A CHRISTMAS CAROL: A GHOST STORY (2022)

Balladeer’s Blog’s Sixteenth Annual Christmas Carol-a-Thon continues with this review of a VERY underappreciated adaptation of the Dickens classic.

A CHRISTMAS CAROL: A GHOST STORY (2022) – Let me state right at the beginning that this version of the Carol has jumped into my Top 10 favorites, yet astonishingly as of this writing there are NO user or critic reviews of the production at IMDb.

This presentation joins the many filmed stage performances of A Christmas Carol but towers over most of them. The iconic Mark Gatiss wrote the adaptation and Adam Penford directed.

To encourage as many people as possible to watch this Carol I will emphasis just once, here at the beginning, that this production truly has nearly universal appeal. I repeat, below will be the only time I cover this aspect of the work in my review, but it’s necessary here in 2025.

A Christmas Carol: A Ghost Story can be enjoyed by people no matter which end of the political spectrum they are on. It features – but does not insert political commentary on – people of all colors in many of the roles. There’s a little boy playing with a doll. There are even trans thespians in the cast but you may not even notice, and to respect the non-political nature of the stage show I will refrain from spelling out which ones.

There are multiple interracial couples which I can’t believe that some people are still upset by in 2025, but they are. These couples are simply presented as is, no calling attention to their nature. If just seeing such couples will drive a viewer away, then there’s no hope for them.

NOW, I will point out that just as A Christmas Carol: A Ghost Story presents, but does not emphasize, elements that might stand out to viewers who lean right it also does that rarest of things for the 2020s – it presents elements that will require viewers who lean left to be just as willing to tolerate various bits of business that might stand out to them.

The production unmistakably yet matter-of-factly depicts the Christian aspects of the story and narration. Refreshing in a time when some tree-lighting ceremonies intentionally avoid saying “Christmas Tree.” Carols like O Come, All Ye Faithful are even sung by the cast here and there throughout the show.

Unabashed depictions of hetero couples are retained from the Dickens novel to the point of characters even saying “men and women” with nobody batting an eye. In addition, no hostility is shown toward the domesticity of the female characters AND, in a moment that demonstrates how clear of politics this production wants to be, it even makes the unnecessary (to me) change of the word “liberality” in the dialogue to “generosity” just to be safe. 

Now, having emphasized this genuine spirit of “Let’s all just get along at Christmas” that characterizes this work I will not mention it again. I merely wanted to avoid either side noting one thing that stands out to them and switching it off with their eyes rolling. 

Taking things in order:

A Christmas Carol: A Ghost Story begins with a prologue showing a time when both Ebenezer Scrooge (Nicholas Farrell) and Jacob Marley (Mark Gatiss) were alive and haranguing Bob Cratchit (Edward Harrison). Some of the dialogue exchanges between just Scrooge and Cratchit in the novel are made three-way conversations here.

That segment is very brief, then moves on to familiar territory on the seventh Christmas Eve since Marley passed away. Theater fans should appreciate the little bits of business that are incorporated into this Carol to try covering the maneuvering of scenery and allowing for costume changes without “dead air” on stage. 

I’m a dog lover, so the quasi-realistic dog puppet being used by the dog-walker brought a smile to my face, but there’s something for everyone.

EBENEZER SCROOGE – Nicholas Farrell is one of the best Scrooges I’ve seen in filmed stage versions. Even an obsessive Christmas Carol fan like me didn’t see any particular weakness in his performance. Much of the dialogue comes straight from the Dickens novel and Farrell speaks it as fluidly as someone from 1843 would. As a bonus, Scrooge gets to see the ghostly hearse in this Carol.  

BOB CRATCHIT – Edward Harrison is my new favorite Bob. He gives us a Cratchit with a personality and even a sense of humor without having to stray very far from the character’s usual dialogue. His charming interplay with his family really impressed me.

NEPHEW FRED – James Backway is as lively and Christmas-loving as you could want. He gets additional dialogue during the party scene at his and his wife’s house, but it fits in seamlessly. His and his wife’s efforts to fix up their guest Topper with Miss Polly are really emphasized here, but in a cheerful, good-natured way.   

THE CHARITY COLLECTORS – Fifteen actors portray dozens of characters in this production, so there are many thespians whose faces show up several times in several roles. Such is the case here with two female charity collectors who get their traditional exchanges with Scrooge.

MARLEY’S GHOST – Mark Gatiss really shines in the scene where he gets to go full frontal ghostly. Like most of the cast, he understands the play and the Victorian dialogue and wonderfully brings to life Dickens’ own words. Presumably because of Gatiss’ stature he also shows up as Jacob Marley in parts of the Christmas Past and Christmas Yet to Come portions which are Marley-free in the book.

THE WANDERING SPIRITS – Human-sized puppets on rods are manipulated to portray the cursed, wandering spirits that show up as Marley’s Ghost departs. One of my few disappointments with this Carol is its failure to make it clear that they are the spirits of other greedy, covetous misers who share Marley’s fate. Viewers who aren’t well-versed in the story may not know what they are supposed to be since Jacob doesn’t provide his usual explanation for them.  

