I can’t believe I’m watching a show from the Hallmark Channel. Worse, I’m addicted! But there’s something incredibly soothing about fantasy comedy/drama series Good Witch – and I’m not the only one to realise this!

The TV series premiered in spring 2015, building on the success of no fewer than seven previous films – all featuring roughly the same cast and starring Catherine Bell as Cassandra (Cassie) Nightingale, the titular witch. Now into its seventh and final season, the show is based in the fictional Middleton (purportedly near Chicago), a picture-perfect town where the winters really are white, and the summers are as magical as Cassie herself…

Yes, she’s not known as the good witch for nothing. Though Cassie’s magic is more of the gentle, crystals-and-charms variety, her enchanting presence infuses a plot in which nothing ever goes too wrong, and problems are easily solved with a dose of intuition and a dollop of goodwill.

I can see why I enjoy the show, available on Netflix. In Cassie, we recognise ourselves: our own issues as seen through rose-tinted spectacles. She brings up her daughter alone, runs a business and juggles friendships; she’s a sympathetic ear, a compassionate friend, a conscientious relative to her extended family. Granted, she’s got magic on her side. But if there’s one thing the Good Witch offers, it’s hope. Hope that a wholesome, happy life can be ours; that if we practise just a little acceptance, the universe will swing things our way!

Suitable for the entire family, the show is consistently overlooked by reviewers. Despite the fact that each episode is enjoyed by roughly two million viewers each week, and it’s been the second-most watched scripted show on cable (beating out, over the years, Fargo, Veep, and Pretty Little Liars), Good Witch has never been nominated for a TV award.

Perhaps critics prefer the darker human emotions. And that’s a great shame. Because if it was down to gentle enchantment, Good Witch would definitely have an Emmy!