The Worst Witch/YMMV

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


  • Nightmare Fuel: The Genius of the Lamp, in which Sybill creates a magic lamp from a torch, which begins to draw energy from everything around it, almost destroying the school.
  • Pragmatic Adaptation: Both the movie and the TV series add padding to the first story, with the TV series turning Ethel's little adventure into a separate episode, while the somewhat anticlimactic end to the original story instead gets turned into a large chase scene. The movie simply has to pad out several of its sequences, notably making Ethel's taunting a result of her cheating at a game of "Scare Tag" (in the book the teasing follows Mildred's lack of success with Tabby) and adding in the music video below. The second story (a Halfway Plot Switch) was simply adapted into two separate episodes, while the third and fourth became two-parters. Also, Madame Spellbinder, Miss Drill and Miss Swoop are unique to the adaptations.
  • Older Than They Think: An isolated castle containing a magic school, with a forest nearby? A protagonist who has no prior knowledge of the magical world? A rival who comes from a leading magical family? A hook-nosed Potions teacher who favours the rival and despises the protagonist? A kindly, grey-haired Head who is fond of the protagonist? Classes in Charms and broomstick riding? While both The Worst Witch and Harry Potter clearly have very similar elements, Jill Murphy's series predates the latter by 23 years, with the first book being published in 1974.
  • So Bad It's Good/Special Effects Failure: The music video made by Tim Curry aka the Grand Wizard. Really, see for yourself.
  • The Woobie: Sybill Hallow.