By It was Harry Potter before Harry Potter became an international juggernaut, and now Jill Murphy's beloved children's book The Worst Witch is getting a reboot on the BBC.
The Worst Witch made everyone wish they could attend Miss Cackle's school of magic and be best mates with Mildred Hubble and the gang. It was already a cult TV movie in 1986 with Tim Curry and Diana Rigg, but what happened to the cast of the classic CITV series?
One of them is an Oscar nominee, one is a soap queen, and one became Sherlock's landlady. So open your book of spells and cast your mind back to 1998…
1. GEORGINA SHERRINGTON (MILDRED HUBBLE)
Georgina was the Cackle OG when playing lead character Mildred with the ace plaits, and she later starred in its sequel Weirdsister College. What do you mean you don't remember it? It was like Saved By the Bell: The College Years and ran for one series in 2001.
She returned as Mildred again in the premiere of The New Worst Witch in 2005, which ran for two series (but we'll get on to that another time). Proving she's even smarter than Mildred, she graduated from Princeton University in 2008 and now works as a consultant business coordinator for BBC comedy.
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She does still dabble in acting though, and will appear in Dark Ascension this year alongside Brian Blessed and Bruce Campbell.
2. FELICITY JONES (ETHEL HALLOW)
Easily the biggest success story from the Worst Witch alumni. She only appeared in the first series, but she did reunite with Georgina in Weirdsister College.
After roles in Doctor Who and The Diary of Anne Frank, she became a serious Hollywood player thanks to parts in Cemetery Junction with Ricky Gervais, The Tempest, Chalet Girl and The Amazing Spider-Man 2.
Her performance as Jane Wilde Hawking in The Theory of Everything won her an Oscar nomination in 2015, and she will soon star in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. Ethel has had quite the journey.
3. KATY ALLEN (ETHEL HARLOW)
After Felicity left, Katy took over the role of Ethel for the next two series, but was cruelly swapped again for Weirdsister. They were essentially the equivalents of Daniella Westbrook vs Kim Medcalf in EastEnders.
Since the series, Katy has graduated from The American Academy of Dramatic Art in Los Angeles, and had roles in Casualty and EastEnders: E20. She's focused more on theatre in recent years, and has appeared in Great Expectations on the West End.
4. JESSICA FOX (ENID NIGHTSHADE)
Long before she would forever be known as Hollyoaks staple Nancy Osborne, Jessica played jokester Enid. Though, she still has the same fringe.
After TWW, Jessica also played Belle in Crossroads before joining Hollyoaks in 2005. Poor Nancy has had to deal with pretty much every harrowing storyline a soap could throw at her, but she's still around, despite Gloved Hand Killers and exploding pubs.
Little factoid: did you know Jessica provided the voice of the spooky Ghost of Christmas Past in The Muppet Christmas Carol? You do now.
5. EMMA BROWN (MAUD MOONSHINE)
Lovely Maud was definitely one of the fan favourite characters from the series as she helped best friend Mildred on her adventures.
Emma quit acting after The Worst Witch and hasn't appeared in anything since. She is now married with two children, but still keeps contact with some of her old castmates.
6. HOLLY RIVERS (DRUSILLA PADDOCK)
Yes, that really is Drusilla. Holly has done all sorts since playing awkward Drusilla. She still acts, but also works as a TV presenter and a punk model. She's also a member of all-girl choir Gaggle according to her website.
Her Spotlight page shows she has appeared in many stage productions in Wales in recent years. She is also an experienced children's storyteller and drama facilitator, and plays the ukulele.
7. JOANNA DYCE (RUBY CHERRYTREE)
After TWW, Joanna appeared in an episode of Doctors in 2003, but has since left the acting world behind to become a dancer and choreographer.
She has performed with the likes of Girls Aloud, Kylie Minogue, Robbie Williams, Taylor Swift and even Cliff Richard. She has appeared as a backing dancer on both The X Factor and Strictly Come Dancing, and more recently was one of the leading choreographers for the Thriller Live stage show.
8. UNA STUBBS (MISS BAT)
Already a household name thanks to Til Death Us Do Part, Worzel Gummidge and hanging with Cliff Richard in Summer Holiday, Una played the somewhat ditzy chanting teacher at Cackle's for the first two series.
Since then, she's probably best known for playing landlady Mrs Hudson in Sherlock opposite Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman since 2010. She also had a mini arc in EastEnders as Caroline Bishop in 2006 and has popped up in Call the Midwife, Marple and The Catherine Tate Show among others.
9. CLARE COULTER (AMELIA CACKLE)
The Headmistress of Cackle's Academy – she was essentially the Dumbledore of the series. Canadian Clare was already an acting veteran, having appeared in Due South among others projects before TWW debuted.
She returned as the same character for The New Worst Witch in 2005, but has moved back to Canada in recent years. She appeared in the acclaimed 2006 movie Away From Her with Julie Christie, and also featured as Sister Agnes in several episodes of US sci-fi drama Helix.
10. KATE DUCHENE (CONSTANCE HARDBROOM)
Meet the baddie of the series – Miss Hardbroom made the most of her name by terrifying all the would-be witches throughout the series.
Kate returned for the first episode of Weirdsister College, but didn't come back for The New Worst Witch. She has since had roles in Casualty, Foyle's War, Family Affairs, 2009 film An Education and had a lead role in 2005 ITV drama Afterlife opposite Andrew Lincoln. She continues to work with the National Theatre.
11. CLAIRE PORTER (IMOGEN DRILL)
Appearing in all three series as PE teacher Miss Drill (with a name like that, what did you expect), Claire has mostly appeared in theatre productions since then.
More recently, she did pop up in an episode of Doctors last year, and staged her own solo show Beth 10 years ago.
12. POLLY JAMES (LAVINIA CROTCHET)
Polly was already a TV icon as one of the leads in The Liver Birds, and also had memorable roles in Coronation Street, Doctor Who and various West End musicals.
After Una Stubbs left in series two, Polly arrived as the replacement Chanting teacher, but she did not return for the follow-up shows. Polly has not appeared on TV or film since TWW ended, and has worked as a performance coach since 2013.
13. JAY BARUCHEL (BEAN POLE)
Yep, this really did happen. And yes, boys did appear every now and then. Hollywood star Jay Baruchel appeared in a single episode of The Worst Witch in 1998.
The episode saw Mildred and her friends bump into a group of Canadian boy scouts, like you do. Since then, Jay has become quite the star – appearing in everything from Almost Famous, Million Dollar Baby, Knocked Up, Tropic Thunder and RoboCop.
He is probably best known for voicing main character Hiccup in the How To Train Your Dragon series and for roles in The Sorcerer's Apprentice and 2010 romcom She's Out Of My League. He also co-wrote the underrated Goon the following year.
