A Fright For Aunt Cassandra

"A Fright For Aunt Cassandra" is the second episode of the first series of the British children's television programme Julia Jekyll and Harriet Hyde. The episode was directed by Jim Eldridge and written by show producer Jeremy Swan. It was first broadcast in the UK on BBC One on 6 October 1995.

In the episode, Julia (Olivia Hallinan) begins her efforts to create an antidote for her transfiguration into Harriet Hyde (John Asquith). Meanwhile, her trying aunt Cassandra (Lynda Bellingham) comes for a visit, and at the Rocket Academy, Memphis (Simon Green) and Mrs. Rocket (Ann Emery) dread the arrival of an inspector.

Plot
Julia wishes her mother Moira a good morning, explaining that she has been preparing for the arrival of her aunt Cassandra. Moira is anxious, knowing that Cassandra can be difficult to deal with. Julia suddenly rushes back into her room, shutting the door before transforming into Harriet Hyde. She panics before swiftly changing back to her natural self. She says goodbye to Moira and Jerry and heads to school.

At school, Roger and the other pupils ask Julia about Harriet Hyde, with Julia explaining that she 'comes and goes'. The group is ambushed by the Blister Sisters, who are continuing to try and extort money from their classmates as part of a 'no torture fund'. Sarah Slocombe warns the Blisters about what would happen if they attempted their schemes on Harriet Hyde, prompting Nicola to grab her by the hair. Mrs. Rocket appears asking what Nicola is doing, which she and Sharon pass off as inspecting for dandruff. Mrs. Rocket is not fooled and orders the pair to stop, then tells all the children to head to assembly for an announcement by Memphis Rocket. Julia asks if she can be excused from the assembly in order to work on her elixir, to which Mrs. Rocket gladly accepts, explaining that she will announce her son's announcement to her in the laboratory after he has finished announcing his announcement.

In the assembly, Mr. Rocket says that there is bad news. He is interrupted, however, when he notices that his mother is noting down everything he is saying on a notepad to tell Julia later. She explains that Julia is working in the lab, much to Mr. Blister's dismay as science teacher. Mr. Rocket announces that an inspector from the Department of Education will be visiting the Rocket Academy the following day, causing panic as the school is behind on its curriculum. Mr. Rocket plans to only let the inspector meet Julia while the rest of the school is on an away day.

Mrs. Rocket recites her son's plan to Julia - now Harriet - through the closed door of the science lab. Agitated, Mrs. Rocket enters the lab, but is quickly scared away by the sight of Harriet.

Back at home, Julia tells her parents that she is to represent the school while everyone else is on their away day. Jerry suggests that she show the inspector her elixir, but Julia explains that it has developed a 'hiccup' and goes to work on it in the kitchen. At this point, the sound of a car crash outside heralds the arrival of Aunt Cassandra. After dropping her suitcase on Jerry's foot, Cassandra hears Julia in the kitchen and orders an omelette. An explosion blows the kitchen door off its hinges, with Julia emerging from the smoke and offering a sandwich instead. Cassandra faints.

Cassandra rests on the sofa after Julia has gone to bed - having mended the kitchen door and cooker, and having made her aunt's omelette as she wanted. When Cassandra wakes, she tells Moira and Jerry how she looked at herself in the mirror that morning and repeatedly told herself to be the 'true you', until an angry neighbour ruined her therapy. Julia's parents explain that the explosion was the result of their daughter's school project. Cassandra plans to go to the Rocket Academy the following day and confront the headteacher.

The following day, the Rocket Academy is in chaos with pupils running around and the teachers nervous about the impending inspection. Mr. Rocket orders Mr. Blister to take the pupils to a science museum immediately. Julia arrives late as a result of not wanting to wake Aunt Cassandra and apologises to Memphis and his mother. Memphis tells Julia to work in one of the labs and that he will bring the inspector in to see her, but warns not to blow them up with her experiment. Mr. Rocket retreats upstairs to calm his nerves with a cup of tea.

