View source for A Christmas Carol (TV series)



{{EngvarB|date=April 2024}}
{{Infobox television
| image              = A Christmas Carol 2019 BBC.jpg
| genre              = [[Fantasy television|Fantasy]], [[Horror fiction]]
| creator            =
| based_on           = {{Based on|''[[A Christmas Carol]]''|[[Charles Dickens]]}}
| writer             = [[Steven Knight]]
| director           = [[Nick Murphy (director)|Nick Murphy]]
| starring           = {{Plainlist|
* [[Guy Pearce]]
* [[Andy Serkis]]
* [[Stephen Graham]]
* [[Charlotte Riley]]
* [[Joe Alwyn]]
* [[Vinette Robinson]] 
* [[Johnny Harris (actor)|Johnny Harris]]
* [[Jason Flemyng]]
}}
| composer           = {{Plainlist|
* [[Volker Bertelmann]]
* [[Dustin O'Halloran]]
}}
| country            = United Kingdom
| language           = English
| num_episodes       = 3
| executive_producer = {{Plainlist|
* Steven Knight
* [[Tom Hardy]]
* [[Ridley Scott]]
* Dean Baker
* [[David W. Zucker]]
* Kate Crowe
* Mona Qureshi
* [[Piers Wenger]]
}}
| producer           = Julian Stevens
| editor             = 
| cinematography     = Si Bell
| runtime            = 53–58 minutes
| company            = {{Plainlist|
* [[Scott Free Productions|Scott Free]]
* [[Hardy Son & Baker]]
* [[BBC]]
* [[FX Productions|FXP]]
}}
| network            = [[FX (TV channel)|FX]]
| released           = {{Start date|2019|12|19|df=y}}
| network2           = [[BBC One]]
| first_aired2       = {{Start date|2019|12|22|df=y}}
| last_aired2        = {{End date|2019|12|24|df=y}}
}}
'''''A Christmas Carol''''' is a 2019 British television [[dark fantasy]] drama based on the [[A Christmas Carol|1843 novella]] by [[Charles Dickens]]. The three-part series is written by [[Steven Knight]] with [[Tom Hardy]] and [[Ridley Scott]] among the executive producers. It began airing on [[BBC One]] in the UK on 22 December 2019 and concluded two days later on 24 December 2019. Prior to this, it aired in the US on [[FX (TV channel)|FX]] on 19 December 2019, with all three episodes shown consecutively as a single [[television film]].

Filming locations include [[Rainham Hall]] in East London and [[Lord Leycester Hospital]] in [[Warwick]]. Cast members include [[Guy Pearce]], [[Andy Serkis]], [[Stephen Graham]], [[Charlotte Riley]], [[Johnny Harris (actor)|Johnny Harris]], [[Jason Flemyng]], [[Vinette Robinson]] and [[Joe Alwyn]]. This adaptation was meant to present a darker take on the classic story, aimed at an adult audience. The drama involves adult language, brief nudity, horror elements, implications of [[child molestation]], [[forced prostitution]] and a depiction of a child drowning.

== Plot summary ==
[[Jacob Marley]] awakes in his grave after a scarred boy urinates on his headstone. Meanwhile, Marley's business partner [[Ebenezer Scrooge]] is in his office where he works as an [[asset stripping|asset stripper]], with extensive industrial interests. The miserly Scrooge resents people who cherish Christmas, and tells his nephew Fred that if people were as good as they claim to be during the festive season then they would be so during the entire year. Meanwhile, Scrooge's clerk [[Bob Cratchit]], and his wife Mary, struggle to survive and raise their children, especially the disabled [[Tiny Tim (A Christmas Carol)|Tim]].

Marley begs God to let him rest, and is delivered to [[Purgatory]], where a blacksmith's spirit puts him in a suit of chains and lockboxes. The [[Ghost of Christmas Past]] tells Marley he will not have eternal rest unless he helps Scrooge find redemption. Marley visits Scrooge, shows him the exploited workers in their mills and [[sweatshop]]s, and explains that each link of his chains represents a life lost because of their greed. He warns Scrooge that the same fate awaits him unless he heeds the three spirits who will visit him on [[Christmas Eve]].

The Ghost of Christmas Past arrives, and shows Scrooge visions of his past by taking on different guises. One vision shows Scrooge as a child at a boarding school, where he was made to stay during the Christmas season and was [[child sexual abuse|sexually abused]] by the schoolmaster. Scrooge learns his father knew of the abuse and allowed it in exchange for the schoolmaster waiving attendance fees. Scrooge's sister Lottie rescued him one year, telling him their father was out of the family and, unbeknownst to Scrooge, threatening to shoot the schoolmaster if he ever touched her brother again.

