The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart, Episode 1, ‘Black Fire Orchid’

Judges' comments

The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart is an evocative and beautifully crafted adaptation of Holly Ringland’s best-selling book. It observes young protagonist, Alice Hart, whose life is upended when her parents die in a suspicious fire forcing Alice to be sent to live with her initially reluctant grandmother on a flower farm.

This is an expertly written pilot episode setting up layer upon layer of mystery embedded in the reader’s emotional need to know what will happen to Alice. Sarah Lambert opens with a sharp hook of Alice imagining burning her father alive then swiftly paints a contrasting picture of a perfect family. She builds this image then strips it back to reveal Clem’s cruel domination of Agnes and Alice. The reader is led through very dark territory by an assured and highly skilled hand who lays down the visual, metaphorical and literal language of flowers to guide us through this world.