Instruct: Given a question, retrieve passages that can help answer the question.
Query: When was the first Worst Witch published?
The Worst Witch is a series of children's books written and illustrated by Jill Murphy. The series are primarily boarding school and fantasy stories, with eight books already published. The first one, The Worst Witch, was published in 1974 by Allison & Busby,[1] and the most recent one, First Prize for the Worst Witch, was published in 2018 by Puffin Books, the current publisher of all the series. The books have become some of the most successful titles on the Young Puffin paperback list and have sold more than 4 million copies.[2]
The New Worst Witch is a British CITV television series about a group of young witches at a Witch Academy. It ran for 2 series from 2004–2007. The series was a spinoff from "The Worst Witch" which ran from 1998 to 2001.
This is a list of minor characters who have roles in the children's book series "The Worst Witch", or its television adaptations.
Appearances in the books:
A Bad Spell for the Worst Witch (briefly)
Each book covers one term at the school. There are two terms each year: the Winter term, from September to January, and the Summer term, from March to July. In First Prize for the Worst Witch, the most recent book, Mildred is in the Summer term of her fourth year.
In the first book of the series, it is revealed without explanation that Ethel and Mildred were enemies prior to the story. Ethel takes pleasure in taunting Mildred about her inability to train her cat into riding a broomstick, and Mildred responds by turning her into a pig. From then on Mildred and Ethel resent each other, and Ethel vows to get Mildred expelled. So far she has been unsuccessful. In the first five books she appears to have no friends, although her young sister, Sybil, makes an appearance in A Bad Spell for the Worst Witch. A friend of Ethel's, Drusilla, makes a brief appearance in The Worst Witch All at Sea and later plays a bigger part in The Worst Witch to the Rescue, where she hides Mildred's tortoise up a tree. Ethel is Mildred's arch-enemy.
The Worst Witch Strikes Again (ISBN978-0-85031-251-5) was first published in 1980 by Allison & Busby and features a new character, Enid Nightshade.
Alice Rose Connor (born 2 August 1990) is a British actress, born in Buckinghamshire, England. She is best known for her roles in the television adaptation of Jacqueline Wilson's novel "The Illustrated Mum", in the children's television series "The New Worst Witch" (a spin-off from "The Worst Witch"), and in the film "The Thief Lord" as Hornet. She first started acting as "Alice" in "Fun Song Factory" when she was 8. She also had a small part in the 2001 movie "A Knight's Tale" when she was 9. In 2007 she began filming for a new television series, again with Anabel Barnston (Mona in "The New Worst Witch"). Its title is currently unknown, but Barnston has confirmed that it will be shown on Nickelodeon. Alice Connor also appears on the programme "My Spy Family" as Elle Bannon, which is shown exclusively on Boomerang TV channel in the UK. She also attended the Misbourne School.
First Prize for the Worst Witch (ISBN9780141355092) was published in 2018.
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.
Appearances in the books:
NONE (mentioned in The Worst Witch All at Sea and in The Worst Witch Saves the Day)
Mildred Hubble returns to Miss Cackle's Academy for Witches for her second year, determined to lose her embarrassing reputation as "the worst witch in the school". After Maud Spellbody and Enid Nightshade arrive, the three bump into two first-years (one of whom reminds Mildred very strongly of someone, the other with ginger frizzy hair in bunches). The one who seems familiar bursts into tears and clings onto Mildred when she hears that many of the teachers (including Miss Hardbroom) are quite strict. Mildred also accidentally slips a made-up story about Miss Hardbroom turning a student into a frog when she was just two seconds late for a lesson. To the girl's horror, they also learn that they have Miss Hardbroom for another year.
When it was no longer realistic that Mildred would still be at school, the series relocated her to a magical university in Cambridge and was retitled Weirdsister College: The Further Adventures of the Worst Witch, and saw the return of Felicity Jones as a reinvented Ethel Hallow.
