Phoebe Halliwell
(Alyssa Milano)
Before the death of eldest sister Prue (Shannen Doherty), Phoebe was the trio's saucy youngster, but ever since Paige came on the scene she's now in the middle. When Phoebe's not busting demon butt, she's doing double-time as the agony aunt for a local paper.
* Phoebe's powers
A spooky ability to see into the future. She's also recently harnessed the power to levitate which works well with her kick-boxing skills.

Piper Halliwell-Wyatt
(Holly Marie Combs)
Piper runs a nightclub, but domestically she's the most straight-laced of the girls - even more so now she's married Leo (the girls' guardian angel or "whitelighter") and is expecting their first baby.
* Piper's powers
The ability to freeze time, fling things through the air with a wave of her hands and also to cause minor demons to spontaneously combust.

Paige Matthews
(Rose McGowan)
Paige is the girls' long-lost baby half-sister, and the result of an affair their mother had with a whitelighter, so she's half-angel. When she was reunited with her sisters, Paige was a social worker, but she has since resigned from her job to focus on ridding the world of evil.
* Paige's powers
Telekenis (the ability to move things with her mind) and the enviable ability to transport (or "orb") herself wherever she wants.

Leo Wyatt
(Brian Krause)
Leo is the whitelighter assigned to protect the Charmed Ones. He is calm and unflappable, and the girls can summon him in seconds by yelling out his name.
* Leo's powers
The ability to speak different languages, to levitate, to orb around the place and to heal by placing his hands over the person's wound!

Darryl Morris
(Dorian Gregory)
A policeman and friend of the Charmed Ones, Darryl was initally suspicious of the witches, but has come to terms with what he calls "the creepy stuff".
* Darryl's powers
He has no supernatural powers but he has an innate need to do good. And he likes the thrill of his local coven!

Did you know?
* The eyebrow truth
Have you noticed the scar on Holly's right eyebrow? This apparently occurred when she was a baby and hit her head on a table while learning to walk.
* Secrets of the book
The Book Of Shadows weighs about 4kg and is considered such a valuable prop that it is locked away in a vault when not required during a scene. Every spell used on the show is in the book and almost every page is hand-painted.
* Real-life sisters...
The lovely Halliwell sisters are based on the real-life sisters of the show's creator, Connie Burge.
* Hollywood Forever
That's the cheesey name of the "star" cemetery where Prue's funeral was filmed.
* Sound-stage magic
Wondering if the manor where the girls live is as real as it looks? Sorry, folks, but despite those San Fransisco stock shots (where the series is set), it is filmed entirely in LA.
* Tattoo facts
Rose, Alyssa and Holly all have tattoos, but Holly's take the longest to cover with make-up - she has two on one wrist and one on her back.

Classic Charmed quotes
"Prue was right, which means I am dating a warlock."
Phoebe falls for yet another bad boy

"I'm sorry. I didn't hurt anyone, did I?" "You could have. Lucky for you, I'm already dead."
The devilish Cole apologises to Leo for throwing a fireball in his direction

"I'm being stalked by psycho killers, and I hide in the shower."
Piper, on why she'll choose a cupboard next time

"Leo, you're a nice guy, and I like you a lot, but let's face it - you are geographically undesirable."
Piper in the early days, on why she and heaven-sent beau Leo are worlds apart

"It's one thing when your sister has a husband that you can't stand. It's another when he is the source of all evil."
Piper on Phoebe's marriage to the evil Cole

"You killed five of my best demons this week. So forgive me if I'm missing the joke."
Cole was happy when Phoebe turned to the dark side until she started killing off his demon coworkers

"I feel like a new woman..."
Forget body-swapping or time-travelling. It's more entertaining when the Charmed Ones tranform into something non-human

* Piper's not bad... she's furious!
In the season four episode "Hell Hath No Fury", Piper is angry at the death of Prue. She becomes possessed by the Furies, a supernatural band of vigilantes who take great pleasure in killing those who commit evil.
* Paige is bitten by a vampire
In season four's "Bite Me", a vampire queen orders her fanged charges to attack Paige so she becomes one of them. But Paige must kill to be completely transformed into a bloodsucking vampire.
* Phoebe swaps legs for scales!
When the Charmed Ones cast a spell to try to save a mermaid's immortality in the recent episode "A Witch's Tail", Phoebe gets a taste of sea life when she morphs into a mermaid.

Charming moments TV WEEK looks back over the last five years of bubble and trouble...

1999 - The first season reunites the Halliwell sisters in the manor, where they all discover that they are the fabled Charmed Ones, the most powerful good witches of all time.
* Best episode: "From Fear To Eternity" Can the girls vanquish the demon of fear, which turns up every 1300 years to literally scare witches to death?