The Ghost then shows Scrooge a Christmas during which Mary asked Scrooge for £30 so Tim could have a life-saving surgery. Scrooge offered to give her the money if she came to his apartment on Christmas Day. She did, and Scrooge made Mary admit she was willing to prostitute herself to save her child, and watched her undress. He then said that he did not desire her, but that he wished to see her abandon her morals for money. Scrooge paid her and threatened to tell her husband if he should ever leave his employ. Humiliated, Mary told Scrooge that one day she would show him his true self in a "mirror", stating that she had "the power to summon such spirits."

The [[Ghost of Christmas Present]] appears, in the form of the long-deceased Lottie, Fred's mother. She and Scrooge watch the Cratchit family celebrating Christmas together. Mary lies to Bob about where she got the money, telling him that she stole a pair of diamond earrings and sold them. Bob announces he will resign from Scrooge's employment in the morning, as he has found another job. Scrooge wishes to tell Mary he will not reveal their arrangement to Bob, but, sensing his presence, Mary tells him to leave.

The [[Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come|Ghost of Christmas Future]] appears as a man in black with his mouth sewn shut. Scrooge then sees Tim skating on a frozen pond, and falling through the ice and dying of the cold. The Ghost then shows Scrooge his own corpse, alone, with no one mourning his death. Marley arrives and talks of redemption, but Scrooge says he does not deserve forgiveness and will accept his fate, if only Tim will live.

Marley is returned to his grave to rest eternally, and Tim's grave vanishes as Scrooge is transported back to the present Christmas Day. Scrooge runs to the pond behind the Cratchit's house, scattering gravel on the ice to prevent Tim's death.

He visits the Cratchits, wishes Bob well in his new job, and gives him £500, announcing he is closing down his business. Mary thanks Scrooge for the money, but says it will not buy her forgiveness. He replies he does not want or deserve forgiveness, but simply wants to be the best person he can be, and thanks her for summoning the spirits. After he leaves, Mary tells the three spirits that there is still much work to do.

== Cast ==
*[[Guy Pearce]] as [[Ebenezer Scrooge]]<ref name="BBC_Media_2019-05"/>
**[[Billy Barratt]] as Young Ebenezer Scrooge
*[[Andy Serkis]] as [[Ghost of Christmas Past]]<ref name="BBC_Media_2019-05"/>
**[[Kayvan Novak]] as the Ghost in the form of [[Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves|Ali Baba]]<ref name="BBC_Media_2019-05"/>
**Gruffudd Glyn as the Ghost in the form of a Welsh coal miner
**[[Paul Chahidi]] as the Ghost in the form of a mill owner
*[[Stephen Graham]] as [[Jacob Marley]]<ref name="BBC_Media_2019-05"/>
*[[Charlotte Riley]] as Lottie Scrooge/[[Ghost of Christmas Present]]<ref name="BBC_Media_2019-05"/>
*[[Joe Alwyn]] as [[Bob Cratchit]]<ref name="BBC_Media_2019-05"/>
*[[Vinette Robinson]] as Mary Cratchit<ref name="BBC_Media_2019-05"/>
*[[Jason Flemyng]] as [[Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come|Ghost of Christmas Future]]<ref name="BBC_Media_2019-05"/>
*[[Lenny Rush]] as [[Tiny Tim (A Christmas Carol)|Tiny Tim Cratchit]]<ref name="BBC_Media_2019-05"/>
*[[Johnny Harris (actor)|Johnny Harris]] as Franklin Scrooge, Ebenezer’s father
*[[Adam Nagaitis]] as Fred, Ebenezer’s nephew
*[[Adrian Lukis]] as the Headmaster

== Production ==
It was announced in November 2017 that the [[BBC]] had commissioned a new telling of the Dickens tale, with [[Steven Knight]] writing the three-part series. Knight, [[Tom Hardy]] and [[Ridley Scott]] would serve as executive producers.<ref name="deadline_2017-11" />

In January 2019, it was reported that Hardy would also be starring in the series; however, the role he would be playing was not disclosed (Hardy did not appear in the final version).<ref name="collider" /> In May, [[Guy Pearce]] was revealed to be playing Scrooge, alongside the castings of [[Andy Serkis]], [[Stephen Graham]], [[Charlotte Riley]], [[Johnny Harris (actor)|Johnny Harris]], [[Joe Alwyn]], [[Vinette Robinson]] and [[Kayvan Novak]].<ref name="deadline_2019-05" /> [[Rutger Hauer]], who was originally cast as [[Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come|Ghost of Christmas Future]], became too ill to film his scenes and was replaced by [[Jason Flemyng]] (Hauer died on 19 July 2019).

