A Christmas Carol (miniseries)

A Christmas Carol is a British fantasy miniseries based on the 1843 novella of the same name by Charles Dickens. It began airing on BBC One in the United Kingdom on 22 December 2019, and concluded two days later on 24 December 2019. The three-part series is written by Steven Knight with actor Tom Hardy and Ridley Scott among the executive producers.

A Christmas Carol
GenreFantasy
Based onA Christmas Carol
by Charles Dickens
Written bySteven Knight
Story byCharles Dickens
Directed byNick Murphy
Starring
Composer(s)
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original language(s)English
No. of episodes3
Production
Executive producer(s)
Producer(s)Julian Stevens
CinematographySi Bell
Running time56 minutes
Production company(s)
Release
Original networkBBC One
Original release22 December (2019-12-22) –
24 December 2019 (2019-12-24)

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, Jason Flemyng, Vinette Robinson and Joe Alwyn.

Premise

Ebenezer Scrooge, a cold and bitter man, despises his fellow human beings, the Christmas holiday and what it represents. On Christmas Eve night, he is visited by the ghost of his dead partner Jacob Marley, who warns him that in order for both of them to be redeemed Scrooge will be visited by three spirits. Over the course of that night, Scrooge will be confronted by visions from his past, present and future in the hope that these experiences will help him to re-connect with humanity, especially his own.

In this version, Scrooge and Marley are asset-strippers with extensive industrial interests as well as being moneylenders.

Cast

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.[2]

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).[3] In May, Guy Pearce was revealed to be playing Scrooge, alongside the castings of Andy Serkis, Stephen Graham, Charlotte Riley, Joe Alwyn, Vinette Robinson and Kayvan Novak.[4] Rutger Hauer, who was originally cast as Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come, became too ill to film his scenes and was replaced by Jason Flemyng (Hauer died on 19 July 2019).[5]

Filming on the series commenced by May 2019 at Rainham Hall, a 1729-built National Trust site in the London Borough of Havering.[6] In early June filming took place at the Lord Leycester Hospital in Warwick.[7]

Episodes
No.TitleDirected byWritten byOriginal air date [8][9]UK viewers
(millions) [10]
1"Chapter One: The Human Beast"Nick MurphySteven Knight19 December 2019 (2019-12-19) (FX)
22 December 2019 (2019-12-22) (BBC)		7.83
2"Chapter Two: The Human Heart"Nick MurphySteven Knight19 December 2019 (2019-12-19) (FX)
23 December 2019 (2019-12-23) (BBC)		6.01
3"Chapter Three: A Bag of Gravel"Nick MurphySteven Knight19 December 2019 (2019-12-19) (FX)
24 December 2019 (2019-12-24) (BBC)		N/A (<5.89)[lower-alpha 1]
  1. Not reported in the weekly top 15 programmes for four-screen viewer ratings.

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.[11]

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 less than 5,887,097 viewers.[12]

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.[13]

Critical reception

Rotten Tomatoes reported an approval rating of 54% and an average rating of 6.19/10 from 24 critic reviews. 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."[14] Pearce's performance received a great deal of praise.[15][16][17][18]

Radio Times awarded the miniseries four stars out of five and opined that at times the script "feels more Shakespearean than Dickensian."[15] Evening Standard compared it to Peaky Blinders and praised the performances of the actors.[16]

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."[17] Salon referred to it as a "dispiriting adaptation" calling it "short on joy and very, very, very long on purgatorial slogging."[19] 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."[20] 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."[21] The A.V. Club gave it a C- rating, remarking on the "unrelenting dourness."[18]

The series received criticism for the “woke” casting of Vinette Robinson as Mrs. Cratchitt.

See also

References
  1. "BBC – Casting announced for A Christmas Carol as BBC One and FX partner on new adaption of the Charles Dickens classic written by Steven Knight – Media Centre". www.bbc.co.uk.
  2. Tartaglione, Nancy; Tartaglione, Nancy (28 November 2017). "Steven Knight To Adapt Charles Dickens Novels For BBC One; Ridley Scott, Tom Hardy Exec Producing". Deadline. Retrieved 4 November 2019.
  3. Chitwood, Adam (21 January 2019). "Exclusive: Steven Knight Talks 'A Christmas Carol' with Tom Hardy & Teases Ambitious Dickens Plans". Collider. Retrieved 4 November 2019.
  4. White, Peter; White, Peter (9 May 2019). "FX Boards BBC One's Steven Knight-Penned Adaptation Of Charles Dickens' Classic 'A Christmas Carol'".
  5. "Rutger Hauer not featured in mini series A Christmas Carol | tellerreport.com". www.tellerreport.com.
  6. Roach, April. "Rainham Hall filming pictures: Guy Pearce spotted amongst actors filming for BBC's A Christmas Carol". Romford Recorder.
  7. "Here's a look at what the BBC is filming at Warwick's Lord Leycester Hospital". www.warwickcourier.co.uk.
  8. Ramos, Dino-Ray; Ramos, Dino-Ray (20 November 2019). "'A Christmas Carol' Trailer: FX Sets Date For Steven Knight's Haunting Adaptation Of Charles Dickens Classic".
  9. "BBC One - A Christmas Carol - Available now". BBC.
  10. "Four-screen dashboard". Broadcasters' Audience Research Board.
  11. "BBC - Gavin & Stacey, EastEnders, Call The Midwife and A Christmas Carol lead to BBC iPlayer's best ever festive fortnight - Media Centre". www.bbc.co.uk.
  12. "Four-screen dashboard | BARB".
  13. Kanter, Jake (24 December 2019). "'A Christmas Carol' Haunted By 30% Drop In Its Audience On BBC One In The UK". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 24 December 2019.
  14. "A Christmas Carol 2019". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 4 January 2020.
  15. Kirkley, Paul (17 December 2019). "A Christmas Carol review: "A grisly, gritty take on a well-loved seasonal staple"". Radio Times. Retrieved 20 December 2019.
  16. McKay, Alistair (20 December 2019). "A Christmas Carol: A deep-frozen Ebenezer Scrooge casts his chill over Dickens's festive fable". Evening Standard. Retrieved 20 December 2019.
  17. Fienberg, Daniel (18 December 2019). "'A Christmas Carol': TV Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 20 December 2019.
  18. Shoemaker, Allison (19 December 2019). "If FX wants to kill A Christmas Carol it had better do it, and decrease the surplus TV population". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 20 December 2019.
  19. McFarland, Melanie (19 December 2019). "There's no comfort and joy in FX's excruciating "Christmas Carol"". Salon. Retrieved 20 December 2019.
  20. Trumbore, Dave (19 December 2019). "FX's 'A Christmas Carol' Review: Hard-Hearted, Black as Coal, and Cold as Ice". Collider. Retrieved 20 December 2019.
  21. Murphy, Nick (18 December 2019). "A Christmas Carol". RogerEbert.com. Retrieved 20 December 2019.
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