Controversial Carroll doc set for BBC

A controversial one-off BBC documentary from a fledgling prodco is set to raise questions about the relationship of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland author Lewis Carroll and the girl who inspired the book.

The Secret World of Lewis Carroll is produced by Swan Films, which was set up at the start of 2014 by Neil Crombie and Joe Evans. The prodco signed a first-look and development deal with All3Media a year ago.

Crombie and Evans are known for their arts-based programming, having previously produced Grayson Perry: Who Are You? and Grayson Perry: All in the Best Possible Taste for the UK’s Channel 4.

But their latest project, originally intended to explore Carroll’s legacy on the 150th anniversary of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, has taken a darker turn after a photograph purportedly taken by Carroll raised questions about his sexual preferences and conduct.

The Alice character is widely accepted to have been based on Alice Liddell, daughter of the Dean of Christ Church, but the picture discovered in a French museum’s collection shows her older but pre-pubescent sister Lorina in a fully nude pose.

Contributors to the programme, including Alice Liddell’s great-granddaughter Vanessa Tait, have called into question whether the picture proves Carroll’s “strange” and “intense” relationship with the Liddell girls strayed into something more sinister, with some claiming he was a repressed paedophile.

Due to air this Sunday on BBC2 in the UK, the documentary is being distributed internationally by All3Media International.