Filming on the series commenced by May 2019 at [[Rainham Hall]], a 1729-built [[National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty|National Trust]] site in the [[London Borough of Havering]].<ref name="Romford_Recorder" /> Scenes were filmed on [[Church Row, Hampstead]] and the churchyard of [[St John-at-Hampstead]] in May.<ref name=HamHigh19>{{cite news|first=Harry|last=Taylor|url=https://www.hamhigh.co.uk/news/tom-hardy-production-of-a-christmas-carol-filmed-in-hampstead-1-6079168|title=Snow in Hampstead? TV crews roll into town to film BBC adaptation of A Christmas Carol|date=30 May 2019|work=[[Ham & High]]|access-date=18 August 2020|archive-date=11 March 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200311010225/https://www.hamhigh.co.uk/news/tom-hardy-production-of-a-christmas-carol-filmed-in-hampstead-1-6079168|url-status=dead}}</ref> In early June, filming took place at the [[Lord Leycester Hospital]] in [[Warwick]].<ref name="Warwick_Courier" />

== Episodes ==
{{Episode table |background=#000000 |overall= |title= |director= |writer= |airdate= |airdateR =<ref name =deadline/> |altdate= |altdateT=UK Air date |altdateR=<ref name = BBC_AirDate/> |viewers= |country=UK |viewersR=<ref name="BARB4"/> |episodes=
{{Episode list
 |EpisodeNumber   = 1
 |Title           = Chapter One: The Human Beast
 |DirectedBy      = [[Nick Murphy (director)|Nick Murphy]]
 |WrittenBy       = [[Steven Knight]]
 |OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|df=yes|2019|12|19}}
 |AltDate         = 22 December 2019
 |Viewers         = 7.83
 |ShortSummary    = 
 |LineColor       = 000000
}}
{{Episode list
 |EpisodeNumber   = 2
 |Title           = Chapter Two: The Human Heart
 |DirectedBy      = Nick Murphy
 |WrittenBy       = Steven Knight 
 |OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|df=yes|2019|12|19}} (FX)
 |AltDate         = 23 December 2019
 |Viewers         = 6.01
 |ShortSummary    = 
 |LineColor       = 000000
}}
{{Episode list
 |EpisodeNumber   = 3
 |Title           = Chapter Three: A Bag of Gravel 
 |DirectedBy      = Nick Murphy
 |WrittenBy       = Steven Knight 
 |OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|df=yes|2019|12|19}}
 |AltDate         = 24 December 2019
 |Viewers         = 5.31
 |ShortSummary    =
 |LineColor       = 000000
}}
}}
{{notelist}}

On the BBC's [[iPlayer]] service, episode 1 had 1.6 million requests, episode 2 had 1.03 million requests and episode 3 had 900,000 requests. It was the sixth most watched programme on iPlayer during the Christmas [[fortnight]] of 20 December to 2 January.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/latestnews/2020/iplayer-festive-fortnight|title=BBC – Gavin & Stacey, EastEnders, Call The Midwife and A Christmas Carol lead to BBC iPlayer's best ever festive fortnight – Media Centre|website=www.bbc.co.uk}}</ref> FX broadcast all three episodes on 19 December in the United States as one episode. The full-length serial is available to stream on [[HULU|Hulu]] as of 2020. On 24 December 2021 [[Disney+]] also released it internationally, excluding UK and Ireland, as a single episode via the [[Star (Disney+)|Star hub]] and as a [[Star Original]].

== Reception ==
=== Ratings ===
Episode 1 was the most watched TV show for the entire week ending 22 December in the UK, with 7,330,443 viewers watching within seven days of the first broadcast. The subsequent two episodes failed to register in the top 15 BBC1 broadcasts for week ending 29 December, achieving fewer than 5,887,097 viewers.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.barb.co.uk/viewing-data/four-screen-dashboard/|title=Weekly top programmes on four screens (from Sept 2018) &#124; BARB}}</ref>

According to ''[[Deadline Hollywood]]'', there were 1.4 million fewer viewers for the second episode on [[BBC One]]; representing a 30% drop from the first episode.<ref>{{cite web|last=Kanter|first=Jake|title='A Christmas Carol' Haunted By 30% Drop In Its Audience On BBC One In The UK|url=https://deadline.com/2019/12/a-christmas-carol-loses-viewers-bbc-1202816606/|website=[[Deadline Hollywood]]|date=24 December 2019|access-date=24 December 2019}}</ref>

