It would have been fun to see Diana as Alice--I'm amazed that the script went anywhere near her, really. It probably would have been a cameo, if the part was necessary. Maybe she would have done her bit and then toddled off to visit Invisible Jones?
Eileen Atkins did a brilliant job, though--she's one of the best parts of the movie--so I'm not sorry she ended up with the part. As for Emma herself, I don't know that Nicole Kidman would have been ideal, either, but she certainly would have been a huge step up from Uma. No contest there.
(And Dandy, I have the novel and one of the other books as well, and I bought mine long after the movie's release, when I knew full well what it was like, so you're not alone
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).