[3] Regular characters were denizens of the Magic Forest: mute Fredd Bear (Tedd Dunn, also the costume designer); shrill Fee Fee Bear (John-Michael Howson, billed as John Howson); feisty Mother Matilda Hubbard (Fred Tupper, a former radio star); sensible Max (Max Bartlett); Shirley Temple analog Curley Dimples (played by adult Gael Dixon, also the show's choreographer); beautiful enchantress Crystal Ball (Gabrielle Hartley) and her pet, Hep Cat (Nola Finn); Marlena DeWitch (Marion Weir); and villainous Sir Jasper Crookly (Ernie Bourne) and his henchman Gaspar Goblin (Colin McEwan).
Recurring guest characters included BoBo the clown (Charles "Hal" Turner),[4] Montmorency James Rabbit (Ernie Bourne), Sebastian Bear (Gael Dixon), and Aunty Vale (Bunney Brooke).
Max Bartlett often played additional guest characters, including Harley Quin, a harlequin performer,[6] King Size of nearby Enchantmentland, wicked innkeeper Simon Sneak of the Cross and Bones, or Mother Hubbard's accident-prone great-nephew, Claude Clumsy.
Each episode finished up with the hostess sitting on a large mushroom, with Fredd crouched beside her (usually after dusting off the stool with a handkerchief), while the pair shared viewers' letters and artwork.
Cassius inhabited a longcase cuckoo clock next to Mother Hubbard's cupboard in The Magic Cottage, and Leonardo lived inside the IKAN (Instantaneous Knowledge Accumulation Network) computer (voice of Fred Tupper).
A specially written Magic Circle Club episode, "The Stolen Smile", was performed live on stage at the Tivoli Theatre from 27 December 1965.
[7] Gabrielle Hartley was severely burned when her cloak brushed over a hot "flash pot" used in a live, on-stage, special effect, and her role had to be assumed by her understudy.
Max Bartlett continued to work in television production, moving to Western Australia, where he helped to develop Fat Cat and Friends and The Underground Video Show.
In 2004, Nancy Cato appeared on the "Kids' TV" episode of Bob Downe's The Way We Were, briefly discussing Magic Circle Club.