The Worst Witch All at Sea (ISBN978-0-670-83253-8) was published in 1993. It is the only book in the series not set in Miss Cackle's Academy for Witches, but by the sea instead.
Enid Nightshade is Mildred's second best friend who is introduced in "The Worst Witch Strikes Again" where she has hair "the colour of milky tea" wearing it in a thick plait and having large limbs. Mildred is assigned to look after her by Miss Cackle. Enid at first appears to be dull and boring but turns out to be a wild practical joker/prankster who is more likely to get the three into trouble than Mildred is. She unintentionally causes trouble for Mildred throughout the novel, even to the point where Miss Cackle threatens to expel Mildred if there is any more bother from her. Nevertheless, Enid is just as loyal as Maud is and provides comfort and support to Mildred in the following books of the series. Enid is the second worst witch in the Academy, as both she and Mildred are hapless at broomstick riding and lack the specific requirements to be fully-fledged, efficient witch. In the TV series, Enid was portrayed by Jessica Fox. In the new BBC reboot, Enid was portrayed by newcomer Tamara Smart.
Ethel Hallow is the snobbish, stuck-up, vindictive, and sly rival and enemy of Mildred and her friends. She is favoured by Miss Hardbroom, but appears to have no friends, apart from the rarely seen Drusilla Paddock, who is just as bad as Ethel. Ethel is described as being ""one of those lucky people for whom everything goes right"" which is what caused her to become so snobby. Ethel is tall and thin (just like Mildred) and has mousy-brown hair which she wears in a ponytail with a black hair ribbon. She also has a very spiky nose (pointed out by Maud in "A Bad Spell for the Worst Witch"). Various sources have noted that Ethel's primary weakness as a student is that, which she is able to easily follow the rules and perform new spells after demonstration, she lacks the ability to imagine and improvise when given free rein. This was demonstrated most clearly in "The Worst Witch to the Rescue", when she was the student who performed worst in the art class and had no ideas whatsoever for a summer project to research a spell of the student's choice as she lacked a framework for her to start studying in, in contrast to Mildred who not only performed best in art but had even created a completely new spell for the project.Because of her nasty ways, Ethel is sometimes seen as a bully. Yet her actions are instrumental in setting up the climax of nearly every novel.
In "The Worst Witch" the jinx she puts on the broomstick results in Mildred running away into the woods rather than face Miss Cackle. If Mildred hadn't run away she wouldn't have spotted Agatha Cackle and her coven.
In "The Worst Witch Strikes Again", if she hadn't locked Mildred and Enid in the store cupboard they would never have flown into the Great Hall to do a performance and improve Maud's speech.
In "A Bad Spell for the Worst Witch", if Ethel hadn't turned Mildred into a frog, Mildred wouldn't have discovered Algernon Rowan-Webb and he would have remained a frog for the rest of his life.
In "The Worst Witch All at Sea", if she hadn't set the boat adrift, the legendary treasure chest on Cat's Head Rock wouldn't have been discovered.
In "The Worst Witch Saves the Day", if Ethel hadn't left Tabby on the roof then Miss Granite wouldn't have picked him up and Mildred wouldn't have found out Miss Granite was actually Agatha Cackle in disguise.
While she is a straightforward bully in "The Worst Witch to the Rescue", where the main threat is Ethel stealing Mildred's summer project to pass off as her own, Ethel returns to her traditional role of unwittingly provoking success in "The Worst Witch and the Wishing Star", where her attempts to expose Mildred's new dog Star result in Mildred being granted permission to use Star as her broom companion rather than Tabby after she and Star win an inter-school competition.
The Worst Witch is a British-German fantasy children's television series about a group of young witches at a school for magic. It stars Bella Ramsey and is based on "The Worst Witch" books by Jill Murphy (published 1974–2018). It is the fifth adaptation of The Worst Witch series after the 1986 television film, the 1998 television series, the 2001 television spin-off and the 2005 television spin-off. 
