A live television adaptation of Lewis Carroll’s classic fantasy, broadcast in the immediate post-war era.
A young girl named Alice (Vivian Pickles) finds her world turned upside down when she follows a hurried White Rabbit (Erik Chitty) down a rabbit hole. She arrives in the strange and illogical land of Wonderland, where she meets a series of bizarre characters. Her encounters include a philosophical Caterpillar (Dorothy Stuart), the Mad Hatter (Desmond Walter-Ellis) at his perpetual tea party, a grinning Cheshire Cat, and the fearsome, tyrannical Queen of Hearts (Kenneth Buckley), who presides over a surreal game of croquet and summary justice.
This Christmas production was an ambitious undertaking for the newly restarted BBC Television Service. Staged live from Alexandra Palace, George More O’Ferrall’s adaptation had to create the complex visual fantasy of Wonderland within the technical limitations of a post-war studio. The adaptation by noted playwright Clemence Dane, combined with a score from film composer Richard Addinsell, represented a serious artistic effort to bring classic literature to the new medium. For the small but growing television audience of 1946, the broadcast was a significant piece of holiday entertainment, demonstrating the medium’s potential for imaginative storytelling beyond simple, stage-bound plays.
Broadcast: BBC, 2 Performances, 21 December 1946 – 24 December 1946
Dramatised by: Clemence Dane
Adapted for television by: George More O’Ferrall
Director: George More O’Ferrall
Music: Richard Addinsell
Main Cast: Vivian Pickles (Alice), Erik Chitty (White Rabbit), Desmond Walter-Ellis (Mad Hatter), John Baker (March Hare), Gwyneth Lewis (Dormouse), Philip Stainton (Mock Turtle), Hilary Pritchard (Gryphon), Madge Brindley (The Ugly Duchess), Kenneth Buckley (Queen of Hearts), D. A. Mehan (King of Hearts), Eric Lindsay (Knave of Hearts)
