open/close all folders
Main
Cassandra Nightingale
Cassandra "Cassie" Nightingale
Played by: Catherine Bell
- Amazingly Embarrassing Parents: Having a mom/stepmom who often knows your secrets before you even say them out loud can be...less than enjoyable.
- The Anticipator
- Armor-Piercing Question: One of her specialties.
- Batman Gambit: She's an absolute master at these (though she's always well-intentioned).
- Blonde, Brunette, Redhead: The brunette.
- Contrived Coincidence: She's a master at setting these up. Sometimes it's unconscious.
- Deadpan Snarker: Not as much as other characters, but she has her moments.
- Eating the Eye Candy: Multiple episodes show that she does not mind Sam going around in tight T-shirts.
- Experienced Protagonist: Being mature, wise, and an accomplished mistress of the Batman Gambit.
- Good Parents: Cassie is an amazing mom (if sometimes veering into Amazingly Embarrassing Parents thanks to her clairvoyance).
- Guile Hero: Cassie is incredibly good at using her Contrived Coincidence power to set up couples and make people happy.
- Opposites Attract: Cassie and Sam are perfect foils for each other, with Sam as the analytical/practical one and Cassie being a "think-outside-the-box" type. She's an idealistic dreamer, and Sam starts out not believing in anything other than what he can see, touch, and measure. He's a physician, and she recommends alternative medicine. They often (though playfully) clash over even small things like coffee(Sam) vs. tea (Cassie). Despite this, their attraction for each other is apparent very early on, and they do have very similar values. Eventually they fall in love and get married.
- The Mentor: Plays this role to everyone.
- Nice Girl: Very possibly the single most good-hearted character in the entire franchise—which is saying something, because this is not a show with a lot of deliberate villainy.
- Older Than They Look: Jake asks Cassie if she was really born in "nineteen hundred and-" before she cuts him off. The implication is that it's somewhere between 1901 and 1910 and she's more than 100 years old.
- Parental Bonus: Cassie mentions to Sam that she "woke up this morning thinking of" him. In context, it refers to how she no longer wakes up thinking about Jake, but it does raise certain (ahem) implications.
- Playing with Fire: On two occasions, characters are trying to light a fire and it doesn't seem to work. Cassie gets a certain look on her face, and it spontaneously lights up.
- Power Incontinence: In Season 3 a beloved town flower known as the Middleton Merriwick is damaged, and both Cassie and Abigail's powers suffer as a result.
- Psychic Radar: Implied to have some kind of this, explaining how she always knows when someone is behind her.
- Pun: Cassie notes in 5x08 that Abigail and a volleyball coach "hit it off."
- Running Gag: Cassie always knows when someone is coming up behind her. Always. She'll often greet someone without even turning around. For example, in 4x07:Cassie: Now I have to help the mayor.Abigail: Oh, is the mayor here?Sam: Wait for it.Martha: Yoo-hoo!
- Shipper on Deck: Having problems with your relationship? Cassie will help. Pretty much the whole town seems to be shipping her and Sam.
- Shout-Out: In 5x10, she quotes David McCullough Jr: “Climb mountains not so the world can see you, but so you can see the world.”
- Sickeningly Sweethearts: With Sam. (Somewhat) downplayed as they're both mature adults.
- Single Woman Seeks Good Man: Fortunately for her, Middleton is loaded with Nice Guys.
- Stealth Hi/Bye: Excels at pulling these.
- Team Mom: To pretty much the whole town.
- The Three Faces of Eve: The Wife.
- Walking the Earth: Cassie did some of this before settling in Middleton.
Grace Russell
Grace Russell
Played by: Bailee Madison
- Batman Gambit: She's getting quite good at this.
- Character Development: Though she was always more mature than Nick, Grace learns that even though one can have a lot of insight into someone's character, that doesn't always mean they'll welcome your advice.
- Cuddle Bug: Grace always loves snuggling with her mom.
- Dude Magnet: She's managed to grab the attention of 3 different guys throughout. Namely Anthony, Nick, and Noah.
- I Know You Know I Know: Discussed in episode 4x05, when Grace and Nick are cleaning out the closet and arguing over who should do the top and the bottom.Grace: “Unless you only said you wanted the top to make me think that’s what you wanted, so I’d fight for it.”Nick:: “Then you can have the bottom.”Grace: “Or maybe you knew I’d want the one you wanted so you pretended to want the one you didn’t want so I would want the one I only thought you wanted.”
