What, for me, makes 'The Headmaster's Study' series special is that I really do feel that I am witnessing a punishment exactly as it did actually happen. Whether fully mature schoolgirls, 18 years old or thereabouts, were ever in reality subject to being caned on their bare buttocks by their headmaster is of course doubtful. But I enjoy fantasising that they were, and, for me at any rate, a fictional portrayal that comes across as authentic is so much more exciting than one that is not.

So what is it that makes these films appear so much more plausible than others of the same kind?

1.    The stories are set in a girls' school in what is now The Czech Republic at or around the year 1900. The dialogue is in Czech, all the furnishings and costumes of the actors are true to the period. This distancing from things we are immediately familiar with helps us suspend our disbelief. Yes, I tell myself, this sort of thing could very well have happened in such a far away time and in such a far away country.

2.    The relationship between the girl and the headmaster is kept formal and consistent. The headmaster behaves and speaks like a headmaster. The plots are simple and not contrived; the girl enters the study and is found to be guilty of a major infringement of school rules; such behaviour is punishable by the cane; therefore the girl is indeed caned. And only that. There is none of the nonsense that totally destroys the plausibility of so many other videos, whereby the girl is first given a hand spanking over the knee, then perhaps the slipper or paddle is applied before the cane.

3.    The headmaster gives no indication of getting any sexual gratification from seeing the girl in such a compromising position of semi-nudity. It comes across strongly that there is one reason and one reason alone why adjustment of clothing is necessary - to make the caning effective! And clearly it would not be if the voluminous period skirts and underskirts were left in place. Although a critic could, I suppose, say that actually baring the bottom is unnecessary.

4.    The headmaster may not be using the full force of his arm in applying the cane, but what matters is that the exciting swish/crack noise can be heard for most strokes, a visible line springs up immediately after many of the strokes, and of course there is the final heavily marked state of the girl's bottom, which certainly reflects what I have always imagined the effect of a severe caning to be. It might be nice if the films were able to depict what I have always imagined a genuine English six of the best to be, i.e. the headmaster taking a run up and delivering a full strength stroke, but I appreciate the difficulty in getting the models to accept this (or otherwise achieving the effect). Achieving the final marked effect by means of a large number of medium/hard strokes is I suppose an acceptable compromise.

5.    Most of the girls' reaction to the cane. I have no idea whether they are acting or whether their reaction is spontaneous, nor does it matter. Their yells and grimaces, the way their bodies jerk and wriggle are again exactly what one might expect.

There are then some particular things that add to making the films exciting in the specific sexual sense of that word.

1.    The rack of canes on the wall next to the headmaster's desk which is the backdrop to much of the scene when the girl is being lectured by the headmaster. It adds enormously to the tension. The anticipation of seeing this fully dressed and very correct schoolgirl standing there and knowing what is in store for her is wonderful. And is added to when finally the headmaster indicates that she is to fetch a cane from the rack and give it to him.

2.    The position the girl is made to adopt for her caning - backside well up, head well down. I originally had my doubts about having her strapped down over the flogging bench, but I now find that it does not adversely affect plausibility, not at any rate in this old time setting. After all, the caning is severe and the girl could not be expected to remain in position if unrestrained. The beauty of it is that the girl is fastened at knee level to the legs of the bench, thus ensuring that her legs are well parted and all that lies between them is visible when shot from behind.

My favourite scenes

3.    The acting of Miss Dolezalova as she is lectured in the 1st of the series, The Absence Note. She really does appear to be in dread of the fate that awaits her, exactly as I would expect a schoolgirl to behave. The others either put on a show of bravado or defiance, or appear unworried about there fate - far less realistic

4.    In Unbridled Youth Miss Horvathova is wearing so many layers of petticoat that simply lifting her skirt etc in order to bare her bottom will not do. We are therefore treated to a sequence in which she slowly removes layer after layer until finally she is down to her drawers and a vest. There is nothing quite like seeing a girl reluctantly taking her clothes off in preparation for being caned! And we also get the added bonus, because the vest is low cut, of seeing her breasts when she bends over.

5.    The particularly fine acting of Horvathova as she is caned. Dolezalova and Novotna in The Catechist are almost as good, and Novotna is certainly noisier, but somehow the former's expressions are more convincing.

6.    The camera positions in The Catechist and in the caning scene of The Anarchy. At ground level between the girls' legs and looking up between the legs. One could not ask for a better view!

All in all I give full marks to The Absence Note, The Catechist and Unbridled Youth. Part I of The Anarchy is well up to the mark, although personally I find the justification for having the girl strip (however nice it is to see her naked) a little light, but Part II is frankly poor - the birching is very tame indeed. The remaining two, Globus and The Peacock Lady, are by no means bad. They simply fall below the very high standard of the others. The girl in Globus shows almost no reaction to being chastised and the overall effect on her bottom is less marked. Miss Von Scholle in The Peacock Lady is somewhat wooden. No, it is particularly the first four named that I can enjoy watching again and again. That ultimately is how I judge how effective and exciting a school girl caning video is.

The other two school scenario films produced by Lupus, Crime at St Thomas' School and The Janitor are very different indeed. As others have remarked, featuring a much wider cast they endeavour to tell more of a story. There are many more girls being punished, but necessarily each individual punishment sequence is quite short. Whilst there is much attention to peripheral detail some of the delights of the Headmaster's Study series such as the wonderful positioning with legs apart and the severity of the application of strap or cane are missing. I find them far less exciting, but that is just me, of course. I am sure others prefer this approach.

Finally, my personal thanks to Rigid East and Lupus for The Headmaster's Study series. Settling down to watch a new offering and to re-watch my favourites is a great pleasure. Please keep them coming.