Malory Towers (TV series)

Malory Towers is a 2020s British-Canadian historical drama television series based on the eponymous book series of the same name by Enid Blyton.

The first series were released early on BBC iPlayer on 23 March 2020, and later premiered on CBBC on 6 April 2020 in the United Kingdom. In Canada, the show premiered on The Family Channel with a two-part event on 1 July 2020. In the United States, it premiered on BYUtv on 13 September 2020. The third season premiered on 4 July 2022 on CBBC.

Internationally, the series is broadcast on CBC Gem in Canada, ABC Me in Australia, ZDF and KiKA in Germany, Rai Gulp in Italy, e-Junior in the United Arab Emirates, Yle TV2 in Finland, SVT Barn in Sweden, NRK Super in Norway, HBO Max in Scandinavia, Space Power TV and Spacetoon Go in Middle East and HOT in Israel.

In 2022 a fourth series entered production. On 8 May 2023, the fourth series was released.

Additionally a fifth series consisting of an expanded 20 episodes has been announced.

Premise
Set in 1940s post-World War II England - beginning in 1947 - the show follows the adventures of 12-year-old Darrell Rivers as she leaves home to attend an all-girls' boarding school and explores a nostalgic world of midnight feasts, lacrosse, pranks, a mystery ghost and lasting friendships. The TV series updates Blyton's post-war period piece for a modern audience with a racially diverse and inclusive cast.

Main cast

 * Ella Bright as Darrell Rivers, an intelligent and excitable girl who has recently been expelled from her previous school. Darrell has word-blindness.
 * Danya Griver as Gwendoline Mary Lacey, a spoiled and callous girl who has been homeschooled by a Governess her whole life up until enrolling in Malory Towers.
 * Zoey Siewert as Alicia Johns (Seasons 1–2; 4–), a naughty and rebellious Canadian girl who influences Darrell into playing tricks. Her parents work overseas so she is full-board.
 * Sienna Arif-Knights as Sally Hope, a mature but moody girl who is unknowingly sick. She later becomes Darrell's best friend.
 * Imogen Lamb as Mary-Lou Linnet, a naive girl and the youngest of Darrell's form.
 * Natasha Raphael as Irene Edwards (recurring season 1; main season 2–), a ditzy but sweet girl who is talented at Music and Maths but struggles with other subjects.
 * Beth Bradfield as Jean Dunlop (recurring season 1; main season 2–), a mature girl who is intelligent and talented at Lacrosse.
 * Ashley McGuire as Matron Kathleen (Recurring season 1; main seasons 2–4), the Matron of the North Tower girls. Though she is strict, she does mean well.
 * Carys John as Ellen Wilson (seasons 2–3), a clever Scholarship student who is initially the reluctant best friend of Gwendoline, but eventually leaves her for the other girls.
 * Amelie Green as Wilhelmina 'Bill' Robinson (season 3–), a tomboyish, sheltered girl who loves horses and keeps a Horse named Thunder, who she considers her “best friend” and insists on seeing.
 * Jennifer Wigmore (recurring Season 1 & Christmas Special and season 4; main season 5) as Miss Elizabeth Grayling, the good-natured Headmistress at Malory Towers.
 * April V Woods as Felicity Rivers (recurring season 4; main season 5), Darrell's younger sister.
 * Edesiri Paula Okpenerho as June Johns (recurring season 4; main season 5), Alicia's troublesome younger cousin
 * Amy Roerig as Clarissa Carter (recurring season 4; main season 5), a member of Felecity's form. Clarissa loves to play sports, but after the doctor says she has a weak heart it limits the activities she can participate in. It is later revealed that Clarissa suffers from Graves' disease, which has been causing her to have the symptoms of a weak heart when that's not actually the cause.
 * Ava Azizi as Susan Heather (recurring season 4; main season 5), a member of Felicity's form that is a bit mischievous but also respects and honours the rules. She serves as the head of form during the girls first year.
 * Kimia Lamour as Connie Batten (recurring season 4; main season 5), one of the twins in Felicity's form. Connie excels at athletics but has a hard time reading and studying history.
 * Aviella Burch as Ruth Batten (recurring season 4; main season 5), one of the twins in Felicity's form. Ruth has an excellent history of finding good references for essays in the library, but she is only average at athletics.
 * Emily Costtrici as Josephine "Jo" Jones (season 5), a new girl in the second form from a wealthy family who disregards the rules.
 * Geneviève Beaudet as Mam’Zelle Rougier (recurring seasons 1–4; main season 5), the French teacher at Malory Towers. She is strict and hyper-critical, but later gets better and listening and interacting. In addition to teaching, she oversees the girls when they reach the Fourth Form as their mistress. She marries Irene's father in season 4.
 * Jason Callender as Mr Parker (recurrimg seasons 2 & 4; main season 5), the Second Form master for Darrell's form then Felicity's form master.
 * Amanda Lawrence (season 5) as Matron Shilpley, Kathleen's replacement who is extremely strict, even more so than Matron Kathleen.