- Guile Hero: Not quite as much as her mom, but she's getting there.
- Put on a Bus: Grace leaves for college at the end of Season 5 and is absent for Season 6 and most of Season 7, save a couple of cameos.
- Three Faces of Eve: The Child.
- Vitriolic Best Buds: With Nick. A few moments of Ship Tease aside it's unsurprising that they end up being step-siblings.
Dr. Sam Radford
Dr. Sam Radford
Played by: James Denton
- The Ace: Sam is mentioned to have finished his medical degree in three years at the top of his class, was a top surgeon after that in a prestigious hospital, speaks some Latin, knows how to salsa dance, plays guitar, and claims that he almost never lost at poker (until he met Cassie, that is).
- Character Development: Sam learns to accept magic and have faith in things he can't measure, as well as becoming a better father to Nick.
- Deadpan Snarker: To a great extent, especially in earlier seasons.
- Fish out of Water: Sam and Nick start the series having just moved from the giant city of New York to the tiny town of Middleton.
- Green-Eyed Monster: Sam has some of this in Season 1 when Cassie looks like she might be getting together with someone else.
- Ignored Expert: In 2x03, Sam tells Martha that she has laryngitis—she needs to either rest her voice, or risk losing it completely. Martha being Martha, she refuses. Fortunately, Sam doesn't mind.
- Opposites Attract: Cassie and Sam are perfect foils for each other, with Sam as the analytical/practical one and Cassie being a "think-outside-the-box" type. She's an idealistic dreamer, and Sam starts out not believing in anything other than what he can see, touch, and measure. He's a physician, and she recommends alternative medicine. They often (though playfully) clash over even small things like coffee(Sam) vs. tea(Cassie). Despite this, their attraction for each other is apparent very early on, and they do have very similar values. Eventually they fall in love and get married.
- Nature Lover: It's part of how he and Cassie originally bond.
- Papa Wolf: Sam enjoys playing Boyfriend-Blocking Dad to Grace, and will do anything for Nick. In the first season, he is at first willing to let Linda take custody of Nick if the alternative is a prolonged legal battle, which will ultimately hurt his son the most.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Sam tells Linda off for trying to use Nick to fill the void in her life her ex-boyfriend left behind, adds that there's a reason he's in Sam's custody rather than Linda's, and will stay there. When she feebly protests he can't keep her from Nick, Sam calmly tells her he's not planning on it. But Nick will stay with him.
- Renaissance Man: Guitar, basketball, medicine, dance, stage magic...he's good at it all.
- Sickeningly Sweethearts: With Cassie. Downplayed as they're both mature adults.
- Twerp Sweating: Sam has a lot of fun doing this to Luke when he comes to pick up Grace for their first date, inquiring about their plans, Death Glare, and all. Cassie even lampshades his Boyfriend-Blocking Dad nature.Luke: You're a doctor, right?Sam: Surgeon. I cut people open.
Nick Radford
Nick Radford
Played by: Rhys Matthew Bond
- Character Development: Nick comes to love Middleton and its small-town charm, also becoming more thoughtful, friendly, and mature.
- Deadpan Snarker: His wit is very pointed. It's hinted to be partially a case of Stepford Snarker to hide all the teenage angst he's going through.
- Fish out of Water: Sam and Nick start the series having just moved from the giant city of New York to the tiny town of Middleton. He initially hates his new life and constantly asks to move back to New York.
- I Know You Know I Know: Discussed in episode 4x05, when Grace and Nick are cleaning out the closet and arguing over who should do the top and the bottom.Grace: “Unless you only said you wanted the top to make me think that’s what you wanted, so I’d fight for it.”Nick: “Then you can have the bottom.”Grace: “Or maybe you knew I’d want the one you wanted so you pretended to want the one you didn’t want so I would want the one I only thought you wanted.”
- Know When to Fold 'Em: Nick starts wanting out to study abroad in London. At first, he's all for it, but then realizes that living in a foreign country means more than just getting away from your dad. It means being in a different time zone, different culture, different weather patterns...he eventually decides to stay in the States.
- Put on a Bus: He ends up going off to college but is more Commuting on a Bus by coming home on occasion.
- Tall, Dark, and Snarky: He's two out of the three, and is getting the first as he grows.
- Vitriolic Best Buds: With Grace. A few moments of Ship Tease aside, it's unsurprising that they end up being step-siblings.
