Witches of East End is not a well-known show. At least, I hadn’t heard about it until I stumbled upon it while researching this series. Now that I’ve experienced it, I’m not sure why it wasn’t more popular. And with a 7.5 rating on IMDB, it’s clear that those who saw the show agree.

Just the facts

Launching in 2013 and running for just two seasons, Witches of East End is the story of the Beauchamp family. Wendy, Joanna, Freya and Ingrid are witches. Joanna, the mother of Freya and Ingrid, has kept this from them for their lives.

Or, at least their current lives.

But the enemies of their past lives catch up with them as Freya prepares to get married. Soon the girls have to learn how to use their powers before they are killed.

And stay dead.

What Witches of East End got right

I will be honest, this portion is going to be pretty short.

One thing I appreciated was Ingrid’s fascination with witchcraft before she knew she was a witch. While she thought it was all make-believe, she was fascinated by it.

This feels very true to life. While being raised in a high-control and patriarchal religion, I was fascinated with witchcraft. Whether this fascination led to my conversion or there was always something calling to me is up for debate. But this fascination feels very familiar.

I also liked the moment in the first episode when Ingrid finds a fertility spell on the internet. Because, in this very modern world, most spells we witches learn are from the internet. Most of my witchy education came from creators on the internet. And there’s nothing wrong with that. If a spell is going to work for you, it’s going to work no matter how you learned it.

Finally, there was a frightening part of this episode that feels true. Not just as a witch, but as someone who lives near the Appalachian forests.

If you see someone who looks like you, run away. Get as far away as possible.

What they got wrong

While I enjoyed this show, I have to say that it was not witchy accurate. Starting with Ingrid’s assumption that the fertility spell she does for her friend, Barb, is white magic, not black magic.

That’s not a thing. There is no white magic or black magic, there’s just magic. Practitioners might disagree about using baneful magic, but that’s a personal decision. But the prospect of good bad magic is based on outdated puritanical opinions about right and wrong.

To put it bluntly, there is little to no witchcraft in this show that is recognizable. It is all fiction magic, based on the assumption that witches are mythical creatures that look like but are not humans.

And that’s fine. It’s not claiming to be anything else.

Frankly, just because a show is heavy on realistic witchcraft doesn’t mean it’s a good show. The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina had plenty of real witchcraft, and it was still a horrible show. So if you’re ready to enjoy this show for the pure fantasy/horror that it is, then you’ll have a good witchy time.

While Witches of East End didn’t have much to do with Modern witchcraft, it was still a fun watch. Purely from a storytelling standpoint, I highly recommend it.

(4 / 5)

By the way, if you like this you might enjoy my haunted apartment novella, Quiet Apocalypse. The main character is a modern witch, and I share some real magic in this fictional story of an unexpected end of the world.

Wow, you’re still with us… So, taking it from Part 1 and Part 2 of this saga, we’re still knuckle deep in finger spiders here at Haunted MTL! Because I made A LOT of unfulfilled requests for a spider out of fingers, I will continue this snarky little AI art series with NightCafe and Canva through the month of September…

Images: Overall design aesthetic of fashion / design advertising spread in muted tones with four AI art rendered images of spiders, built spiders, and spiders on hands, with any given number of legs on spiders and fingers on hands as you’d expect from AI interfacing at this time. Prompts used from top left to lower right include: fingers spider; fingers as spider; fingers as spider legs no hand; spider out of fingers.

Text reads: Creepy Crawlies Finger Spiders What You Get! This is all on you… You let the terrifying AI art generated finger spiders in the house and then let them crawl on you. When you turn into a spider, that’s all your own doing. Leave me out of it.

Images: Overall design aesthetic of fashion / design advertising spread in muted tones with four AI art rendered images of spiders, built spiders, and spiders on hands, with any given number of legs on spiders and fingers on hands as you’d expect from AI interfacing at this time. Prompts used from top left to lower right include: spider hand; fingers as spider legs; spider hand fingers; spider as fingers.

Text reads: Creepy Crawlies Finger Spiders Look I’m Sorry! I wish I could help. I really really do. Keep scrubbing at it even if your flesh falls off. It’s really your only hope now. You’ve been bitten and there’s not much to do for it now.

