The Worst Witch (1998 TV series)
The Worst Witch is a British-Canadian ITV television series about a group of young witches at a school for magic. The series stars Georgina Sherrington and Felicity Jones, and is based on "The Worst Witch" books by Jill Murphy (published from 1974 onwards). It aired for a total of 40 episodes spread over three series between 1998 and 2001, before being followed by "Weirdsister College." Most episodes revolved around the school, following the adventures of Mildred and her friends. The series was later followed by "The New Worst Witch", which ran for two series and chronicled the experiences of Mildred's younger cousin Hettie as she attended the school.
The Witch's Tales
The first issue, dated November 1936, led with "The Madman", a story by Cole about a mad scientist. Cole's work also appeared in the second issue with "Mrs. Hawker's Will". Originally an episode Cole had written for the radio show, it was adapted from the script for the magazine by Laurence D. Smith. All the other stories, from both issues, were reprinted from the American edition of "Pearson's Magazine". These included "The Monster of Lake LaMetrie", by Wardon Allan Curtis, from 1899; "The Fountain of Youth", by William Hamilton Osborne, and "Phantom of the Links", by John C. Haywood, both from 1906; and "The Death-Trap", by George Daulton, which had originally appeared in 1908. The reprints were good stories, in the opinion of Mike Ashley, and they often had science fiction themes: Curtis's story involved the transplant of a man's brain into the body of a prehistoric monster. Despite the relatively high quality of the material, the stories were not action-oriented enough to have pleased a typical pulp magazine reader of the era.