Abigail Pershing
Abigail Pershing
Played by: Sarah Power
- The Anticipator: To a very nearly Cassie-level extent.
- Batman Gambit: Again, she's almost as good at Cassie as this.
- Blonde, Brunette, Redhead: The (usually) redhead.
- Can't Spit It Out: To Donovan at the end of Season 5. Literally, thanks to the curse.
- The Casanova: A Rare Female Example, almost always has a man wrapped around her finger. Or, sometimes, two.
- Contrived Coincidence: Like Cassie, she's a master at setting these up. Sometimes it's unconscious.
- Cool Aunt: Once she's had a bit of Character Development, becomes this for Grace, and to a lesser extent Cassie's other kids.
- Cruel to Be Kind: It's implied that some of the things she does, especially in the early seasons, are this.
- Determinator: She is determined to break the curse, no matter what.
- Good Witch Versus Bad Witch: Abigail started out as more of an antagonistic bad witch, only wanting to use her abilities for selfish gain or to stir up trouble and constantly clashing with good witch Cassie about how to raise Grace. Abigail later received Character Development when she realized how good it felt using her powers to help people, though she still plays a more rash and outspoken Foil to Cassie, and is willing to be a little more overtly manipulative than Cassie would be. Somewhat averted when Joy comes to town when Cassie actively uses her powers to thwart Joy's use of her own to win a darts match.
- Ladykiller in Love: Gender-flipped. When she actually falls in love with Donovan, she's terrified.
- Meaningful Echo: At the beginning of 5x08, Donovan comes up to Abigail and gives her the Big Damn Kiss.Donovan: I couldn't wait to do that again.Abigail: Why'd you stop?
- At the end, having come to a kind of Love Realization, she comes up to him and snogs him senseless.
Abigail: I couldn't wait to do that again.Donovan: Why'd you stop? - Offscreen Breakup: 5x07 ends with Abigail having a date with Vincent, as they've had UST for a few episodes; by the next episode, they've apparently decided they're Better as Friends.
- Power Incontinence: In Season 3 a beloved town flower known as the Middleton Merriwick is damaged, and both Cassie and Abigail's powers suffer as a result.
- Shipper on Deck: For Sam and Cassie. When Stephanie shows interest in Sam early in the show, Abigail deliberately works to head her off.
- Stealth Mentor: She often uses her powers to teach people lessons without them realizing what she's doing. Examples include teaching Grace to use her abilities responsibly, encouraging Lori to be a better big sister, helping Martha to realize she is capable of running the Lights Festival on her own, and perhaps most impressive of all, helping sett up Sam and Cassie without either of them realizing what she was doing.
- Three Faces of Eve: The seductress.
- Vitriolic Best Buds: With Stephanie. They can barely hold a conversation without snarking (especially in the first few seasons), but when the chips are down, they really do care about each other.
- With Friends Like These...: At first, especially to Stephanie.
Martha Tinsdale
Martha Tinsdale
Played by: Catherine Disher
- Batman Gambit: Martha pulls this on her two interns, Grace and Luke, in 5x07 by assigning them to compete and see who can write the best history of her family. When they work together instead, she reveals that they passed, because it was actually meant to be a team-building exercise.
- Hidden Depths: Seems like a Large Ham Small Name, Big Ego, but she has a sense of compassion, truly loves her town and husband, and occasionally shows a pretty good sense of cunning.
- Large Ham: She just can't stop herself from hogging the spotlight.
- Leitmotif: Martha has a peppy, energetic one that reflects her bubbly personality.
- Small Name, Big Ego: She always believes she is deserving of attention, despite just being the mayor of a rather small town. It's usually Played for Laughs, though.
- Secret-Keeper: By the time of Good Witch, it's clear that Martha knows that Cassie is a witch (and that Cassie knows that Martha knows and that Martha knows that Cassie knows that Martha knows); apart from a few smug facial expressions and an occasional wink-wink nudge-nudge comment to other people when they do something and say that "Cassie suggested I [insert thing they are currently doing]", she never tells a soul.
- Team Mom: Tries to be this.
- This Cannot Be!: When she's told she has to rest her voice.
- Vitriolic Best Buds: Martha is often too busy running the town (or panicking and fretting over something going wrong), but she and Cassie do, in fact, genuinely seem to be friends with one another by the time Good Witch starts.
Stephanie Borden
Stephanie Borden
Played by: Kylee Evans
- Blonde, Brunette, Redhead: The blonde.