THE GHOST OF CHRISTMAS PAST – Joni Ayton-Kent is terrific in this role. They “get” their Spirit’s lines to their core and recite several that are often left out of other Carol adaptations. I could have gone for more of Ayton-Kent in this. Director Adam Penford found clever ways of conveying the “shining” aspect of this Ghost.   

FAN – Scrooge’s sister Fan gets her usual brief appearance but it’s deftly handled. Her importance as one of the few people who were loving to the youthful Ebenezer and as the mother of his nephew Fred are conveyed quickly but competently.   

BELLE – Aoife Gaston is in this role. Like many stage presentations of A Christmas Carol, this one places Belle at the Christmas Party of Scrooge’s jolly employer Fezziwig. I’ve always found that acceptable in stage productions in order to minimize the number of sets needed. Belle’s dialogue is nearly word-for-word from the novel but oddly, this version of her seems impatient to be rid of Scrooge rather than sad to break up with him.

NOTE: Fezziwig is portrayed by the same actor who plays an upcoming Christmas Ghost and Young Ebenezer is played by the same actor as Nephew Fred, so that’s the only reason I didn’t devote more time to them here. 

HAPPY BELLE SCENE – We get to see the novel’s scene of Belle years later, happily married to the man who noted Scrooge not even bothering to go see Jacob Marley on his deathbed the Christmas Eve on which he died in the novel.

GHOST OF CHRISTMAS PRESENT – Joe Shire portrays this spirit in addition to Fezziwig from the Christmas Past portion. He’s excellent and sternly but patiently walks Scrooge through the lessons he needs to impart. The pair’s walk through the streets of London on Christmas morning is nicely handled as are their later visits to miners, a ship’s crew and lighthouse keepers.

“TINY” TIM – Zak Ford-Williams does a great job as the afflicted Tim Cratchit but is distractingly tall. It helps him when he’s portraying other side characters in this production but can’t help but seem comical at times when he’s Tiny Tim. Notably when he towers over the other Cratchits when making his “God bless us, everyone!” toast and when Bob of the future regards his corpse and says “My little, little child” even though Tim’s on a bed that could accommodate NBA legend Wilt Chamberlain. 

MRS. CRATCHIT – Sarah Ridgeway stands out among the many other Mrs. Cratchits of stage and screen. It’s damning with faint praise to say it, but she excellently conveys the character’s fond affection for her family but resentment toward Ebenezer Scrooge. 

THE OTHER CRATCHITS – They’re all on hand, with Martha pretending to hide, of course, and Peter practically swimming in his father’s suit. The two younger children (aside from Tim) don’t have much to do as usual. 

FRED’S PARTY – Lots of fun with added activities at the Christmas Party of Nephew Fred and his wife. As mentioned above, Topper and Polly are there along with a few nameless figures.

IGNORANCE AND WANT – No version of the Carol truly understands the story if it doesn’t include these two suffering children spirits who cling to the insides of Christmas Present’s robe. A Christmas Carol: A Ghost Story DOES feature them but oddly uses puppets for them. Very strange since we can see the children manipulating the puppets very clearly, so why not just have those same two children play the wordless ghosts themselves?   

GHOST OF CHRISTMAS YET TO COME – One of the characters we’ve already seen turns out to be wearing this Ghost’s costume in this production. Until that revelation it’s as silent as usual. 

THE THREE BUSINESSMEN – We get nice performances from the three men who used to distastefully do business with the unpleasant, unmissed and unmourned Ebenezer Scrooge.

OLD JOE AND THE SCAVENGERS – Terrific turns by the recycled actors and actresses portraying the “fence” Old Joe and the trio of scavengers who made off with the dead Scrooge’s belongings and clothing.

THE MORNING AFTER – A Christmas Carol: A Ghost Story handles the repentant Ebenezer’s Christmas Morning joy, his dealings with the boy beneath his window and the purchase of the turkey for the Cratchit family as smoothly as everything else.

SCROOGE AT FRED’S PARTY – I was disappointed with how brief was this scene of Scrooge being warmly welcomed to Fred and his wife’s party. That’s not quite a complaint, just an appreciation of how well this adaptation was handling the story and how I wanted more.

THE NEXT DAY – Another excellent bit as we get to see Scrooge punking the late-arriving Bob Cratchit at work the next day, then giving him a raise and much more friendly treatment.

THE NARRATOR – There’s been a narrator (Christopher Godwin) this whole time, but we now learn that rather than have Charles Dickens as that figure, this Carol is one of the handful which present an older Tiny Tim (“Who did NOT die!”) having narrated the tale.

All the cast members gather to sing a Christmas Carol for the big finish. 

A Christmas Carol: A Ghost Story was first performed on stage in England in 2021 before being filmed in 2022. Productions of it are still mounted. As I stated above, I loved this version of the Dickens story and I encourage every reader to watch it if they get the chance. 

FOR DOZENS MORE VERSIONS OF A CHRISTMAS CAROL CLICK HERE:   https://glitternight.com/category/a-christmas-carol-2/