Main Characters | Students | Teachers | Others | The New Worst Witch
The other teachers at Miss Cackle's Academy.
For the main teachers, go to this page.
For teachers introduced in The New Worst Witch, go to this page.
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Miss Drill
Miss Drill
Portrayed by: Claire Porter (1998 series), Shauna Shim (2017 series)
1998
2017
The PE teacher at Cackle's. Although a little strict when it comes to exercise, she's still much nicer than Miss Hardbroom. In the 1998 TV series she's also the only non-witch member of staff, while in the 2017 series she has witch ancestry.
- Adaptational Attractiveness: The book's illustrations show her to be a hard-faced Brawn Hilda. The TV series has her played by a slender and kind-faced actress.
- Adaptational Badass: Inverted (but not to Adaptational Wimp). She was implied to be a witch in the books but is a Muggle in the '98 TV series.
- Age Lift: Inverted. The book illustrations show her as a stern middle-aged woman. The TV series have her as a woman in her twenties.
- Ascended Extra: Much like Drucilla, Miss Drill only made one brief appearance in the books written before the 1998 TV series. In the books written afterwards, she makes several further appearances in which her affable nature (when not playing Drill Sergeant Nasty) is a lot more prominent.
- Badass Normal: Although she doesn't have powers, she still saves the girls a few times.
- Boyish Short Hair: Used to contrast her with the rest of the teachers.
- Butt-Monkey: Occasionally, as she laments in the Halloween Episode.Miss Cackle: We all have our own roles to play in the running of the school.Miss Drill: Well mine seems to be gooseberry.note
- Cool Teacher: In Season 3. She volunteers to be the chaperone for Mildred's new club. She's also the one who usually argues in favour of the students.
- Drill Sergeant Nasty: She's this from the girls' perspective - since what teenage girl enjoys rigid exercise every day? More so in the books, where she threatens to punish the girls with extra PE.
- Dude, Where's My Respect?: Sometimes feels this way, especially when HB pulls rank on her and reminds her that she's not a witch.
- Evil Teacher: When she gains full witch powers. But even then she has a Heel Realisation.
- Generation Xerox: Her mother appears in the 2017 series, played by the same actress (and from what we see, a very similar personality).
- Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: She's blonde-haired (in the '98 series) and very caring.
- Hooked Up Afterwards: In between Seasons 1 and 2 she started some kind of relationship with Serge Dubois.
- Meaningful Name: Since she's a PE teacher.
- Meaningful Rename: When she briefly gains witch powers, she renames herself Hilary Hemlock.
- Muggle: In the '98 TV series the only non-witch member of staff.
- Official Couple: The only character to be in a canon relationship - with Serge Dubois from the Rocky Mountain Rangers.
- Race Lift: She's played by a black actress in the 2017 series. Her mother is too.
- Tomboy with a Girly Streak: Although she's often seen in workout clothes, she has a love for drama and plays too.
Frank Blossom
Frank Blossom
Portrayed by: Berwick Kaler
The school caretaker and gardener in 1998. The only male member of staff at Cackles.
- A Day in the Limelight: "Green Fingers and Thumbs", which centres around his participation in a gardening competition.
- Bumbling Dad: Bumbling Uncle to Charlie.
- Bungling Inventor: When it comes to creating an alarm system in a school with no electricity.
- First-Name Basis: He's called by his first name by most members of staff.
- Meaningful Name: In this case it refers to him being a gardener.
- Muggle: Along with Miss Drill, the only non-witch members of staff.
- The One Guy: As far as the school itself goes. There are other male recurring characters.
- Oop North: He has a distinct northern English accent.
- Put on a Bus: To Horticultural College in season 3.
Miss Lavinia Crotchet
Ms Lavinia Crotchet
!!Portrayed by: Polly James
After Miss Bat leaves between Mildred's second and third years in the 1998 series, Ms Crotchet replaces her as chanting teacher.