Recurring cast

 * Twinkle Jaiswal as Katherine (Season 1), a strict but fun girl and the Head of First Form.
 * Saskia Kemkers as Emily (Season 1), an intelligent but private girl.
 * Hannah Saxby as Pamela (Season 1), an athletic older girl who is later revealed to be a Debutante.
 * Imali Perera as Miss Potts (Season 1), the kind but strict Maths, Science and Art teacher. She is the First Form mistress.
 * Christine Horne as Margaret (Season 1), the assistant to Matron.
 * Jude Harper-Wrobel as Ron Gilson, a Gardener whose family lives near Malory Towers. He is friends with Darrell and often assists her. In between seasons 3 and 4 Ron starts helping his uncle and begins training to be a fisherman.
 * Birgitte Solem (Seasons 2–3) as Miss Elizabeth Grayling, the good-natured Headmistress at Mallory Towers.
 * Edie Whitehead as Georgina Thomas (Season 2), a wealthy girl whose father is quite snobby and mean.
 * Christien Anholt as Mr. Lacey (Season 3 & Christmas Special), Gwendoline's strict father.
 * Emily Piggford as Miss Julia Johnson and Jennifer Johnson (Season 3), a pair of twin criminals. Miss Julia Johnson is a trained teacher, but Jennifer Johnson pretends to be her at times.
 * Bre Francis as Mavis (Season 3), an older girl who is talented at singing.
 * Charles Jackson as Fred Gilson (Christmas Special– ), Ron's little brother. After being introduced in the Christmas Special Fred is asked to take Ron's place as a gardener at Malory Towers when Ron gets asked to help his uncle and become a fisherman.
 * Louis Tamone as Mr. Jones, Josephine's rich but kind father

Production
In July 2019, it was announced in a press release that CBBC and The Family Channel had commissioned a TV series adaptation of Enid Blyton's book series Malory Towers. It was also announced that WildBrain would handle international distribution outside the United Kingdom. Sasha Hails and Rachel Flowerday would adapt the series for television with Rebecca Rycroft and Bruce McDonald directing. From DHX Media, Josh Scherba, Anne Loi and Michael Goldsmith are executive producing and Angela Boudreault is producing. From King Bert Productions, Jo Sargent is executive producing and Grainne McNamara is producing.

Principal photography
Principal photography began in Toronto, Ontario, Canada in summer 2019 and later moved to the two South West England ceremonial counties (Cornwall (only in the town of Bodmin) and Devon (only at Hartland Abbey)).

Release
CBBC released a teaser trailer on 20 March 2020 with the announcement that the series would premiere on 6 April 2020. The entire first series of episodes was available to view early on BBC iPlayer as of 23 March to viewers in the UK with a TV licence. The first two episodes aired on The Family Channel in Canada that 1 July. The second season was also released in its entirety on the BBC iPlayer on 22 November 2021, with broadcasts expected on CBBC in 2022.

Malory Towers began airing on BYUtv on Sundays in America on 13 September 2020. Beginning with the Christmas special BYUtv took over as the premiere station for most episodes, though CBBC would premiere a few.

Critical reception
Malory Towers has garnered critical acclaim (with The Guardian calling the adaptation "absolutely ripping" and The Independent calling the series "a throughly modern take" of the classic book series). Victoria Legal at The Times picked the series' debut episode as her pick of the week, calling the series a "gift [that is] absolutely true to the spirit of the originals ... escapist, nostalgic and as glorious a treat as a midnight feast". Other favorable reviews came from Good Housekeeping, The Daily Telegraph and The Daily Mail with the last reviews giving Malory Towers four stars.

Accolades and awards
Malory Towers was nominated in 2022 for a Rose d'Or in the Children and Youth category. In 2023, the series was nominated for four Children's and Family Emmy Awards. Malory Towers was also nominated for three Canadian Screen Awards across the 2021 and 2023 ceremonies.