Television series

The Worst Witch

Name: The Worst Witch
Genre: Drama, Comedy, Supernatural
Released: 1998

Low-budget, high-charm British children's telly about Mildred Hubble, the clumsiest pupil at a boarding school for witches, forever botching spells and dodging the icy disapproval of Miss Hardbroom. It's gentle, funny and unmistakably 90s ITV — wonky effects, real warmth — and speaks directly to anyone who felt hopeless at games but secretly brilliant at something else entirely.

If you liked this

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone2001

The obvious next stop — a boarding school for witchcraft with houses, rivalries and a formidable headmistress, but scaled up to blockbuster size. Perfect if you want the premise bigger.

But The tone tips serious and epic fairly fast; you lose the cosy, low-stakes silliness that makes Worst Witch so comforting.

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone poster

Matilda1996

Another small, misunderstood girl with unlikely power up against a monstrous authority figure — Miss Trunchbull is basically Miss Hardbroom's evil twin, and it's just as funny and warm-hearted.

But It's a single film rather than a series, so you don't get the slow-build boarding-school world you're used to.

Sabrina the Teenage Witch1996

An American high-school witch sitcom with a talking cat, gentle spell-mishaps and a teenager fumbling her way through magic — same cosy comfort, different accent and decade.

But It swaps British boarding-school rigidity for suburban sitcom rhythms, laugh track and all.

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Little Witch Academia2017

It's the same premise almost beat for beat — a clumsy, ordinary girl who dreamed of magic ends up the worst student at a witch academy, up against a star pupil and a stern instructor — just told through Japanese animation instead of ITV's wobbly sets.

Explosive, joyful animation turns Mildred-style disasters into something genuinely thrilling, and the heroine's stubborn belief in herself against constant failure is enormously endearing.

But It's anime, full stop — if that style and pacing isn't your thing, thematic overlap alone won't win you over.

Malory Towers2020no page yet

Same dorms-and-midnight-feasts DNA, minus the magic — cliques, homesickness, an unfair teacher, a girl trying to find her place. Great if the school itself was always the draw.

But No spellcraft at all, so if it was specifically the witchcraft you loved, this will feel like it's missing the best bit.

St Trinian's2007no page yet

British boarding-school chaos turned up to eleven — anarchic, gleefully silly, stuffed with the kind of scheming pupils and exasperated staff Worst Witch fans will recognise instantly.

But Broader and ruder, aimed more at teens and adults than the gentle family audience of the original.

Wednesday2022

Nevermore Academy gives you the boarding-school-for-the-supernatural structure again, plus a spiky, deadpan outsider heroine navigating cliques, a scary headmistress and her own uncontrollable talent.

But Much darker and more Gothic, with murder-mystery and teen-romance plots that push it far from Worst Witch's gentleness.

Chilling Adventures of Sabrina2018

Takes the witch-school idea and drags it into horror-tinged teen drama, with real stakes and real danger — a fascinating look at how far the premise can stretch.

But Genuinely scary and morally murky in places; not for anyone wanting the comfort-blanket version.

Charmed1998

Sister witches balancing ordinary life with supernatural responsibility, plenty of spellcasting mishaps and real warmth between the leads — good if you want witches without the classroom.

But Set entirely in the adult world, with demon-of-the-week plots that have nothing to do with school life or growing up.

Bewitched1964

The grandparent of every cosy TV witch show — a witch trying to live a normal life while her powers keep causing chaos, played for gentle, old-fashioned laughs.

But Very much a product of its era, with sitcom pacing and gender politics that feel dated now.

The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie1969no page yet

Swap the broomsticks for 1930s Edinburgh and you've got the same core relationship — a magnetic, controlling teacher who picks favourites and shapes impressionable girls, echoing everything unsettling about Miss Hardbroom played completely straight.

Maggie Smith is extraordinary as a teacher whose charisma curdles into something manipulative and dangerous — a genuinely great, unsettling piece of British filmmaking.

But It's a serious character study with no magic and no children's-TV comfort — the darkness here is real, not spooky fun.

Heathers1989

No witches, but the machinery is identical — an outsider girl, a viciously popular clique lorded over by an Ethel Hallow type, and an institution that rewards cruelty — rewired into pitch-black teen satire with real consequences.

Whip-smart, quotable and startlingly dark, it's a brilliant look at what school hierarchies look like without any magical softening at all.

But Genuinely bleak subject matter played for laughs — a long way from the innocence of Cackle's Academy, and not one for younger viewers.