A Christmas Carol and Me

I think perhaps we all have that one book, film, TV show or piece of music. It’s a piece of art that, for whatever reason, had a huge impact on us when we first read it, saw it or listened to it, and a piece of art whose influence on our world view and our very character is an influence that continues to grow throughout our lives. For me, that piece of art is Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol and I wanted to take the opportunity to explore the reasons why I love it, and the reasons why it continues to resonate with me 50 years after the story came into my life.

The First Time

I have always had this vague memory of sitting in my lounge, watching Richard Williams outstanding version of A Christmas Carol as a young child. When was it, though? I narrowed it down to 1972 or 1973, but until about two months ago I had no way of checking where and when it was. Luckily, I came across the BBC Genome project during a web search. They have digitised every issue of the Radio Times and their listings page is no less than our personal histories kept safe in the corner of the Web. I clicked on the double issue covering December 16 to December 29, and there, on Christmas Eve 1972 was this!

The moment that I first encountered it now had not only a day, but a time to go with it. At 11:05 on Christmas Eve, 1972, I sat down in front of A Christmas Carol for the first time. Even if I didn’t have a copy of the film to rewatch, there would be scenes that would be burned into my mind to this day. Marley’s Ghost, the flight of Scrooge and the Ghost of Christmas Present from a mining village to a lighthouse and from there onto the deck of a ship. Looking at the animation today, it did not ignore the poverty and sorrow at the heart of Dickens’ original vision, but that, of course, didn’t resonate as much with me then as it does now. However, I always had a social conscience as a child, and I wonder if it could be traced back to that first viewing? I think it’s likely that it can.

Scrooge at school

One of the few times I actually enjoyed being at my secondary school was when they treated us to a Christmas film. There was a film club at the school which I was a member of. A few times a term, the organiser would hire a film projector and show us old films of varying quality on a big screen. In my second year there a Christmas film was shown, and much to my delight it was Scrooge, the 1970 musical version with Albert Finney. It was the first time I’d seen it, because in those days there were only three channels, so films tended to come around far more infrequently than they do now! Most of the pupils around me were bored but I was gripped by the film, and from that first viewing it became a firm favourite. With superb songs like ‘December the Twenty Fifth’ and ‘Christmas Children’ it was a delight, but the highlight was the brilliant Anton Rodgers as Tom Jenkins with the showstopping ‘Thank You Very Much’. Yes, it took liberties with the story, but it had a verve and a heart that made it irresistible. There was some darkness along with the songs and in many ways, it was a victim of fashion as filmgoers moved away from the big Oliver style musicals. However, Leslie Bricusse, the writer, felt that there was unfinished business and just over two decades later, he revived it as a musical play. We’ll return to that later. 

The book itself

I first tried reading the book when I was about 14, and I do remember finding it quite hard going in places. It seemed to be a mass of description that had little to do with the story at times. When he described the food and drink at Fezziwig’s party and the room in which the Ghost of Christmas Present sat, he seemed to a teenager to go into almost absurd detail. I found myself flicking through those parts, but when it came to Jacob Marley and the Ghost of Christmas Present in particular, I was gripped. Marley was a fascinating combination of vengeful spirit and friend to Scrooge, whilst Christmas Present was a jolly giant with an angry and sarcastic side to him. This mixture of dark and light really appealed to me and gave me my entry to the novel. Although I was somewhat older before I really understood the intricacies of the novel, I knew that it was a story about complex characters. Scrooge himself was clearly damaged, although we only get hints as to why that is, but he never seemed to be a fully rounded character. It was Bob Cratchit who I really identified with. He was the ultimate underdog who did his best but never got much out of life. The Cratchit family Christmas was deeply affecting because he was surrounded by love, and this was his protection from a harsh world. The trouble was that his family time was only fleeting in a time when people worked 6 days a week. He was a good man who made the most of a bad hand. He is the everyman character that Dickens identified with on a personal level given his own experiences of poverty. All these elements would keep me coming back to the book again and again until it became my favourite novel.

The Book at Bedtime

I always enjoy sharing my discoveries with other people, be they books, TV shows, films or music. You might have noticed that! It is probably the reason why I became a reviewer. One of my favourite versions of A Christmas Carol comes from the long-running BBC Book at Bedtime series. Read by Martin Jarvis and Denise Briars, this is a fantastic version of the story with well-chosen abridgements and an extra dimension that all the others lack. Every other version is read by a man on his own, who has to provide all the voices including those of women and children. Here, Denise Briars is an equal partner in the reading, giving more authentic life to the voices of those who had previously been impersonated with varying degrees of success, by which I mean very little in most cases! From the start of every episode, which begins and ends with the music famously used by Box of Delights – Hely-Hutchinson’s Carol Symphony – the quality never falters, and all 8 episodes keep me gripped whenever I listen to it. My wife’s first introduction to the story was with the tape, which I took away with us on holiday one early autumn, at her request I might add, to listen to over 4 nights. Although she has never quite taken to the story with quite the fervour I have, which is probably nigh on impossible given my obsession with it (!), she is now also A Christmas Carol lover herself.

Scrooge The Stage Musical

When I found out that the musical Scrooge was heading for the stage I was determined to get tickets for it. That was before I found out that my first Doctor Who, Jon Pertwee was playing Jacob Marley! Alongside him in a high powered cast were Anthony Newley as Scrooge, Tom Watt as Bob Cratchit and Stratford Johns as The Ghost of Christmas Present. All four were perfect for their roles and the extra songs that Newley and Leslie Bricusse had written gave the musical a real boost. It was a real privilege to see those four and the uniformly excellent supporting cast breathe new life into the story. However, my real Christmas present was still to come. I wrote to Jon asking if I could meet him after the performance and got a reply pretty much return of post saying he would be happy to meet me in his dressing room. To say that he was imposing under states the fact. I immediately became as nervous as the kid I was when I first saw him. He may have been in his seventies but he just exuded power and a star quality I have never experienced before or since. He was the one person I have met who genuinely overawed me and I would not have missed it for the world. That was definitely the highlight of my year and one of the highlights of my life.

The collection and the gaps

It’s been a long time since I first fell under Scrooge’s spell, but over the years, that spell has become stronger and stronger. My collection of Christmas Carol based films and other it shows no sign of stopping. I have the famous versions mentioned here, and some much less familiar versions such as the Ross Kemp modern day version which was genuinely good. What am I still on the look out for? Many years ago I saw the brilliant A Christmas Carol ballet, performed by the Northern Ballet, a couple of times, but it has not been revived in decades. I would love to find a Dvd of the ballet, or better still, go to see it in a theatre once more. I would love a Dvd copy of the Guy Pearce Christmas Carol from a few years back, but that is only available as a stream or download as far as I can tell. Finally, the crowning glory of my collection would be one of the earliest copies of the book from 1843, but miracles only happen on Christmas Eve after 4 ghosts have visited you! I hope you have enjoyed this trip through time with the ghost of Christmas Past and that you may be inspired to read, watch or listen to the book that set the template for the Christmas season.