'Lizzie Dripping and the Witch', originally transmitted on 13 March 1973

Schoolteacher Miss Platt leaves school to find 'Lizzie Dripping' waiting for her at the exit. Lizzie hopes Miss Platt might walk home with her to see an enormous marrow growing in a neighbours' garden. Miss Platt has marking to do and suggests Lizzie go and play with her friend Becky. Lizzie chooses to walk home by herself instead.

At home, Lizzie's Mum is setting the table for tea and asks Lizzie to go and get some butter from the village shop. Having bought the butter, Lizzie wanders back home through the church graveyard. Treading through thick undergrowth in a rather forlorn-looking yard, Lizzie is amazed to see a witch in pointy hat, with a broomstick by her side. The witch is sitting on a tombstone knitting. Lizzie hides behind a gravestone.

Lizzie runs out of the graveyard and comes across local boy Jake Staples playing marbles in the street. Lizzie tells Jake that she has seen a witch. Jake dismisses her story, calling her a fibbing 'Lizzie Dripping', to her annoyance.

Lizzie returns to the graveyard. Though she hides again, the witch calls out that she can see her. Lizzie emerges from hiding and the witch gives her a demonstration of her magic powers. The witch suggests she could next turn Lizzie into a toad so, anxious to avoid this, Lizzie suggests the witch turn a nearby cat into a toad instead. The witch does so. Lizzie pleads with her to turn the cat back to normal. The witch is not happy at having wasted her time, but does as Lizzie asks and the cat, restored, bolts away.

Next, the witch turns herself into three identical witches. Lizzie frets that if each witch casts the same spell soon there would be nine witches, then 27 and quickly the graveyard would be overrun. Lizzie thinks of a nicer spell and imagines herself with long blonde hair in plaits, but before she can request it she is interrupted by Jake.

The witch is now nowhere to be seen. A disgruntled Jake is not best pleased at Lizzie wasting his time and runs off chanting, "Lizzie Dripping, Lizzie Dripping, don't look now your fibs are slipping."

Now alone in the graveyard, Lizzie is sad to think the witch might never reappear, but resolves to come back tomorrow in the hope that she might. Perhaps they could be friends.