- Cannot Keep a Secret: She's essentially the town gossip.
- Nice Girl
- The Pollyanna: She lampshades this herself, saying she's a "glass half-full kind of gal."
- Single Woman Seeks Good Man: She's been largely unsuccessful in love, until she meets Adam, but the one thing all of her men share is that they're kind.
- Vitriolic Best Buds: With Abigail. They can barely hold a conversation without snarking (especially in the first few seasons), but when the chips are down, they really do care about each other.
Donovan Davenport
Donovan Davenport
Played by: Marc Bendavid
- Abusive Parents: He suffered from this a fair amount.
- Alliterative Name: Donovan Davenport.
- Family Theme Naming: And his parents are named Dottie and Davis, and his brother is Daniel. Yeah.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He is incredibly snarky, but overall not a bad person.
- Meaningful Echo: At the beginning of 5x08, Donovan comes up to Abigail and gives her the Big Damn Kiss.Donovan: I couldn't wait to do that again.Abigail: Why'd you stop?
- At the end, having come to a kind of Love Realization, she comes up to him and snogs him senseless.
Abigail: I couldn't wait to do that again.Donovan: Why'd you stop?
Adam Hawkins
Adam Hawkins
Played by: Scott Cavalheiro
- Best Friend: To Sam. It helps that they work closely together.
- Hot for Preacher: He's a chaplain at the Hillcrest Hospital.
- The Mentor: Many of his appearances show him offering support and wisdom to various characters. He is a chaplain, after all.
- Nice Guy: As you would expect from a hospital chaplain.
- Tall, Dark, and Snarky: Though kinder than most examples of this trope, he certainly fits the bill.
Vincent
Vincent
Played by: Gianpaolo Venuta
- Best Friend: He and Cassie aren't technically foster siblings, but they're as good as family.
- Nice Guy: He's the best friend of Cassie Nightingale, what do you expect?
- Offscreen Breakup: 5x07 ends with Abigail having a date with Vincent, as they've had UST for a few episodes; by the next episode, they've apparently decided they're Better as Friends.
Ryan Elliott
George O'Hanrahan
George O'Hanrahan
Played by: Peter MacNeill
- Affectionate Nickname: He calls several other characters "kid."
- Call-Back: In 5x12, George mentions that 13 has always been a lucky number for Cassie.
- Deadpan Snarker: Very much so.
- Mr. Fixit: He mentors Nick a little in fixing cars, and in general is the go-to guy for anything mechanical/handyman related.
- Nice Guy: Seems to be pretty much genetic with that family.
- Parental Substitute: He's the maternal grandfather of Jake's first two children, but has all but adopted Cassie and the other Merriwicks. For all intents and purposes, he is family, and refers to Grace as his granddaughter. As it turns out, he used to work for Cassie, Abigail and Joy's great-grandmother, and was devoted to her.
- Seen It All: Having lived with Cassie and Grace for years, he's pretty much completely unsurprised by their magic.
- Shout-Out: George encourages Derek Sanders to act like "Columbo" and references his "one more thing" catchphrase, though the latter doesn't know who that is.
Brandon Russell
Brandon Russell
Played by: Dan Jeannotte
- Big Brother Mentor: To Lori and Grace, though this falls off in later seasons.
- Demoted to Extra: Falls out of focus in later seasons, only appearing in a few episodes in seasons 4 and 5 each.
- Parental Bonus: In series 2, Tara says that having a baby will mean giving up her figure for nine months. Brandon smirks and says both of them will be giving that up. He follows this up with Shutting Up Now.
Joy Harper
Joy Harper
Played by: Katherine Barrell
- Mysterious Stranger: When she initially arrives in Middleton.
- Nice Girl: Unsurprisingly, once we discover her true family identity.
- Parental Abandonment: Her mother died in a car crash when she was 17. Her father had already left the family. Somewhat subverted. We later learn that he'd been sent away by her mother to protect them, and had been given a magical potion to cause amnesia, hence why he doesn't remember them at first. Eventually, they reunite.
Recurring
Derek Sanders
Derek Sanders
Played by: Noah Cappe
- Beleaguered Assistant: Derek Sanders serves as Martha's Number Two for most of the early seasons, having to play Only Sane Man and Sarcastic Devotee. He mostly takes it in stride, though.
- Demoted to Extra: He barely appears at all in later seasons.
