Once Upon a Time will take on Alice in Wonderland, producers announced yesterday (Sunday 4th August) at the Television Critics Association press tour in Beverly Hills.

Sophie Lowe
Sophie Lowe at an event to celebrate the opening of Louis Vuitton's flagship Australian store, the Sydney 'Maison'.

The show will follow Alice (Sophie Lowe) on a familiar journey which includes the Cheshire cat, a caterpillar (Roger Daltrey) and The White Rabbit (John Lithgow). The twist to the classic tale is that Alice will have a love interest in the guise of Cyrus (Peter Gadiot), a genie.

Once Upon a Time in Wonderland, as one can expect from the inclusion of a genie, will feature characters borrowed from other classic tales. One mentioned by the producers was Jafar, Aladdin's nemesis. They promised traditional images of the evil sorcerer will be altered by their version. 

Naveen Andrews who has been cast as Jafar said: "in the popular imagination, he exists almost as an icon, as an incarnation of evil," he went on to say "what we want to do is present the audience with somebody they've never seen before. There has to be ambiguity, because everyone had a childhood."

Naveen Andrews
Naveen Andrews outside the ITV studios in London.

Executive Producer, Edward Kitsis, said "Alice has never been in love with a genie before," whilst Adam Horowitz said they were "honouring what came before and then kind of leaving off and trying to do our own spin and have as much fun as we can." 

The series will be complete in itself, ensuring that fans will not be left disappointed with an open ending that it never resolved. Horowitz, on the subject, said "we plan to tell a complete tale with a beginning, middle and end. If it does well, if people like it, hopefully we come back." The producers are evidently interested in creating a franchise from this series.  

Once Upon a Time in Wonderland premieres on October 10th at 8pm on ABC. 

Roger Daltrey
Roger Daltrey at the 'Raise Your Voice' benefit at the Beverly Hills Hilton.