The Secret World of Lewis Carroll
2015It's a timeless classic of children's literature and the third most-quoted book in English after the Bible and Shakespeare. But what lies behind the extraordinary appeal of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland to generations of adults and children alike? To mark the 150th anniversary of its publication, this film explores the life and imagination of its author, the Reverend Charles Dodgson, better known as Lewis Carroll. Journalist Martha Kearney delves into the biographies of both Carroll himself and of the young girl, Alice Liddell, who inspired his most famous creation. She discusses the book with a range of experts, biographers and distinguished cultural figures - from actor Richard E Grant to children's author Philip Pullman - and explores with them the mystery of how a retiring, buttoned-up and meticulous mathematics don, who spent almost his entire life within the cloistered confines of Christ Church Oxford, was able to capture the world of childhood in such a captivating way.
Acted in
Martha Kearney
as Narrator
David Anley
as Himself - Forensic Imagery Analyst
Jane Atkinson
as Herself - Croft Rectory
Peter Atkinson
as Himself - Croft Rectory
Nicholas Burnett
as Himself - Photographic Conservation Specialist
Ian Clayton
as Himself - Ditchling Players
Morton N. Cohen
as Himself - Author, Lewis Carroll: A Biography
Mark Davies
as Himself - Local Historian
Robert Douglas-Fairhurst
as Himself - Author, The Story of Alice
Richard E. Grant
as Himself - Actor
Hugh Haughton
as Himself - University of York
Peter Howell
as Himself - Ditchling Players
Alice Liddell
as Herself (archive footage)
Caroline Luke
as Herself - Great Great Grandniece of Lewis Carroll
Philip Pullman
as Himself - Writer
Will Self
as Himself - Writer
Nicholas Shrimpton
as Himself - Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford
Vanessa Tait
as Herself - Great Granddaughter of Alice Liddell
Edward Wakeling
as Himself - Editor, Lewis Carroll's Diaries
Jenny Woolf
as Herself - Author, The Mystery of Lewis Carroll