The Inheritance (home video)
The Inheritance was the first episode of the The White Witch of Devil's End series.
Synopsis[[edit] | [edit source]]
An elderly Olive Hawthorne recalls the circumstances in which she came into her own as White Witch of Devil's End. As a teenager, she was visited in the middle of the night by her great-aunt Lobelia, of whose very existence she had hitherto been unaware. Lobelia passed on the Hawthorne grimoire to the young Olive, only for her to discover in the morning that her twin sister Poppy had disappeared. Over the next two years, she devoutly studies the book, hoping to find some way to bring her back. In that time, she grows more convinced that her sister's disappearance served some unseen purpose in the Hawthornes' fated battle against a great evil. Eventually, she has a brief but chilling encounter with a witch from the other side of that ancient struggle of good and evil, which she experiences as a kind of "loss of innocence" and the moment she truly took on her duty.
Plot[[edit] | [edit source]]
Having summoned an unseen observer into her house, the elderly Olive Hawthorne, White Witch of Devil's End, shows them the Hawthorne grimoire and begins to share reminiscences about her career as occult protector of the town. She recalls how she first became aware of her inheritance as a child, when, unlike her twin sister Poppy Hawthorne, the young Olive was plagued by nightmares.
One night, she awakes to see a mysterious light coming from the barn door outside. Without waking her sister, the young Olive goes to investigate and is met with an old, but spry woman called Lobelia, dressed like a "gypsy", who soon introduces herself as the sister of Olive's grandmother Hester, and the current holder of the Hawthorne bloodline's duty to act as protectors for Devil's End. The village, she explains, is a metaphysical gateway between this world and others, and there must always be a white witch to protect it. Lobelia further tells Olive that her nightmares are either memories passed down from her ancestors, or visions of the future. Awed, Olive accepts the grimoire, as well as a magic bridle which Lobelia tells her will allow her to control her nightmares. She then returns silently to bed, choosing against waking Poppy.
In the morning, however, she finds that Poppy has disappeared. Her mother later reports noticing one of the girls going out in the middle of the night, but assuming it was the often restless Olive, and thus not thinking anything of it until it was too late. Despite multiple searches, Poppy is never found. Though initially fearing that she somehow made Poppy vanish by agreeing to Lobelia's offer, Olive throws herself into the study of the grimoire for the next two years, hoping to find some way to bring her sister back. As she does, she grows increasingly convinced that Poppy did not meet some arbitrarily horrible fate but was spirited away into another world to fulfill her own half of the Hawthorne duty. Eventually, she encounters a fellow witch for the first time, but a malevolent one who tries to tempt her into serving "her master" in exchange for some way to get her sister back. Though shocked that the other woman knew about her history, Olive keeps her wits about her and rejects the offer before hurrying on her way. It is at this point that she understands that, although she still has much to learn, the evil she must oppose has reared its demonic head, and her time of peaceful apprenticeship is at an end.
Cast[[edit] | [edit source]]
- Olive Hawthorne - Damaris Hayman
- Poppy Hawthorne - Ruby Richardson
- Lobelia - Raven Dane
- Gypsy Witch - Naomi Sachs
- WW2 Servicemen - Edward Strickland, Miles Richardson
Crew[[edit] | [edit source]]
- Lighting Cameraman - Edward Strickland
- Sound Recordist & Autocue - Jaimie Hee
- Still Photography - Ian Frazer, Robin Prichard
- Production Assistants - Ollie Hardaker, Graham Palmer, Sam Richardson
- Production Manager - Dylan Rees
- Digital Effects - Tom Saunders
- Special Sound - Alistair Lock
- Production Accommodation - The Crown Inn, Aldbourne
- Post-Production Facilities - Pinhole Productions
- With grateful thanks to Aldbourne Parish Council, The Blue Boar, The Crown Inn, St Michael's Church Community Junction, Sophie Aldred, Karen Clay, Beverley Cressman, Amanda Dore, Jo Hutchings, Thea & Phil Ludlow, Chris McGowan, Graham Palmer, Alan Walters, the people of Aldbourne
- Script Editor - Sam Stone, David J Howe
- Script Advisor - Matt Fitton
- Based on ideas created by Barry Letts & Robert Sloman (as Guy Leopold) for the BBCtv Doctor Who story The Dæmons
Worldbuilding[[edit] | [edit source]]
- Lily of the valley was Poppy Hawthorne's favourite flower.
Story notes[[edit] | [edit source]]
to be added
Continuity[[edit] | [edit source]]
- This story introduces the White Witch of Devil's End miniseries' depiction of the backstory of Olive Hawthorne, originally introduced as a guest character in the Third Doctor serial TV: The Dæmons [+]Loading...["The Dæmons (TV story)"]. Although the Dæmons themselves are not seen explicitly, their influence is felt throughout, and there are brief flashes of images of gargoyle-like beings similar to Bok.
- Olive Hawthorne's bloodline is established to carry witchly powers, including ones of premonition and visions of the past. This corresponds to the lore surrounding witchblood outlined in the Faction Paradox series, most notably in PROSE: The Book of the War [+]Loading...["The Book of the War (novel)"].
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