=== Critical reception ===
According to [[review aggregator]] [[Rotten Tomatoes]], 52% of 25 critics have given the series a positive review, with an average rating of 6.2/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "This radical retelling of Charles Dickens' classic parable struggles to justify its oppressive tone and edgy flourishes, although Guy Pearce is suitably haunting as the haunted Ebenezer Scrooge."<ref>{{cite web|title=A Christmas Carol 2019|url=https://rottentomatoes.com/m/a_christmas_carol_2019|website=[[Rotten Tomatoes]]|access-date=26 August 2021}}</ref> Pearce's performance received a great deal of praise.<ref name="kirkley"/><ref name="mckay"/><ref name="fienberg"/><ref name="shoemaker"/>

''[[Radio Times]]'' awarded the drama four stars out of five and opined that at times the script "feels more [[Shakespeare]]an than Dickensian."<ref name="kirkley">{{cite magazine|last=Kirkley|first=Paul|title=A Christmas Carol review: "A grisly, gritty take on a well-loved seasonal staple"|url=https://www.radiotimes.com/news/tv/2019-12-17/bbc-christmas-carol-review/|magazine=[[Radio Times]]|date=17 December 2019|access-date=20 December 2019}}</ref> ''[[Evening Standard]]'' compared it to ''[[Peaky Blinders (TV series)|Peaky Blinders]]'' and praised the performances of the actors.<ref name="mckay">{{cite news|last=McKay|first=Alistair|title=A Christmas Carol: A deep-frozen Ebenezer Scrooge casts his chill over Dickens's festive fable |url=https://www.standard.co.uk/stayingin/tvfilm/a-christmas-carol-bbc-steven-knight-review-a4318676.html|newspaper=[[Evening Standard]]|date=20 December 2019|access-date=20 December 2019}}</ref>

Reception from American outlets was less positive. ''[[The Hollywood Reporter]]'' described the miniseries as "designed to alienate the Dickens brand's traditional core audience and probably won't much engage the curiosity of more mature viewers."<ref name="fienberg">{{cite magazine|last=Fienberg|first=Daniel|title='A Christmas Carol': TV Review|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/a-christmas-carol-fx-review-1263389|magazine=[[The Hollywood Reporter]]|date=18 December 2019|access-date=20 December 2019}}</ref> ''[[Salon (website)|Salon]]'' referred to it as a "dispiriting adaptation", calling it "short on joy and very, very, very long on purgatorial slogging."<ref>{{cite web|last=McFarland|first=Melanie|title=There's no comfort and joy in FX's excruciating "Christmas Carol"|url=https://www.salon.com/2019/12/19/a-christmas-carol-fx-review-steven-knight/|website=[[Salon (website)|Salon]]|date=19 December 2019|access-date=20 December 2019}}</ref> [[Collider (website)|Collider]] gave it two stars and acknowledged that the miniseries "certainly brings something new to the tried-and-true story" but found the ending "misses out on the meaning of the story and the greater meaning of the Christmas season."<ref>{{cite web|last=Trumbore|first=Dave|title=FX's 'A Christmas Carol' Review: Hard-Hearted, Black as Coal, and Cold as Ice|url=https://collider.com/fx-a-christmas-carol-review/|website=[[Collider (website)|Collider]] |date=19 December 2019|access-date=20 December 2019}}</ref> Nick Allen of [[RogerEbert.com]] also gave it two stars and described viewing it as "approximately three joyless hours of watching an adaptation try to justify its edginess."<ref>{{cite web|last=Murphy|first=Nick|title=A Christmas Carol|url=https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/a-christmas-carol-movie-review-2019|website=[[RogerEbert.com]]|date=18 December 2019|access-date=20 December 2019}}</ref> ''[[The A.V. Club]]'' gave it a C− rating, remarking on the "unrelenting dourness."<ref name="shoemaker">{{cite web|last=Shoemaker|first=Allison|title=If FX wants to kill A Christmas Carol it had better do it, and decrease the surplus TV population|url=https://www.avclub.com/if-fx-wants-to-kill-a-christmas-carol-it-had-better-do-1840549450|website=[[The A.V. Club]]|date=19 December 2019|access-date=20 December 2019}}</ref>

== See also ==
* [[Adaptations of A Christmas Carol|Adaptations of ''A Christmas Carol'']]
* [[List of Christmas films]]

