#fwgust

[fandomwanderers]

Hubble Means Trouble: The Worst Witch

And here, dear Wanderers, we come to our final installment of our looking at how a franchise can be adapted many times for the same general audience group. I know, it’s sad isn’t it? Shall we take a moment of silence to think on that which came before? Or shall we crank up the Spell Girls and rock it out till Hardbroom comes to zap away our electrical equipment to the land of gods-knows-where? The latter does sound far more fun… Let’s go with the latter, Wanderers, cheesy late 90s-early 2000s pop music it is! (Understand I am making a big sacrifice for you. I’ve had to turn off my beloved Queen for this. Queen. I hope you all appreciate this.)

So this next installment is the final – apart from the new book – piece of The Worst Witch tapest… No, second thoughts I don’t like that word. Final piece of the picture, we’ll say instead. I am, of course, talking about The New Worst Witch and if you just groaned on hearing that, I can’t say I blame you. Of course, if you cheered on hearing it, then well done to you, childhood nostalgia winning out!

[fandomwanderers]

This College Isn't Here to Encourage Our Magic; It's to Stifle It: The Worst Witch

As we’ve seen in the previous few weeks, The Worst Witch has managed to span not onlybooks, but a made-for-television movie, and a television series that lasted three whole series; which can be a long time for a show aimed at the children’s age group. Now, we’re coming to the wind up of our look at the franchise, this being the second to last article I’ll write on the series. But what else, I hear you ask, can there be? Well, what usually comes after high school? That’s right, college. Originally entitled in promotional material as The Worst Witch at College, this week we’re going to be taking a look at Weirdsister College – the further adventures of the Worst Witch.

[fandomwanderers]

Greetings to all my little Wanderers, new and old, and welcome to your fortnightly GUST review, where we look at stuff aimed at a younger audience that an older audience should really check out for themselves ’cause frankly, it’s pretty good. Okay, I’ve now summarised the basic concept for any newcomers to the scene, so let’s get down to business, to defeat the Hu – Okay, I have just been informed that no, I am not allowed to burst into musical number during a GUST review. [Not this issue, anyway, we've had a noise complaint -Ed.] Sorry guys, gals, and Wanderers of all or no genders.

Right, anyway, so today’s GUST. Well, today we’re going to be setting up something a wee bit different, a series of GUSTs following the one franchise. Oi, don’t you reach for the back button, pay some attention, you might learn something. (No, you won’t.) This isn’t always going to be a GUST thing, but we’re starting it off here because of nostalgia winning out. So the first franchise we’re going to look at?

[fandomwanderers]

The oft-repeated saying from Spanish philosopher George Santayana goes: “those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” While I can’t really say is this statement is absolute truth, I can say this: the general compulsory educational system can making learning History a downright chore. Thank goodness, then, for Terry Deary, and Horrible Histories.

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