2000 - It's a year since the Charmed Ones discovered and came into their powers, and they're facing more evil this time, including the demon who killed their mother 20 years before.
* Best episode: "Animal Pragmatism" A group of students cast a spell that turns three men into animals, and it's up to the Charmed Ones to turn them back to normal again.

2001 - When Piper and Leo head to the altar, Phoebe remains blissfully ignorant that her boyfriend Cole (Julian McMahon) is really a demon. This is also the last season for Prue (Shannen Doherty).
* Best episode: "Sin Fransisco" A demon embodies Leo and the witches with four of the seven deadly sins - lust, gluttony, pride and sloth.

2002 - The girls cope with Prue's death and welcome Paige as their long-lost baby sister. Cole proposes to Phoebe, who is under the impression he has mended his demon ways - but he's gotten worse and he isa ctually now the source of all evil.
* Best episode: "We're Off To See The Wizard" Piper and Paige try in vain to stop the coronation of the new Source, unaware that it's Cole, and Phoebe will soon be his evil queen.

2003 - Lots of changes are in store for the Charmed Ones this season, as the sisters finally vanquish Cole for good. Piper is also pregnant with a powerful magical baby.
* Best episode: "Centennial Charmed" The show's 100th episode sees Cole making a last ditch attempt to win Phoebe back when he bows out of the girls' lives for good.

Spellbound!
The special effects in Charmed have to be seen to be believed! Stunt coordinators, visual effects teams - there are a whole lot of special effects involved in the filming of just one episode of Charmed. Phew! Those spectacular scenes when the gals are fighting demons require lots of faking, because the flying objects they have to duck and dodge - like fireballs - are added later via computer imaging. Similarly, the show's stunt coordinators have their work cut out for them organising scenes where the characters "orb", to move things about. Cool... and creepy!

Better the devil you know...
From shape-shifters to the Vampire Queen, the girls have fought evil oin its many guishes. Here are five who deserve to go down in demon history...
Shax: An enemy of the Charmed Ones, he's the demon assassin who killed Prue.
The Source: This evil underworld leader makes Dr Evil look like Mother Teresa.
Belthazar: Traditionally The Source's right-hand man, Belthazar doubled as Cole.
The Seer: She is the psychic whof ed Phoebe poison during her pregnancy.
Abraxas: This cloven-hoofed demon stole the Book Of Shadows and managed to bring all the vanquished warlocks back to life.

P3's hottest acts
Even busy witches need to get glammed up and chill out with a few cocktails every now and then - and there's where Piper's funky nightclub P3 comes in. Although it looks suspiciously like producer Aaron Spelling recycled the set of The After Dark nightclub from Beverly Hills 90210, p3 is a little more cutting-edge. The hot acts which have performed at the club include Paula Cole, The Goo Goo Dolls, Marvelous 3, Snake River Conspiracy, Dave Navaroo, Depeche Mode, B*witched, The Flaming Lips, Cranberries, Diswalla, Barenaked Ladies and Michelle Branch!

Psssstt!
What's in store for your favourite magical trio? TV WEEK has the inside info...

* Don't mess with the munchkin
OK, we already know that Piper's baby will be powerful, but no one anticipates the wake-up call he gives the demon world in his first few weeks.
* Piper and Leo are set for trouble
Yep! Believe it or not, TV's lovey-doviest couple will endure some marital woe - and Piper's spell to try and fix things backfires.
* Phoebe gets a new love interest
Finally well and truly rid of her evil lover Cole, it's not long before Phoebe finds love again - with none other than chiselled hottie Eric Dane.
* Will Paige protect Wyatt?
It's rumoured that Paige may become baby Wyatt's whitelighter, as Leo has too many charges already.

Saucy little devils
TV WEEK reveals the truth behind Charmed's sexy stars and those wicked rumours. The off-screen scandal has been coming out of their ears!

* Did Alyssa Milano date Brian Krause?
Yes, Alyssa and Brian dipped into the workplace love potion whole they were recovering from their failed marriages (hers 10 months, his five years). Sadly, it didn't last - their fling reportedly bit the dust when she ditched him for Justin Timberlake.

* Did Shannen Doherty (Prue) and Julian McMahon (Cole) really get it on?
The twice-married Shannen is known for her quickie romances, and sources on set say she couldn't resist getting friendly with her sexy Aussie co-star.

* Why did Shannen Doherty really leave the show in season three?
Shannen's notorious antics and clashes with Alyssa apprently angered Charmed execs so much that they killed off Prue so Shannen could never return. "The cast and crew couldn't be happier," said a source at the time. "Some were actually having, 'Ding, Dong, the Witch is Dead' parties soon after Shannen's exit from the show was announced."