A Discovery of Witches 2018 Archives

Dr. Diana Bishop (Teresa Palmer) learns how to light a candle with her finger.

GOOD WITCHES: # 1: “A Discovery of Witches” 2018

Film Review by Marlene Ardoin

I am not a fan of horror films, especially during the fire/pandemic/election season, which Halloween has become, but I wanted to honor All Saints’ Eve in a positive way.

So, while browsing the video racks, a title caught my eye, “A Discovery of Witches,” containing two DVDs.

I decided that I could review films about “good witches.”

Turns out, “A Discovery of Witches” is a 2018 BBC America television series, Season 1, about a witch, Dr. Diana Bishop, who is resisting the discovery of her witch birthright.

Diana (Teresa Palmer) is a tenured historian at Yale, studying alchemy and science at Oxford, who happens to be a powerful witch, unbeknownst to her.

Diana is brilliant, ambitious and achieves her academic position by her own merit.

She is self-made, before she starts using her witch powers.

Why do women represented in film have to have special powers or be a witch, in order to have achieved something?

Diana also has strong female support, not only in academia, but she was raised by her aunt, Sarah Bishop (Alex Kingston), who has a lesbian partner, Emily Mather (Valarie Pettiford).

Both Diana’s aunt and partner are witches.

Diana was raised in a spell protected country home in the United States.

Because of these circumstances, Diana holds the belief that she should be able to love, whomever she loves, regardless of social norm.

The story also brings up the question of what should be the next, evolutionary step for witches, vampires and demons.

Diana’s love interest, Matthew Clairmont (Matthew Goode), is a geneticist, a vampire and a Professor of Biochemistry, who has been tracking the decline in the vampire specie.

Season 1 is a treasure of witch possibilities, which Diana discovers she cannot evade.

Magic keeps happening for her, whenever her need is great.

And, she fits the description of being a good witch.

In Season 1, she is forced to embrace her witch power, if not perfectly.

In her research, a book finds her.

It is a bewitched manuscript in the Bodleian library.

This is the very book, which other witches, vampires and demons have been seeking for centuries.

The time span of Season 1 is about 40 days, in which Diana finds love with a handsome vampire (Matthew Goode), uncovers the secret of her parent’s death, and learns a few of her witch powers along the way.

She also comes to realize that her mother and father are just on the other side of the veil, looking out for her.

Each chapter ends on a cliffhanger, and at the end of Season 1, Diana is escaping the bad witches and is about to take a leap into another century.

This film was just what I was looking for and definitely honors All Saints’ Eve.

Season 2 was interrupted by the Covid 19 outbreak.

My understanding is that Season 2, which was filmed just before Covid 19 happened, will air sometime in 2021.

Deborah Harkness is the author of “All Souls Trilogy,” upon which this series is based, so it has a female viewpoint.

I will be watching.

Vampire Matthew Clairmont (Matthew Goode)and reluctant witch, Dr. Diana Bishop (Teresa Palmer)

Cast and characters[edit]

Main[edit]

Teresa Palmer as Diana Bishop, DPhil., a witch and tenured historian at Yale studying alchemy and science at Oxford^[2]
Matthew Goode as Matthew Clairmont, a vampire and Professor of Biochemistry^[2]
Edward Bluemel as Marcus Whitmore, Matthew Clairmont’s vampire son and lab colleague^[2]
Louise Brealey as Gillian Chamberlain, a fellow witch and academic alongside Diana at Oxford^[3]
Malin Buska as Satu Järvinen, a Finnish witch and a Congregation member^[4]
Aiysha Hart as Miriam Shephard, vampire and Matthew’s scientific colleague in Oxford^[3]
Owen Teale as Peter Knox, a high-ranking witch and a member of the Congregation^[3]
Alex Kingston as Sarah Bishop, Diana’s aunt^[2]
Valarie Pettiford as Emily Mather, Sarah’s partner^[2]
Trevor Eve as Gerbert d’Aurillac, an ancient vampire and a Congregation member^[5]
Lindsay Duncan as Ysabeau de Clermont, mother of Matthew Clairmont and wife of Philippe de Clermont^[2]