- Actually Pretty Funny: Laughs at jokes in the newspaper Mildred and Jadu create, including a cartoon which depicts her as a harp (that she also gets as a jibe at her 'harping on.')
- Cool Teacher: She gets on very well with the girls.
- Granola Girl: By witch standards anyway. In her first episode, she's trying to tune up a mood synthethiser and she believes in cleansing rituals and the like.
- The Makeover: In "The Hair Witch Project", she has Enid and Drucilla give her a rather radical one by magic.
- Meaningful Name: Hers references that she's a music teacher.
- Only Sane Man: She slips into this on occasion, as the newcomer to the arguing between the other three teachers.
- Suspiciously Similar Substitute: A Cloud Cuckoo Lander chanting teacher just like Miss Bat. She's a little less wacky than her though.
- Tarot Troubles: She reads a deck of tarot cards in "The Unfairground" that foreshadow revolt and revolution.
Mrs. Maria Tapioca
!!Mrs Maria Tapioca
Portrayed by: Annette Badland (1998 series) Zita Sattar (2017 series)
The school's dinner lady.
- Adaptational Jerkass: In the 2017 series, she's a haughty and sour-faced woman who doesn't much like children — a far step from her jovial Big Fun characterization from the 1998 series. Turns out she has a Freudian Excuse; stuck in a job she doesn't like and never getting anything other than complaints and insults from the students. She also has a strained relationship with her daughter.
- All There in the Manual: Her first name Maria is never said by any of the characters.
- Ascended Extra:
- She appears only in the fourth book, but makes more appearances in the TV series.
- In the 2017 series, she's a pretty minor character in the first two seasons but in the third season she's a lot more prominent. Not only does she get her own ongoing plotline about her problems reconnecting with her estranged daughter Mabel, but a fair bit of attention is paid to the developing Intergenerational Friendship between her and Beatrice.
- Big Fun: She's chubby and portrayed as a fun person. She's especially enthusiastic about the food she would love to prepare.
- Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: She disappears without explanation during Season 2.
- A Day in the Limelight: Sort of, in both TV series.
- "When We Feast At The Midnight Hour" in the 1999 series gives her a sizeable supporting role.
- "Magical Mum" from the 2017 series gives her a good deal of attention, going more into her background and introduces her estranged daughter Mabel.
- Eek, a Mouse!!: Subverted. She's not scared of mice in her kitchen, but she does want them gone in case they eat all the food.
- Lethal Chef: Inverted. She's a good cook but is forced to make everything out of a book of traditional school dinners. As the food takes half an hour to carry upstairs, it always arrives cold.
- Meaningful Name: The cook is named after a desert.
- Muggle: She appears to be this, as she's not shown doing any magic.
- Race Lift: Her nationality isn't said in the books, but she becomes Italian in the TV show.
Miss Deirdre Swoop
Miss Deirdre Swoop
Portrayed by: Stephanie Lane
- Academic Athlete: She was the top student at Pentangle's, and she's also very athletic, usually dominating the scene in anything sports-related. At Weirdsister College she's the secretary of sports and hobbies, and of course at Cackle's the teaches PE.
- Ascended Extra: Only appeared in one episode of the original 1998 series, but became part of the regular cast in Weirdsister College and The New Worst Witch.
- Competition Freak: A staple of her character. She's very competitive and loves to show off — though she becomes a lot more mature about it as she gets older.
- I Am Very British: She speaks in a very posh voice, though she's toned it down slightly by the time she's become a teacher.
- Open Mouth, Insert Foot: She has a tendency towards unthinkingly insulting people, though she gets somewhat better at catching herself in this.
- Took a Level in Kindness: As a Pentangle's student she's very haughty and full of herself. In Weirdsister College she's grown up a lot and becomes good friends with Mildred, even if she's still very competitive. In The New Worst Witch she's the friendly and encouraging (if slightly awkward) new teacher.
- Upper-Class Twit: Definitely comes across as this at times.