== References ==
<references>
<ref name="deadline_2017-11">{{Cite web|url=https://deadline.com/2017/11/steven-knight-a-christmas-carol-dickens-adaptations-bbc-ridley-scott-tom-hardy-1202215436/|title=Steven Knight To Adapt Charles Dickens Novels For BBC One; Ridley Scott, Tom Hardy Exec Producing|first1=Nancy|last1=Tartaglione|work=[[Deadline Hollywood]]|date=28 November 2017|access-date=4 November 2019}}</ref>
<ref name="collider">{{Cite web|url=https://collider.com/a-christmas-carol-tom-hardy-update-steven-knight/|title=Exclusive: Steven Knight Talks 'A Christmas Carol' with Tom Hardy & Teases Ambitious Dickens Plans|first=Adam|last=Chitwood|work=[[Collider (website)|Collider]]|date=21 January 2019|access-date=4 November 2019}}</ref>
<ref name="deadline_2019-05">{{Cite web|url=https://deadline.com/2019/05/fx-christmas-carol-1202610642/|title=FX Boards BBC One's Steven Knight-Penned Adaptation Of Charles Dickens' Classic 'A Christmas Carol'|first1=Peter|last1=White|website=[[Deadline Hollywood]]|date=9 May 2019}}</ref>
<ref name="Romford_Recorder">{{Cite news|url=https://www.romfordrecorder.co.uk/news/rainham-hall-pictures-of-filimg-of-a-christmas-carol-1-6028910|title=Rainham Hall filming pictures: Guy Pearce spotted amongst actors filming for BBC's A Christmas Carol|first=April|last=Roach|newspaper=Romford Recorder|date=2 May 2019|access-date=9 May 2019|archive-date=9 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190509141103/https://www.romfordrecorder.co.uk/news/rainham-hall-pictures-of-filimg-of-a-christmas-carol-1-6028910|url-status=dead}}</ref>
<ref name="Warwick_Courier">{{Cite news|first=Kirstie|last=Smith|url=https://www.warwickcourier.co.uk/news/here-s-a-look-at-what-the-bbc-is-filming-at-warwick-s-lord-leycester-hospital-1-8953750|title=Here's a look at what the BBC is filming at Warwick's Lord Leycester Hospital|newspaper=[[Warwick Courier]]|date=7 June 2019}}</ref>
<ref name="BBC_Media_2019-05">{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/latestnews/2019/christmas-carol|title=BBC – Casting announced for A Christmas Carol as BBC One and FX partner on new adaptation of the Charles Dickens classic written by Steven Knight – Media Centre|website=[[BBC]]|date=9 May 2019}}</ref>
<ref name =deadline>{{Cite web|url=https://deadline.com/video/a-christmas-carol-trailer-fx-steven-knight-guy-pearce-andy-serkis-tom-hardy/|title='A Christmas Carol' Trailer: FX Sets Date For Steven Knight's Haunting Adaptation Of Charles Dickens Classic|first1=Dino-Ray|last1=Ramos|website=[[Deadline Hollywood]]|date=20 November 2019}}</ref>
<ref name="BARB4">{{cite web|url=https://www.barb.co.uk/viewing-data/four-screen-dashboard/ |title=Four-screen dashboard |publisher=[[Broadcasters' Audience Research Board]]}}</ref>
<ref name = BBC_AirDate>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000csdp|title=BBC One – A Christmas Carol|website=[[BBC]]}}</ref>
</references>

== External links ==
* {{BBC programme}}
* {{IMDb title|7686464}}

{{A Christmas Carol}}
{{Steven Knight}}
{{FX network programming}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Christmas Carol (TV series), A}}
[[Category:2010s British drama television series]]
[[Category:2010s British television miniseries]]
[[Category:2019 British television series debuts]]
[[Category:2019 British television series endings]]
[[Category:BBC television dramas]]
[[Category:British fantasy drama television series]]
[[Category:British English-language television shows]]
[[Category:Gothic television shows]]
[[Category:Television shows based on A Christmas Carol]]
[[Category:Television series by Scott Free Productions]]
[[Category:Television series created by Steven Knight]]
[[Category:Television series set in the 1830s]]
[[Category:Television series set in the 1840s]]
[[Category:Television episodes about pedophilia]]
[[Category:Television episodes about child sexual abuse]]
[[Category:Christmas television series]]

{{Wikipedia attribution|original_title=A Christmas Carol (TV series)|access_date=2026-02-24}}