mildred's enchantment works on Ruby and Miss Hardbroom and in the nick of time, Miss Hardbroom saves the day.
Top-rated
Thu, Jan 14, 1999
Mrs Cosie's tearoom is a haven of peace and comfort for Miss Cackle, full of delicious goodies. It is, however, strictly out-of-bounds to the girls of the Academy. This doesn't deter Mildred and her gang, who are keen to stem their hunger pangs and take advantage of a free cake promotion. Unseen by Miss Cackle, the girls settle down at a table where they overhear a plan to trick Miss Cosie into selling her tearooms so that a toxic incinerator can be built on the site. This would make life unbearable for the inhabitants of Miss Cackle's - to say nothing about the wildlife. Can Mildred prevent Mrs. Cosie from signing the tearooms away and, more importantly, an the girls avoid being caught out-of-bounds by Miss Cackle and the stickler Miss Hardbroom?
Top-rated
Thu, Jan 21, 1999
The Chief Wizard, Egbert Hellibore, comes to give a talk to the girls on Spells, Potions, and Gourmet Cooking. The girls are given strict instructions about behaviour by Miss Cackle and H.B so that when the talk turns out to be really quite good fun, the girls have been so "drilled" that they clam up completely even when asked to join in. Hellibore presumes that they are lacking in confidence and need more practice at public speaking. He suggests a debate between the boys at his school for Wizards and, put on the spot, Miss Cackle has to agree. Ethel is chosen to be the star speaker, but even Mildred discovers she quite likes rattling on about whatever comes into her head. The girls are looking forward to meeting the boys, though when they are introduced, they hardly say a word. Have they all been overawed? But no - in the first part of the debate, the girls are indescribably good and the boys are hopeless. At break, it looks like the girls have got it in the bag. Hellibore magics some snacks for break, but some of the boys have brought their extraordinary-looking bottles of fizzy juice, which they won't let the girls near. After break - a shock turn around! Even the shy, mumbly boys have turned into regular orators, the girls are shocked to dumbness and the boys wipe the floor with them. But before the boys depart, Mildred and the others manage to steal a bottle of the suspicious fizz. When they test it out, the results are fascinating - especially in lessons, and everyone wants a go. The problem comes when it spills onto inanimate objects which then have the power of speech and can talk about their lot - mostly to whinge. And finally Miss Hardbrooms's desk spills the beans to her. To their surprise, H.B. is not as cross as might be expected. A return match is arranged with the boys. Hellibore and the boys can't resist, and come fully prepared with plenty of strange fizzy juice. They don't expect that the bottle of juice will be speaking in the debate - and would have a lot to say about what the boys had been up to.
Top-rated
Thu, Jan 28, 1999
It is nearly the end of Mildred's first year at Cackle's Academy. One night, there is a strange, fierce wind which blasts through the castle, rattling and shaking everything and giving Mildred and Maud bad nightmares. Next day, everything seems fine - except for Miss Cackle. She seems completely out of sorts. She is particularly irritated with Mildred and actually tells the staff that she is the Worst Witch in the school and that she is going to expel her. Miss Hardbroom is pleased to hear her opinion of Mildred confirmed, but strangely piqued about the expulsion - she finds herself saying there is little point in doing it now. When Miss Bat reminds Miss Cackle how Mildred saved them all from her wicked sister, Agatha, Miss Cackle breaks into a fury and says that relations between her and her sister are of a private matter. Mildred is put in isolation for the night, and spots Miss Cackle waving a lantern towards the forest. Mildred, Maud, and Enid consult as to what it means - has Miss Cackle been magicked by her evil sister? Mildred thinks not - witches aren't allowed to revenge themselves once beaten. Luckily, Ethel, who has followed them, knows about a statute of limitations - and Agatha's will be up at the high noon on the last day of the term. Ethel feels a bit sorry for Mildred now that she's going. It takes all the combined resources of the first years, to discover what is really going on - of course, Miss Cackle is her sister, the wicked Agatha! The girls track down the real Miss Cackle to the store cupboard in which Mildred and Enid were once trapped. Unfortunately, they are discovered by two of Agatha's wicked cronies, and time is ticking away to midday on the last day of term. The final confrontation takes place in front of everybody and gives Mildred a chance to show us all why she's really the best witch in the school.