I believe the review below entitled "Fraudulent picture" just says it all.
It speaks volumes that instead of celebrating Carroll's life for this 150th anniversary back in 2015, the BBC chose what amounts to an almost character assassination on the man. Although never repeated it is still floating around online and has been exported to several countries.
I am writing this because I'd hate for anyone to be mislead about this documentary, and its claims.
The supposed photo of Lorina Liddell, given a considerable amount airtime at the end of this "documentary" is extremely dubious. The photo comes from a private collection in photos in France, and is only attributed to Carroll due to the date: Carroll was using photography at this time, but so were many hundreds of other photographers.
The World expert, Edward Wakeling, is also given some airtime in this documentary, mainly to talk about the social and cultural differences of the Victorian era to our own. Whilst this relevant for the discussion on the photo, this extremely important point is not brought up again.
Notice that Wakeling and the earlier Carroll expert, Jenny Woolf, are not given time to talk about this photo. That's because the photo segment was added in late: so late that no expert could give their opinion on it. We are instead left with the non professional "gut feeling" of a consultant who is not a Lewis Carroll expert.
World expert Wakeling DID examine this supposed photo: in 1993: and determined it wasn't by Carroll.
However instead of addressing this, the documentary disregards these points to focus on sensationalism. In the ending, the presenter Martha Carney seems to imply that we shouldn't celebrate Carroll's legacy, presumably because he was like every other Victorian photographer of the age.
Wakeling later wrote a scathing article in the Lewis Carroll Society Journal about his experiences on this documentary, and has managed to ensure it is never repeated.
Anyone with a passing interest in Victorian studies, literature, culture, or photography can see right through this deceiving documentary.
