A young girl’s journey through a surreal fantasy world, combining characters from Lewis Carroll’s two classic novels.
The author Lewis Carroll (Gordon Davies) narrates the story of young Alice (Gillian Ferguson), who tumbles into a fantastic dream world. There she meets a host of bizarre characters from both Wonderland and the world Through the Looking-Glass. Her journey involves an encounter with the philosophical Caterpillar (Erik Chitty), a chaotic tea party hosted by the Mad Hatter (Ernest Milton), and a bewildering game of chess populated by the Red Queen (Sonia Dresdel) and White Queen (Marian Spencer), Tweedledee (Peter Sallis) and Tweedledum (Barrie Cookson), and the gallant White Knight (Geoffrey Bayldon).
Directed by Gordon Murray, a key figure in British puppet animation, this adaptation is a notable attempt to bring the full scope of Lewis Carroll’s fantasy to the screen. Rather than sticking to a single volume, Charles Lefeaux’s script combines characters and situations from both Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass. The production integrates live actors with puppet sequences from the renowned Television Puppet Theatre, creating a surreal visual landscape suited to the source material. It stands as an ambitious early television version, capturing the unsettling logic and whimsical anarchy of Carroll’s world for a family audience.
Broadcast: BBC, 1 Episode, Friday 23 December 1960
Adapted by: Charles Lefeaux from the book by Lewis Carroll
Director: Gordon Murray
Producer: Charles Lefeaux
Music: Antony Hopkins
Puppet Sequences: Television Puppet Theatre
Main Cast: Gillian Ferguson (Alice), Sonia Dresdel (Red Queen), Marian Spencer (White Queen), Ernest Milton (The Mad Hatter), Peter Sallis (Tweedledee), Barrie Cookson (Tweedledum), Geoffrey Bayldon (White Knight), David March (Humpty Dumpty), Gordon Davies (Lewis Carroll), Erik Chitty (The Caterpillar)