- Sarcastic Devotee: To Martha Tinsdale. He's incredibly devoted to helping her, but he'll also happily throw in some snark or tell her that a plan just isn't feasible.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: He disappears completely later on. It's possible he could have retired or shifted to another role, but it's never mentioned.
Eve
Eve
Played by: Kate Corbett
- Sarcastic Devotee: Serves as this to Sam. She's his secretary, but not afraid to offer snarky suggestions when necessary.
- Shout-Out: In 2x03, Eve says to Sam, "What's up, Doc?"
- Demoted to Extra: She appears fairly regularly for the first three seasons, then a few in season 4, after which she disappears entirely.
Ben Patterson
Ben Patterson
Played by: Jefferson Brown
- Mr. Fixit: It's basically his entire job given that he's a handyman.
- Put on a Bus: After he and Stephanie break up, he pretty much disappears.
Possibly justified, given that most people wouldn't want to hang around with their ex too much, and Middleton is a small town.
Linda Wallace
Linda Wallace
Played by: Gabrielle Miller
- Alpha Bitch: In Series 1 and 2.
- Heel–Face Return: Sam's ex-wife Linda Wallace has a multi-episode arc in Seasons 1 and 2, showing her to be manipulative and controlling. She attempts to force Nick to come back with her to New York, essentially setting up Sam as the bad guy for not letting Nick go. When that fails, Linda decides to stick around, meddling in their lives and getting jealous over all the time Sam spends with Cassie. She leaves with no real resolution, convinced that Sam and Nick are both "against" her and claiming she has to hurry back to New York for her job. When Linda finally returns to Middleton for Nick's graduation at the end of Season 5, she is much more genial. She is concerned about Nick moving so far away for college, but it is revealed that she feels guilty about not being there for Nick and that the further distance will make it worse. By the end of the episode, Linda enjoys the graduation party along with everyone else, she and Sam are said to have gone in together on a nice graduation gift for Nick (though it's implied that Sam may have just said that to make her look better in front of Nick), and Sam even agrees to let Nick stay with her over the summer before he starts college.
- Snark-to-Snark Combat: Linda in season 1 and 2 keeps trying to engage in this with Cassie, (correctly) feeling like she's being replaced in Sam's affections. It's subverted because Cassie is too polite to engage with her and no sells her attempts.
Tom Tinsdale
Tom Tinsdale
Played by: Paul Miller
- Alliterative Name: Tom Tinsdale
- Deadpan Snarker: Usually at Martha's expense, though pretty much always good-natured.
- The Gadfly: More than willing to tease his wife.
- Nice Guy: Generally a sweetheart, though willing to put his foot down on occasion.
John Dover
John Dover
Played by: Dan Payne
- Adventurer Archaeologist: When he was younger, he and Cassie backpacked around the world together.
- Ship Tease: With Cassie. Unfortunately for him, Sam is in the picture.
Lori Russell
Lori Russell
Played by: Hannah Endicott-Douglas
- Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: Lori was a semi-important character in Season 1, living at Grey House and often acting in the Big (Half) Sister role for Grace. Then in Season 2 she simply stopped appearing in any episodes (she's mentioned in 2x09 as being "on assignment in LA," whatever that means). In Season 5, it's briefly mentioned she is working abroad and can't attend Sam and Cassie's wedding.
- Put on a Bus: Disappears completely after season 1.
Anthony
Anthony
Played by: Shane Harte
- Just Friends: He effectively falls victim to the friend zone by Grace.
- Put on a Bus: He disappears after the first season due to moving to Davensport to be with his father.
Arthur Pershing
Phil Sturgis
Phil Sturgis
Played by: Sebastian Pigott
- Gadgeteer Genius: He's a software engineer.
- Nerds Are Sexy: When he checks into Grey House Bed & Breakfast, he instantly manages to grab Abigail's attention.
- The Quiet One
- The Smart Guy: He is a tech genius who is working on developing a groundbreaking internet dating site.
Noah
Noah
Played by: James R. Swalm
- It's All About Me: He dumps Grace over the phone, with no warning.
- Sickeningly Sweethearts: He and Grace are this, a little.
Tara Russell
Tara Russell
Played by: Ashley Leggat (Film, Season 1), Rebecca Dalton (Season 2-5)
- Demoted to Extra: Falls out of focus in later seasons, only appearing in a few episodes in seasons 4 and 5 each.
Jake Russell
Jake Russell
Played by: Chris Potter
- Posthumous Character: Jake's life and death play a fairly important role in Season 1, and to a lesser extent in later seasons.