Drusilla Paddock is the older half-sister of Clarice crow and makes her first appearance in "The Worst Witch All at Sea". She claims a bed that Enid Nightshade offered to Mildred that looked like a hospital trolley. She has a much bigger role in the sixth book "The Worst Witch to the Rescue" where she hides Mildred's talking pet tortoise up a tree to prevent him from revealing the truth about Ethel's project. 
A Bad Spell for the Worst Witch (ISBN978-0-7226-5763-8) was published in 1982. It features Ethel Hallow's little sister, Sybil Hallow, and her friend Clarice Crow.
Miss Pentangle is the headmistress of Miss Pentangle's Academy for Witches, a fellow witch academy several mountaintops away from Cackle's Academy. In "The Worst Witch All at Sea", the unseen character Fenella Feverfew transfers there and leaves behind her regulation black cat since they have owls at Miss Pentangle's, although in The Worst Witch Saves The Day, Mildred reveals that the head girl there has a ragdoll cat, suggesting that the senior students can choose which animal they want. Mildred also describes Pentangle's Academy as being more up-to-date than Cackle's, and the students wear purple uniforms instead of black. In The Worst Witch Saves the Day, it is revealed that Miss Hardbroom is good friends with Miss Pentangle. 
The Worst Witch to the Rescue (ISBN978-0-14-138301-9) was published in 2007 and features Ethel Hallow's only friend, Drusilla Paddock, in a largely increased role since her brief cameo in The Worst Witch All at Sea.
The Worst Witch (ISBN978-0-85031-142-6) was first published in 1974 by Allison & Busby, who took the book on after it had been turned down by three other publishers.[6][5]
In the later books Miss Hardbroom's humanity comes through on occasion, in incidents such as her accident in The Worst Witch All at Sea, the restoring of Mildred's hair to its rightful length in The Worst Witch Saves the Day, and her admitting of her error of judgment at the end of The Worst Witch to the Rescue.
In 2007, Shock released "Weirdsister College" on DVD, in a boxset with Series 3 of "The Worst Witch", although it is titled as "Series 4" of "The Worst Witch". Shock also released box sets of Series 1 & 2 of "The Worst Witch", and Series 1 & 2 of "The New Worst Witch". These are released only in Australia, but are playable worldwide.
The author Jill Murphy began writing The Worst Witch at the age of 15, while still at school, and based many points of the stories on her own school experiences at Ursuline Convent in Wimbledon, England, with Singing becoming Chanting, Chemistry becoming Potions and so on.[4] Recalling how she got the idea for the story, she said: "My two friends and I used to come home in our dark uniforms, looking very scruffy at the end of the day – my dark plaits sprouting tufts, with lost hair ribbons. My Mum used to say 'Look at you all. You look like the three witches!' and it gave me the idea for a witch's school – so that it was exactly like my school, but with a subtle touch of magic. All the characters are based on my school friends (and enemies) and teachers."[5] Murphy concluded the first book at the age of 18, but failed to achieve a publishing deal, causing her to "put it in a drawer" and decide to "concentrate on other things instead." After working as a nanny and in a children’s home, Murphy had a phone call from a small publisher interested in the book. The Worst Witch was finally published in 1974, when Murphy was 24.
Maud Spellbody is first introduced as Mildred's best friend. She breaks off her friendship with Mildred in "The Worst Witch Strikes Again" after growing jealous of Mildred's apparent friendship with the new girl, Enid Nightshade. She later reverts her friendship to Mildred after Ethel locks them in a store cupboard and makes friends with Enid. She is short and chubby with glasses and hair worn in bunches (in A Bad Spell for the Worst Witch she wore pigtails and in "The Worst Witch Saves the Day" she has curly bunches instead of straight ones). She is fiercely loyal to Mildred and Enid and has stood up to Ethel many times, most notably in "The Worst Witch All at Sea" where she reprimands Ethel about eavesdropping on a conversation between her and Enid about Mildred acting strangely.
The Worst Witch Saves the Day (ISBN978-0-14-138218-0) was published in 2005. It features Agatha Cackle disguised as new teacher Miss Granite.