A CHRISTMAS CAROL
BBC1, TODAY-TUES, 9PM
From Alistair Sim to Bill Murray and The Muppets to Mickey Mouse, A Christmas Carol has been adapted for the screen more than any other story.
Yet the BBC is promising a brand new exploration of one of literature’s most famous characters in its three-part dramatisation of Charles Dickens’ classic ghost story.
Peaky Blinders writer Steven Knight has written this version, with LA Confidential star Guy Pearce leading the cast as Scrooge.
“What I really loved about Steven’s writing was just that real detail about behaviour and psychology,” said the 52-year-old Australian.
“He’s such a beautifully poetic and yet brutal writer that I felt I was made to feel really uncomfortable, but at the same time really, utterly heartbroken by what Scrooge had experienced in his life, and how it was written about.”
In this version, The Ghost of Christmas Present is a woman, played by Charlotte Riley. Her husband, Tom Hardy, is an executive producer on the show.
Charlotte, from County Durham, was excited by the fact she’s Scrooge’s older sister.
“It allows a whole different side to Scrooge,” the 37-year-old said. “You get the impression from the scripts that she was a little bit of a mother figure to him, she took care of him.”
Another change is Knight’s approach to Jacob Marley, Scrooge’s deceased business partner – a chained and tormented ghost in the novel who warns Scrooge about the imminent arrival of the three spirits.
“It’s going to go more into the importance that Marley has to Scrooge, and their friendship,” explained Line Of Duty star Stephen Graham, who plays Marley.
“He has this massive undertaking straight away of trying to get the message across to Scrooge that he has to alter his ways, which he sees as a thankless task.”
Andy Serkis, known for films such as the Planet Of The Apes, plays The Ghost of Christmas Past, who he describes as “a pagan traveller stuck in purgatory”.
“We came up with the idea that he is a rather sinister figure who, 200 years before the story happened, committed murders and is atoning for his sins.”
Asked why Knight’s re-telling is unique, he says: “It’s an anatomy of what it is to be selfish.”
Stephen Graham believes the themes of the story feel apt for now.
“It’s one of those stories where we have a chance to reflect on ourselves – what we’ve done, decisions we’ve made, and how we strive to be better people.”