Holly Rivers, who played Drusilla Paddock in the 1990s CITV series The Worst Witch, has revealed she drank underage off set and spent all her earnings from the show. The programme, based on Jill Murphy's books, ran from 1998 to 2001.
Underage drinking on set
On her podcast Cackles After Dark, Rivers said she and co-star Katy Allen found a bar in South London that served them alcohol despite their age. "It was this cheesy bar and they had Buy One Get One Free lurid cocktails, we enjoyed a few of those. I think it was the only place we could find in the whole of South London that would serve us alcohol. Even though we did have fake IDs!"
Spending earnings
Rivers said her parents let her spend her earnings freely. "My mum and dad were pretty liberal and pretty progressive. They just said I'd worked really hard for the money so I could do with it whatever I wanted. So I did." She added: "I did put myself through uni and I did loads of travelling so I didn't spend it unwisely, but there's certainly none left!"
Royalty disappointment
Rivers wrote to BritBox seeking royalties for the cast but was told payments would be less than 25p. "Unfortunately, we won't be able to issue any payments as we don't issue payments smaller than 25p," she recalled.
Series legacy
The final episode aired in January 2001, months before the first Harry Potter film. A spin-off, Weirdsister College, followed. In 2005, CITV launched The New Worst Witch, and Netflix remade the series in 2017 with Bella Ramsey. Author Jill Murphy died in 2021 at age 72.
