I don't feel it's Christmas unless I've watched or listened to or read a version of A Christmas Carol (if not the original).
Having starred as the scary, silent, black-clad Ghost of Christmas Future in my primary school days, memorably tripping over Scrooge's bed, I feel very close to the story.
This year I watched the classic Alastair (Campbell) Sim version where the (spin doctor) miser Scrooge scowled and later danced a jig in black and white, as superbly as ever.
(His performance is admirably consistent, year in and year out, despite being dead these one-and-forty years. Now that's acting!).
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| Tiny Tim and Mrs Cratchit |
From reading Twitter and the comments at Biased BBC, it's clear that the social media wing of the TV-viewing public was split last night.
The majority view seems to have gone heavily with me though - namely that BBC One's A Christmas Carol Goes Wrong was very funny.
I don't think I've laughed so loudly at any BBC comedy since last year's Peter Pan Goes Wrong (which I enthused about here at the time).
Now, yes, this one wasn't as funny as the last one, but still...it was very funny.
The BBC perhaps ought to go to non-BBC theatre companies (like the Mischief Theatre Company) more often, rather than relying on its samey-samey in-house 'talent' so much.
I saw the original Play That Went Wrong in the theatre - was hugely, laugh out loud funny. I wasn't so impressed by Scrooge but it was pleasant enough and mercifully free of PC multiculturalism and Brexit jokes. But I agree that a decent public broadcaster would fund more such productions. It's always occurred to me that many theatre companies would allow broadcast of their last nights. This can be extended to lots of other areas as well...there's virtually no folk on BBC TV now but there are hundreds of folk clubs up and down the country where you can hear fine music (old and new).
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