Suranne Jones: Investigating Witch Trials ★★★★

In the first minute of this two-part documentary, actor Suranne Jones ( Hostage , Vigil , Gentleman Jack ) reveals a lifelong fascination with the idea of witches. “I’ve always loved strong, female roles,” she says. “But I’ve never played a witch.”

Witches in popular culture swing from Maleficent to Melisandre, Sabrina Spellman to Hermione Granger, but most people, Jones says, see a witch as an old woman, a crone, with green skin, a pointy hat and a cackling laugh. Emitting a high-pitched cackle she declares: “Ooh, that’s a good laugh. Someone cast me as a witch. I mean, come on.”

Jones has a connection to the dark origins of being labelled a witch. She grew up in Chadderton in England’s north-west, an area close to the famou

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