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Wonderland
Wonderland“The Golden Age of writing from
  1888 to 1945 saw a number of
  exceptionally talented British writers,
  lost in their imagination despite
  personal suffering, produce
  unforgettable children’s literature;
  tales of a blissful existence which,
  together with their creators,
  are explored in the four-part
  documentary series Wonderland,
  that premiered on Sky Arts...”

IRRESISTIBLE CHILDREN'S STORIES written by British literary talent told of incredible Wonderlands, set in a perfect world where sorrow and tragedies ceased to exist. These creative, intriguing, and unforgettable stories had effects on, and came from, the authors own experiences.

Revealing much about the authors who wrote of a utopian land, it was perhaps the ideal life each would have wished for themselves and their families.

“Enchanting worlds
of Wonderlands and
Neverlands free of
disappointment and
tragedy embody an
idyllic life of joy,
adventure, friendship,
and loyalty.
These writers created
a perfect childhood;
a childhood that had
perhaps eluded them.
After all, what is life
but a dream...”
No matter how dark they might appear to be, as in some aspects of Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland or J M Barrie's Peter Pan, the stories of happy children whose adventures took them to weird and wonderful places all had a happy ending.

Merging biography with literary extracts and quotations, the four-part documentary series Wonderland looks at these works of fantasy and escapism with fascinating insight into the pain, hardship and tragedies of the authors who gave them life during a transforming period of British history from 1888 through to 1945.

Rudyard Kipling, author of the Just So stories and The Jungle Book, was just six years old when he and his younger sister Trix were left in a foster home where their dreadful treatment left them both emotionally scarred. In later life Kipling was to lose his young daughter to pneumonia and then his eighteen-year-old son to the First World War.

Writing Winnie the Pooh and basing it on his son's childhood caused a painful rift between A A Milne and his son, who always hated being teased about being Christopher Robin.

J M Barrie suffered rejection by his mother after the death of his thirteen-year-old elder brother. Barrie became close to the three boys of the Llewellyn Davies family who inspired the Peter Pan stories. Sadly only Nicholas survived as George died aged 21 in the Great War and Michael drowned at 20.

Creator of the delightful Peter Rabbit stories, Beatrix Potter was so devastated when her fiancé tragically died that she never married; while Frances Hodgson Burnett, writer of The Secret Garden, lived in extreme poverty before finding international acclaim and wealth. Tragically her eldest son died in 1890.

Wonderland also looks at the lives of Edith Nesbitt, author of The Railway Children, The Wind in the Willows writer Kenneth Graham, as well as Arthur Ransome, Erskine Childers and Charles Kingsley.

Enlightening and entertaining, Wonderland benefits from the fascinating input from respected university professors and authors, who offer a considered appraisal of the real lives of the individual writers and their imaginative worlds.

Excerpts from films made from the works of these authors include: Alice in Wonderland (BBC 1966); Tales of Beatrix Potter (1971); Finding Neverland (2004); Miss Potter (2006); Swallows and Amazons (2016); Goodbye Christopher Robin (2017); and The Secret Garden (2020).

Featuring: Professor Peter Hunt of the University of Cardiff; Professor Emerita Janet Montefiore, University of Kent; Professor Kiera Vaclavik, Queen Mary, London; Professor Dinah Birch, CBE, University of Liverpool; Brian Sibley, Author and Broadcaster; Patrice Lawrence, MBE, Author; and Professor Emerita Kimberley Reynolds, Newcastle University.

Enchanting worlds of Wonderlands and Neverlands free of disappointment and tragedy embody an idyllic life of joy, adventure, friendship, and loyalty. These writers created a perfect childhood; a childhood that had perhaps eluded them. After all, what is life but a dream…

Music is by Adrian Munsey; Narrated by Adrian Munsey, Anna Wilson-Smith, and Sam Jones; Executive Producer for Sky is Jack Oliver; and Written, Produced and Directed by Adrian Munsey.

Odyssey Televisions new four-part documentary series Wonderland premieres on Sky Arts on Thursday 18 August and explores the lives of the authors who wrote the most amazing and enduring stories and reveals the suffering behind their words. Running Time: 4 Episodes of 48 Minutes.

"Informative and entertaining, Wonderland benefits from the fascinating input from respected university professors and authors who offer a considered appraisal of the imaginative and inspirational worlds created by these talented writers" ***** — Maggie Woods, MotorBar
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