Mrs. Rocket admires Julia's experiment setup and reiterates that she tell the inspector that she learned it all at the Rocket Academy. She leaves the room singing as Julia transforms into Harriet Hyde. Mrs. Rocket's singing is interrupted by the screeching of a car's tyres. Aunt Cassandra enters the Rocket Academy, leading Mrs. Rocket to mistake her for the inspector. Mrs. Rocket takes Cassandra to the lab, where she encounters Harriet and flees, terrified. Julia emerges from the room having changed back, but before she can come up with an excuse for what frightened her aunt, she rushes back into the lab as something reaches the boil. Memphis returns, startling his mother, and explains that he has just had a phone call with the real inspector. Having seen Mr. Blister and the rest of the pupils going into the science museum, he decided not to come to the school after being so impressed. Memphis and his mother tell Julia she can go home and see her Aunt Cassandra.

At the Jekyll household, Moira and Jerry pass off Cassandra's explanation about Harriet as a hallucination, while Julia's experiment causes part of the ceiling to fall down. Moira and Jerry depart for the pub, leaving Cassandra to look after Julia - as Cassandra is banned from both The Sailor's Arms and The Jolly Ploughman. Cassandra demands that Julia make her a mug of hot chocolate as she returns to her experiment.

As Julia takes a sip of her concoction, Cassandra angrily knocks on the kitchen door. As Julia pours the hot chocolate into a mug, she transforms into Harriet Hyde. She goes to take the drink to her aunt, cutting away as Cassandra screams in horror and the credits roll.

Cast

 * Lynda Bellingham - Aunt Cassandra
 * Julia Jekyll - Olivia Hallinan
 * Moira Jekyll (credited as 'Mum') - Victoria Williams
 * Jerry Jekyll (credited as 'Dad') - Bill Fellows
 * Memphis Rocket - Simon Green
 * Mrs Rocket - Ann Emery
 * Lester Blister - Robert Portal
 * Nicola Blister - Tiffany Griffiths
 * Sharon Blister - Karen Salt
 * Roger - Anthony Tobias
 * Sarah Slocombe - Emma Barnett
 * Mrs Smith - Christine Lohr
 * Mr Slime - Philip Philmar
 * Harriet Hyde - John Asquith

Crew
Executives:


 * Director - Jim Eldridge
 * Writer - Jeremy Swan
 * Producer - Jeremy Swan
 * Executive Producer - Anna Home
 * Musical Director - Jonathan Cohen
 * Casting Directors:
 * Jane Deitch
 * Angela Grosvenor
 * Makeup Designer - Elaine Smith
 * Costume Designer - Rosemary Cheshire
 * Production Designer - George Kyriakides

General production staff:


 * Production Assistant - Lesley Taylor
 * Assistant Floor Manager - Michael Towner
 * Production Manager - Claire Gerschwiler
 * Studio Resource Manager - David Massen

General post-production staff:


 * Videotape Editor - Andy Quested
 * Vision Mixer - Carol Abbott

Script department:


 * Script Editor - Marilyn Fox

Camera and lighting department:


 * Camera Supervisor - Nigel Saunders
 * Lighting Director - Alan Jeffery

Art department:


 * Production Buyer - Pauline Seager
 * Graphic Designer - Pete Wane
 * Art Director - Nick Harding

Special and visual effects:


 * Visual Effects Designer - Roger Turner
 * Video Effects - Dave Chapman

Sound:


 * Sound Effects - Keith Eldridge
 * Sound Supervisor - Richard Partridge

Trivia

 * This episode features the first instance of Julia's parents' catchphrase 'You can say that again!'.
 * This is the first episode not to feature any ragdolls.
 * This episode marks the beginning of a running gag involving peculiar goings-on in the sky, ranging from altered colouration to frantic lunar movement.