While I can't say that I was especially looking forward to this series considering the undeniable drop in quality during Hammer's last years (I did, however, catch at least one memorable episode from its follow-up, HAMMER HOUSE OF MYSTERY AND SUSPENSE [1984]) this one certainly sets it off to a pretty good start. Incidentally, it was unusual to have nudity in a TV show of the era, even if by now this was pretty much a Hammer requisite. Here, we get a predictable but well-handled plot involving a strained relationship accentuated by the intervention of the supernatural. The 'attacks' on the heroine by the jealous witch and the latter's influence on her husband (causing his descent into near-madness) are, again, par for the course as is, needless to say, the witch's eventual come-uppance by virtue of the elements (water and fire). The opening episode of this particular series is helped a lot by good casting (notably Patricia Quinn as the witch alternating between hysteria, sensuality and menace) and the remote countryside setting.
