The Demon Headmaster (1996–1998) User Reviews

It holds up really well, great show.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 8/10 · 9 January 2021]

This was one of my favourites shows as a young teenager, and thanks to Britbox, I've been able to enjoy it years later.

The Books are great, and these adaptations are hard to fault, they bring the characters and story to life, the acting is a little hit and miss at times you could argue, but the kids are only young. The main role, however, was made for Terrence Hardiman, he's incredibly good as The Demonic villain of the piece. His eyes, demeanour and general presence are all so wonderfully menacing.

Don't be overly critical of the sets or special effects, they are dated, and look very basic, but at the time, they would have looked fine.

This along with Century Falls, surely the kind of drama that kids need to see? I think so.

Great 8/10.

the demon headmaster - a classic

[xmissgibsonx · 22 April 2005]

There are some reviews on here, how the demon headmaster isn't very good. Well i watched this series first hand, coming home from school to watch it every Wednesday (as i remember) and i loved it! It was the talk of the school, everyone loved it, to watch it now first hand wouldn't be fair, as its years old to criticise it!! the second series wasn't as good, but the demon headmaster is brilliant!!! and it gave me and all my friends, great entertainment when we were kids!! The demon headmaster has to be a classic kids program!! i loved it!! I remember the way his eyes use to go, and hypnotise the characters, and the growing plants. i think most people who watched it after school, would agree it was one of the best kid programs!

Great books, great TV series

[TheLittleSongbird · 9/10 · 8 August 2010]

Even as a child I loved the books, they were well written, interesting and funny and the character of The Demon Headmaster stuck in my head for a long time. Apart from one or two underused secondary characters, this was very good. As an adaptation it sticks true to the books' spirit, and is just as well written and interesting. And yes, The Demon Headmaster is very memorable here.

The production values are pretty good, same with the music, while the script has a good balance of humour and intelligence and the story is interesting and doesn't meander. The characters are great, Dinah is smart and brave and Lloyd and Harvey bring a smart and light-hearted touch. But I have to say The Demon Headmaster is the best character of all. The acting I had little problem with, Terence Hardimann is especially excellent in the title role, very cold and terrifying.

In conclusion, a great series and a solid adaptation too. 9/10 Bethany Cox

Deliciously Dark Children's TV

[neiljones1981 · 9/10 · 16 March 2019]

I loved this when I was younger, the central premise of a headmaster character that we didn't like as children resonates with us all. The fact it has now been pushed out on DVD is excellent. Okay it was made in the 1990s so the special effects and some of the props look a bit dated these days (there is sight of a Docking Station in one episode, which were relatively common at the time but would later fall out of fashion as laptops became more sophisticated).

Of course one has to bear in mind that the first two books date originally from 1982 and 1985, so the TV show had to update the technology a bit, and of course time now makes this look old and clunky. Still its retro which is in at the moment so...

Anyway it was a great TV show, so dark and moody, the show was relatively faithful to the books, and Terrence Hardiman was fantastically wonderful as the Headmaster.

Having originally read the books, all bar two of them were adapted for the TV show. The current book coverings paint over all knowledge that there was ever a TV adaptation in the first place. The "Hunky Parker" book was not adapted, probably because it was such a surreal and strange concept in the book it just couldn't work on TV.

Very well recommended. Will be checking out the rebooted version later in 2019 which will probably not stand up to this but we shall see.

Forget Harry Potter meet Splat!

[keith-125 · 11 December 2002]

I picked up this film in a dodgy part of the city, thinking it might be fun. It didn't seem too old and was produced by the BBC. Firstly the plot is your usual evil headmaster trying to take over the world. This story is very similar to a book i once read called 'My Teacher is an Alien'. Anyway, don't be put off by the child-heavy cast, the acting is not bad, compared to the first Harry Potter film.

The brothers are great-fun in a Weasley Twins kind of way. Dinah is sort of a Harry/Hermione fusion, being the main character, smart, brave, and an orphan. The rest of the gang are under-used, Ingrid is sassy, Ian is the scared one, and i forget who the last one is.