All of the AI art images used in this series were generated on Thursday, June 13, 2024. If you want to see more freaky spiderness in art here on Haunted MTL, check out Bitten and Soul Catcher. More AI art graphic narratives from Jennifer Weigel have explored Little Red Riding Hood and Into the Deep Woods. Oh, and the Tiny Brain Computers exploration. To see more such devolutions into AI generated art, check out the Will the Real Jennifer Weigel Please Stand Up? blog.

Regeneration is one of the most distinctive elements of Doctor Who. For a series that has lasted for over sixty years, there’s been remarkably little change within “Doctor Who.” Yes, the cast changes routinely, and some seasons have an arc, but the bare bones of the series – a Time traveler travelling through time and space with human companion(s) exploring new worlds and helping people – remain as consistent in 1963-1964 as they are in 2024.  A story like “The Daleks” or “The Aztecs” still covers the same ground that “The Giggle” or “Rosa” did sixty years later. 

Since the initial regeneration scene at the end of “The Tenth Planet” episode 4, we as fans have become used to it.  Doctor Who fans go through the cycle when we hear of a new regeneration. First we are uncertain, accepting them, and then preparing for the time they too will regenerate.  Regeneration is normal now – but what was it like for people back in 1966? 

This article explores the multiple factors in Doctor Who that lead to the first Regeneration, or Renewal as it was initially known. In particular we will look at how audiences and texts of the time attempted to explain and understand the change.

Underling issues in 1965

This conflict came to a boil with 1966’s “The Celestial Toymaker.”

The Regeneration That Never Was

In “The Celestial Toymaker” the evil Toymaker forces the Doctor to play his games. Out of frustration for breaking rules, the Toymaker makes the Doctor invisible for most of the story. Producer John Wiles planned for the Doctor to be permanently changed in this process, with William Hartnell not returning. Only the objection of the Head of Serials, Gerald Savory, at the time prevented this plan from coming.  John Wiles, and his script editor, Donald Tosh, finding the working relationship with Hartnell irreconcilable, resigned. They were replaced by Innes Lloyd and Gerry Pedler respectively.   

Hartnell’s health was deteriorating also at the time, though it was not known.  He had undiagnosed arteriosclerosis, a condition which restricted blood flow to the brain. This resulted in Hartnell experiencing difficulty remembering long passages and irritability from these memory gaps. 

Hartnell disclosed some of these pressures in an interview to the Daily Mail on April 26, 1966. In this interview, Hartnell expressed feelings of irritation with people. Discussing the production team, Hartnell explained he knew his role and did not want their interruptions and alterations.  The Producer at the time, John Wiles, was not aware of Hartnell’s illness. Subsequently, Wiles had seen Hartnell’s memory lapses and moods as an act, further antagonizing their relationship. 

Despite these issues, Hartnell states in the interview the BBC would continue the series as long as Hartnell remained.  Hartnell however wanted to have more time off, and more space to recover.  Noticeably around 1966, Hartnell’s Doctor is frequently missing in episodes. Health issues and holidays meant Hartnell had a reduced role in most stories from “The Massacre” onwards.  

Alongside these internal stressors, reviews externally began to criticize the program.  The Daily Worker in 1966 described the series as “showing signs of age” and that  “Youngsters are getting tired of it”

But the way he was to change was still to be determined.

Introducing Regeneration

The term “Regeneration” itself did not occur at this time in the series.  Two regenerations later in “Planet of the Spiders” this process was officially named as regeneration.  Initially, in production discussions, the action was described as “Renewal.”
It is not exactly clear who first developed the idea of how the Doctor was to change form. However, it is most likely to have come from discussions between Innes Lloyd and Script Editor Gerry Davis.  Production notes at the time focus mostly on the character of the new Doctor, with little about the change itself.  What the Production team did envisage was a change which occurred every 900 years or so, feeling:

As if he has had the LSD drug and instead of experiencing the kicks, he has the hell and dank horror

Initial Interpretations of the First Regeneration

The Doctor Who Annual 1968 is a fascinating snap shot into how the change initially by the public of 1967.  Annuals were produced around the middle of the year, to give to children at Christmas time. In the sixties, annuals were one of the few examples of Doctor Who media available.  There were no books, very few novelizations, and definitely no audio plays.  If you wanted further adventures with the Doctor, or to read about Doctor Who the series, the annual was almost your only option. 

