Ella Bright's Darrell Rivers arrives at Malory Towers in 1947 fresh from expulsion and carrying word-blindness, determined to train as a doctor like her father while Danya Griver's pampered Gwendoline plots finishing-school glory. Between lacrosse matches on the clifftop and illicit feasts in the dorm, the girls chase a resident ghost, swap contraband sweets and discover that Ashley McGuire's steel-spined Matron has a weakness for a well-timed prank.
Shot in Toronto for interiors and Cornwall for exteriors, the production shifted entirely to the UK from series five onward, doubling episode counts to twenty before trimming back to ten for the final run. Writers Rachel Flowerday and Sasha Hails kept Blyton's midnight bells and tuck boxes but recast the student body as racially diverse, letting Amelie Green's horse-mad Bill and Zoey Siewert's quick-witted Alicia share centre stage without erasing the 1940s setting.
Seven series landed between April 2020 and November 2025 on CBBC and iPlayer, with Family Channel, BYUtv and a scattering of European broadcasters picking up the backlog. By the close Gwendoline swaps Swiss finishing school for the WRNS, Darrell secures her place in sixth form, and the ghost story turns out to be warmer than any of them expected.
Production Details
CBBC / 7 Seasons / 92 Episodes / 2020 - Present
Created by: Rachel Flowerday, Sasha Hails
Producer(s): David Collier Grainne McNamara Angela Boudreault Jim Corston Daniel Bourré Bruce MacDonald
Main Cast
Ella Bright as Darrell Rivers
Danya Griver as Gwendoline Mary Lacey
Beth Bradfield as Jean Dunlop
Imogen Lamb as Mary-Lou Linnett
Natasha Raphael as Irene Edwards
Sienna Arif Knights as Sally Hope
Ashley McGuire as Matron
Carys John as Ellen Wilson
Zoey Siewert as Alicia Jones
Geneviève Beaudet as Mam'zelle Rougier
Jude Harper Wrobel as Ron
Birgitte Solem as Miss Grayling
