18 Nov 2023

Long Read: The Badjelly Chronicles

From The Detail, 5:00 am on 18 November 2023

This is The Detail's Long Read  one in-depth story read by us every weekend.

Badjelly the Witch

Photo: Supplied

This week, it's 'The Badjelly Chronicles', written by self-proclaimed 'Badjellyologist' Gemma Gracewood and published at The Sapling.

To celebrate 50 years of Badjelly the Witch, Gemma joins Alexia Russell to read episodes one and two of her five-part series, and talk all things Badjelly: from the story's humble origins as a bedtime story, to author Spike Milligan's electric radio improvisation skills in front of a live orchestra, and – of course – 'knickers, knickers, knickers!'

In this five-part series, Gemma Gracewood adventures through the many iterations of Spike Milligan’s Badjelly the Witch to find out why New Zealand loves her the most, and why the U.K. might finally be ready to embrace their long-neglected wickedest witch.

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