Spike Milligan's Badjelly The Witch being made into animated TV series
- Production is underway on Badjelly, an animated television adaptation of a Spike Milligan children's story about a pair of siblings who encounter a forest of magical creatures
- Miriam Margolyes stars as the eponymous witch Badjelly, with the voice cast also featuring Rhys Darby, Julian Barratt, Kiell Smith-Bynoe, Roisin Conaty, Katherine Parkinson and Joe Wilkinson
- Milligan created the short story for his children and published it in 1973 with his own handwriting, illustrations and even his mistakes kept in, and would go on to voice three different television and musical adaptations
Spike Milligan's children's story Badjelly The Witch: A Fairy Story is being turned into an animated television series 50 years after it was first published, featuring an all-star comedy cast led by Miriam Margolyes.
Margolyes plays the titular "wickedest witch in all the world" in Badjelly, which is already in production and co-stars New Zealand comic Rhys Darby (Flight Of The Conchords, Our Flag Means Death) as the mischievous Binklebonk the tree goblin and Malachi Hall (The Flatshare) and Kiwi actor Ava Diakhaby (Funny Girls) as Rose, the brother and sister who go searching for their lost cow and stumble upon a cast of magical creatures.
US entertainment site Variety reports that the 13-part series also features the voices of Julian Barratt, Kiell Smith-Bynoe, Roisin Conaty, Katherine Parkinson, Joe Wilkinson, Mandip Gill (Big Lizard) and Cohen Holloway (Hunt For The Wilderpeople), with the UK-New Zealand-Canadian production aimed at 7-11 year-olds and set to air in 2025. A UK broadcaster has yet to pick it up.
Milligan created the short story for his children and published it in 1973 with his own handwriting and illustrations, as well as his mistakes kept in. He read the story himself for an episode of Jackanory that same year and narrated and played all the characters for a 2000 animated Christmas film version for CBBC, with the exception of Tim and Rose, who were voiced by child actors Jake Dudley and Sarah Wichall, the granddaughter of Sid James.
In 1974, One Foot In The Grave composer Ed Welch set the story to music, with Milligan narrating over a large orchestra. The record sold well and proved particularly popular in New Zealand, where it was regularly played on morning radio.
The series is a co-production between New Zealand's Mukpuddy Animation, Canada's Sphere Animation and the UK's Cantilever Media (The Amazing Maurice). It was commissioned by New Zealand's TVNZ and WildBrain Television's Family Channel in Canada and has already been acquired for broadcast by ABC Australia.
"We've assembled a great team of writers and creatives who are taking Spike Milligan's creation to another level of enchantment, thrills and whimsical quirky fun," head writer and co-director Ryan Cooper told Variety. "Stay tuned as this magical Badjelly animated series rekindles the spirit of Milligan's whimsical world and takes you on an unforgettable adventure!"
Producer Simon Ward added: "Badjelly The Witch is wildly popular in New Zealand. Generations of Kiwi kids have grown up with the book, the radio play and countless versions of the stage show. We're delighted to bring this beloved classic to a global audience with our take on Spike Milligan's bonkers adventure."
Badjelly is funded by Te Puna Kairangi, the New Zealand Government's Premium Productions Fund, NZ On Air, and the New Zealand Screen Production Rebate (NZSPR), as well as the Ontario and Canadian Film or Video Production Tax Credits, the British Film Institute's UK Global Screen Fund and the UK Animation Tax Credit.