For the 1968 Annual, we have a few first ever events.  It is the first time the Annuals would feature television companions alongside the Doctor, with Ben and Polly appearing.  And of course, this is the first annual which featured Patrick Troughton’s Doctor as main character.

Reading through it, it seems the authors did watch Troughton’s first story “Power of the Daleks” but no further. Popular companion Jamie (Introduced in Troughton’s second story), does not appear. Troughton’s costume from his first story, features in all images, despite the costume not being used again.

Also in the annual, there is an article entitled “Phoenix in the TARDIS.” This article compares the mythological creature of the Phoenix from Arabic folklore, with the new Doctor as “Our Modern Phoenix.” The article describes the change as follows:

At the end of nine hundred years, a strange psychological storm rejuvenated his form, changing his character in many ways

The article describes the new Doctor as more “with it” and “switched on” to the 20^th century. The Doctor is less likely to confide in companions, and more likely to be a man of action. Surprisingly, this article is the first time regeneration is used in Doctor Who, with the conclusion pondering “What lies ahead for the regenerated Doctor.”

What’s interesting about this article is how the act of regeneration isn’t seen as an event that will reoccur.  Instead, this is an event that needs almost a millennia to actually come about.  Troughton planned to leave the role longer than three years, but he also doubted the series would last this long.  Troughton was interviewed later he admitted he thought the change to Hartnell would lead to a cancellation within a year.  Even when Troughton did leave after three years, changing the Doctor again was only considered as an alternative to cancellation when suitable alternative series could not be found. 

Audience reactions, gathered by the BBC were not positive to the change.  Audience feedback during his first story reviewed Troughton as being miscast as the Doctor. The media, while initially curious about the change, became increasingly critical of Troughton during the first season.  The Daily Worker on Janaury 25^th 1967 reported that while Hartnell would bring dignity to the party in stories, Troughton’s clownish person only amplifies the nonsense.  The radio times meanwhile interviewed a member of the public, decrying Troughton as turning the Doctor into “Coco the Clown”

Long Term Acceptance of Regeneration

Troughton’s Doctor was eventually accepted as his first season moved away from historical stories, and towards images of the future.  The Cybermen’s return in “The Moonbase” in particular had some critics changing their appraisal of this new era.  At the same time, cast changes, with Frazer Hines, joining the cast, added to reasons audiences enjoyed the series more. 

However, that does not mean regeneration was accepted as normal.  After three years, Troughton announced his departure from the program.  With six full years completed, the BBC discussed completing the series, and replacing with something new, with an idea of being influenced by the new series “Star Trek” being discussed. 

Instead with “Planet of the Spiders” we have the first regeneration where the process was paid attention to.  The idea of regeneration coming about when a body faces significant damage or trauma is first referenced in this story.  The idea of being reborn rather than rejuvenated is expressly stated in this story. 

Final Thoughts

Looking back at the production notes for Hartnell’s final story, it’s surprising how little information or consideration went into it.  Even now, we’re not entirely sure who exactly came up with the idea of regeneration.  Likely no single person can ever claim credit to the full idea.  John Wiles original idea of the Doctor being transformed by the Celestial Toymaker undoubtedly had an influence by raising the idea of changing the Doctor but keeping the series, even though the change only occurred after he had resigned. 

When looking at the past, it’s important to remember that while regeneration for the modern series is just a process of adapting to a cast change, in 1966, regeneration was a risk taken by a series trying to survive.  The producers wanted little attention to be focused on the change, and instead to move on quickly with a new actor, and hence very little description or detail went into the change. 

And that, in part, is why for Doctor Who regeneration was so successful, and determined the longevity of the series to this day.  If William Hartnell had been replaced by the Celestial Toymaker, with the process being a consequence of running afoul of an evil God like character, such a precise process would have been difficult to repeat for later cast changes without being obviously repetitive.  By keeping the idea of regeneration in Doctor Who vague it allowed mythology to develop around it as needed either by a production crew, or as needed for a story. 

Regeneration was created for Doctor Who to respond to an actor’s decaying health, and intense conflict within a production team.  But it continues by allowing a constant refresh and re-invigoration of the series, while keeping its base format the same.