The role led to other, minor roles, including that of Mildred Hubble in The Worst Witch, and in 1988 she moved to Paris to work on Valmont with Miloš Forman.

* Jill Murphy, author of The Worst Witch series

* The Worst Witch ( 1986 )

The Worst Witch is a series of children's novels written and illustrated by Jill Murphy and published by Puffin Books.

The first book was published ( by Allison & Busby ) in 1974, with the sequel The Worst Witch Strikes Again being published in 1980 ( also by Allison & Busby ).

A TV series based on the books aired from 1998 to 2001, and has inspired two spin-offs, Weirdsister College ( 2001 ) and The New Worst Witch ( 2005 ).

Murphy ( who began writing The Worst Witch at the age of 15 ) based the Worst Witch books on her own experiences of school at Ursuline Convent in Wimbledon, England with Singing becoming Chanting, Chemistry becoming Potions and so on.

The Worst Witch ( ISBN 978-0-85031-142-6 ) was first published in 1974.

The Worst Witch Strikes Again ( ISBN 978-0-85031-251-5 ) was first published in 1980 and features a new character, Enid Nightshade.

A Bad Spell for the Worst Witch ( ISBN 978-0-7226-5763-8 ) was published in 1982.

The Worst Witch All at Sea ( ISBN 978-0-670-83253-8 ) was published in 1993.

The Worst Witch Saves the Day ( ISBN 978-0-14-138218-0 ) was published in 2005.

The Worst Witch to the Rescue ( ISBN 978-0-14-138301-9 ) 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, a TV series based on the books, starring Georgina Sherrington and Felicity Jones as Mildred Hubble and Ethel Hallow respectively, was broadcast from 1998 to 2001.

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.

In 2004, a new series based on the 1998 series was made, entitled The New Worst Witch.

As of the end of The Worst Witch to the Rescue, Mildred, Maud, Enid and Ethel are in the second ( Summer ) term of their third year at the Academy.

Mildred Hubble, the heroine of the Worst Witch book series, is a good-hearted, but bungling young witch-in-training at Miss Cackle's Academy for Witches, who never seems to get anything right.