The Witch of Avonlea (2 Apr. 1990)
"Road to Avonlea" The Witch of Avonlea (original title)

An upcoming spelling bee shows that there is more than one definition for the word "witch" ... and that Peg Bowen isn't as much of a witch as some of Avonlea's prominent citizens - Hetty and Janet King.

Director:

René Bonnière

Writers:

Suzette Couture, Fiona McHugh (developer),

Stars:

Sarah Polley, Jackie Burroughs, Susan E. Cox

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
Sarah Polley	...	Sara Stanley
Jackie Burroughs	...	Hetty King
Susan E. Cox	...	Peg Bowen (as Susan Cox)
Mag Ruffman	...	Olivia King
Cedric Smith	...	Alec King
Lally Cadeau	...	Janet King
Gema Zamprogna	...	Felicity King
Zachary Bennett	...	Felix King
Joel Blake	...	Andrew King
Harmony Cramp	...	Cecily King
Gillian Steeve	...	Clemmie Ray
Elva Mai Hoover	...	Mrs. Lawson
Amy Stewart	...	Nelly Shatford
James O'Regan	...	Abner Jeffries
David Malek	...	Prince of Spelling

Storyline

Felix has been having nightmares of late about a witch. As the children ran into Peg Bowen in the woods, she who many in Avonlea consider a bona fide witch, most of the Kings believe Felix's nightmares are about her. But his nightmares are really about Hetty. Avonlea is hosting this year's provincial spelling bee. Hetty wants the children to really try hard to win because of it. On one end, Andrew is seen as the student to beat to represent Avonlea. On the other end, Hetty is making the worst student wear a dunce cap, which Felix fears. He is trying hard and spells correctly at home, but freezes when in front of the tough school teacher. Because of Felix's nightmares, Janet and Hetty confront Peg, who in return places a curse on the King's cat. However Peg and the Kings have to work together when Felix doesn't make it home from school during a snowstorm, he who was running away so that he would never have to return to school. Peg in particular thinks she knows what Felix needs to ...

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Plot Keywords:

witch | nightmare | spelling | spelling bee | teacher | 

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Genres:

Drama | Adventure | Family | Mystery | Romance

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Details

Country:

Canada USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

2 April 1990 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), Disney Channel, Story Girl Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

60 min 60 min

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

The first word in the spelling bee that everyone misses is "valetudinarian", (n.)a person of weak or sickly constitution (c. 1700s);(adj.)sickly, weak.

User Reviews

Is she a good witch, or a bad witch?

This episode is one of the first season on the 3-disk DVD set "Tales from Avonlea". Sarah was supposed to be 10, but young actress Sarah Polley looks more like 8. It is remarkable that a series would be built around such a young actress, but it works because she is so good and so believable.

The episode is built around the annual spelling bee, and it is being held at Avonlea. Hettie will be officiating. So during normal class period she spends some time practicing with the students. One boy, Sarah's cousin, in particular always messes up, and unforgiving Hettie makes him wear the dunce cap and sit facing the wall. Ashamed of his performance he "takes the long way home" through the winter woods, gets lost, and is found by the mysterious neighbor lady that most call a witch. But she takes the boy in, feeds him, and gives him a "magic crystal" (an ordinary stone) which she tells him will enable him to spell any word in the world correctly. She sends him home the next morning.

After everything that happened, the people around Avonlea looked at the lady in a new light, and she was not called a witch anymore, or maybe, a good witch!