When the last wand in existence falls into the hands of a boy who isn’t a wizard, he must find it a new owner, and confront terrifying forces intent on unleashing its power.

SYNOPSIS:

Bad Magic is a one-hour fantasy show set in Gravelwood, a fictitious town in modern-day England, where people and magic people live alongside each other in benign indifference. Magic is almost obsolete, real wands have been replaced by Standard Issue Wands; these electric devices can only conjure three basic spells.

One of the last wands in existence lies beneath a field where it has slept for over a century. On Halloween morning, a farmer awakens the wand with his tractor. As the tractor’s blades touch the wand, it retaliates and destroys the tractor. The wand’s spell causes a Category-5 Alert to go off at the London headquarters of the Magic Militia, a century-old magic agency whose mission it is to keep the country safe from bad magic. The alert is deemed a false alarm.

Leo Lockwood is a popular student at Gravelwood School, although he isn’t a wizard, it’s the one time of year when he gets to be one. Leo and his younger sister, Delilah, and a group of friends go trick-or-treating, they meet Miranda and Edward Van Castle. Miranda is a talented witch, Edward is a sullen wizard who hates magic, hates people, and most of all, hates school. He’s been expelled five times, so his tyrannical father sends him to lowly Gravelwood School.

A boy finds the wand and picks it up, the wand dislikes the boy and blows him into some trees. Leo and friends attempt to help the boy, anyone who sees the wand is compelled to pick it up, and anyone who tries is instantly repelled by it. Surprisingly, the wand chooses Leo as its new owner, this both angers and intrigues Edward. Leo takes the wand home where it secretly builds a force field around the Lockwood house, a charm to protect the Lockwood family.

The wand’s series of spells cause several Category Five alerts to go off. Prime Minister James Goodfellowand his enemy, Arthur Spinks, Leader of the Magic Party are informed about the disturbances in Gravelwood. Goodfellow secretly loathes magic and is determined to ban Standard Issue Wands, abolish magic, and stop any chance the Magic Party has of a revival after the sudden appearance of the wand.

After learning about the wand, Alfuro Ramon, the Argentine President of the Council of Many, gathers his most powerful witches and warlocks from around the world. Their mission is to seize the wand and use it to usher in a new era of magic.

Strange goings-on happen in Gravelwood, mysterious people and magic people arrive; Leo and friends suspect they’re after the wand. When Leo leaves the wand at home; it appears in his pocket at school. He tries to give it away to a teacher; but the wand stops him from speaking. Finally, Leo buries the wand in the field; when he gets home, he finds it in his toothbrush holder. Each time he tries to get rid of the wand, it returns to him. Miranda suggests that the wand wants Leo to look after it until he can find it a new magical owner.

Goodfellow orders the Magic Militia to search the homes of the magic people in Gravelwood. After a fruitless search, Spinks demands that the remaining houses in the town are also searched, this causes uproar and division amongst magic and non-magic neighbours. When the militia visit the Lockwood home the wand disguises itself as a jar of pickles.

Leo and his family come under siege from witches, wizards, warlocks and politicians, all intent on capturing the wand. The audience will go on a roller coaster ride with the characters as they deal with anxiety, fear, confusion, loss, and the changing times.

An evil witch suspects that the wand is inside the Lockwood house, she attempts to break in, and the wand’s charm stops her. Leo’s younger sister, Delilah, catches the witch in action and the witch curses her – this leads to Delilah having a series of near-death experiences, the last of which occurs as the Lockwood family return home from dinner, two buses hurtle towards Delilah and the wand stops them in mid-air revealing itself to Leo’s parents for the first time.

A few days later, Delilah is kidnapped from Brownies Camp by members of the Council of Many who attack the children in a supermarket. The shop is destroyed, and the wand protects the children from harm. In the chaos Leo drops the wand, Edward picks it up, this time the wand allows Edward to use it to fight the warlocks. Edward doesn’t know how to make spells; the wand takes control and blows the warlocks to the other side of England.

When Edward’s politician father demands that he gives him the wand, Edward gives it to him and watches as the wand repels him out of the window. Not liking the dreary Van Castle house, the wand runs away and returns to the Lockwood home. As it sleeps the wand opens an eye and a tiny tooth appears on it. The wand is awakening.

Leo goes on a school trip to Stonehenge; the wand leads him to a strange graveyard where it trembles. After they leave, the ground shakes and millions of lonely, buried wands rise up through the earth. Magic is finding its way back into the world.

By the end of season 1, Leo, Edward, and friends have had many adventures with the wand. We develop the connection between Leo and the wand, as they learn from one another. Throughout each episode we follow the wand’s journey until the final episode when we learn what happened to its previous owner back in 1889. Spinks resurrects an evil witch from 1889, we learn that she was the reason that wands were taken away and magic was all but banned.

In future seasons, we follow the kids as they grown, have normal teenage challenges and learn to use the wand and do magic. The wand will become a character of its own, with a face, like Groot or Grogu, the wand will eventually talk to them and explain the history of magic.

Combining the mystery of Stranger Things, the magic of Harry Potter, and the humour of Hot Fuzz, Bad Magic is a show about life and death, love and destruction, choices and regrets, family, friends, and foes – and sometimes, friends who become those foes. Emotional, cinematic, and rooted in character, Bad Magic is a love letter to England, its history, and the extraordinary world of magic