Alice is at the trial of the Knave of Hearts - and she is taller than ever before. The King asks the jury to give their verdict - but will the Queen let Alice escape without a punishment? 

Transcript

Narrator
Hello. Alice has had lots of adventures in Wonderland. Now, she has been called as a witness in the trial of the Knave of Hearts. The King of Hearts is the judge, but Alice has grown so tall that her head reaches the top of the courthouse and all the people seem very far away.

Alice
How small you all are!

King
The witness must come to the witness box!

Narrator
Alice jumped up and knocked over the jury box. It was full of animals and they all fell out.

Animals
Ooh, ow, oh are you hurt? Excuse me, is that my chair? Etc...

Alice
I'm so sorry!

King
What do you know about this business?

Alice
Nothing at all!

Narrator
The King looked in his Book of Rules.

King
Rule forty-two. "All persons more than a mile high must leave the court."

Alice
I'm not a mile high!

King
Indeed you are not! You are nearly two miles high!

Alice
Well, I'm not going! And you can't make me!

Narrator
Alice had grown a little bit more, and the King, who was now the size of Alice's shoe, could see she was right about that part. His face went very pale and he closed his Book of Rules.

King
White Rabbit. Ask the jury: what is their decision about this matter? Did the Knave steal the Queen's tarts?

Narrator
But there was more evidence. The White Rabbit gave a letter to the King, who opened it and turned to the Knave of Hearts.

King
Knave of Hearts, did you write this?

Knave of Hearts
I didn't write it! Look at the end of it: there is no name written there!

King
Then you are not a honest man! An honest man always signs his work! Read the letter!

Narrator
And the White Rabbit read the letter. No-one understood a single word of it.

King
That's the most important evidence we've heard today!

Alice
I don't believe there's any meaning in it!

King
If there's no meaning in it, then we don't need to try to find any! Jury, what is your decision?

Narrator
The Queen stamped her feet.

Queen
No, no no! Punishment first, decision afterwards!

Alice
That's nonsense! The punishment comes last!

Queen
Be quiet!

Alice
I won't!

Queen
Off with her head!

Narrator
No-one moved. Alice realised she had grown to her full size.

Alice
Who cares about you? All of you!

Narrator
Alice looked down at the little people all around her. She suddenly realised…

Alice
You're nothing but a pack of cards!

Narrator
As soon as she said this, the animals, the birds, the King and Queen and everyone else turned into a pack of cards and they all flew up into the air and came flying down upon her. The cards fluttered and flew all around her head and shoulders and Alice gave a scream as she tried to beat them off with her hands…

Alice
Ohhhh!!

Narrator
And then another strange thing happened to Alice. She found herself back on the riverbank where our story began. She opened her eyes and saw her sister smiling at her.

Alice's sister
Wake up, Alice dear! What a long sleep you've had!

Narrator
Alice's sister gently brushed away some dead leaves that had fallen from the tree and onto her face.

Alice
Oh… I've had such a curious dream. There was a White Rabbit and … I got bigger and smaller … and I met a caterpillar and a Hatter … and played croquet and … a cat that smiled and … so many things.

Narrator
Alice told her sister all about the Wonderland in her dream and the adventures she had had there. Perhaps one day Alice will dream herself back to Wonderland. If she does, I'll be sure to tell you. Goodbye.

Vocabulary

rules (singular: rule)
a list of instructions about what you are allowed to do and not allowed to do

persons
a formal word for 'people'

pale
(here) when you are pale, your skin colour is lighter than is usual because you are frightened or ill

evidence
facts or things that prove something

sentence
the punishment that a judge in a court gives to a criminal

Credits

Produced by Catherine Chapman

Cast: Alice Brown, Catherine Chapman, Neil Edgeller, Sophie Napleton, BBC Learning English Team

Illustration: Shan Pillay

Scriptwriter: Nicola Prentis

Sound: Paul Scott

Music: Vera Harte