User reviews

Brilliant, fantastic, fantastic and brilliant. Simon Callow follows up his one man show with a film adptation of the same. Dressed like your English teacher has just walked in and shouted at you to shut up! A supreme raconteur who is a master of the first person. If you like a great story supernly told watch this.

Thanks god for Simon Callow! His acclaimed one-man adaptation of the Charles Dickens is a gift to us all; the conceptual art direction bring viewers to our deepest imagination.

A phenomenal telling of the classic Charles Dickens A Christmas Carol. I can't recommend this highly enough. Simon Callow breathes new life into Dickens' words, providing a performance that Boz would have been proud of himself. Thank you to the BBC and everyone involved in creating this wonderful masterpiece.

Truly majestic performance of the classic A Christmas Carol! Mesmerising and visually beautiful. Simon Callow is exceptional. It's only 72 mins long, so an easy watch for all the family. Enjoy! 🌲

Simon Callow has played Charles Dickens and given recitals of his stories. You actually get a glimpse of his Dickens giving a performance of A Christmas Carol in an episode of Doctor Who.

Simon Callow and director Tom Cairns have adapted a solo narration of this festive tale. Callow is in modern dress, wandering around a disused warehouse which stands in for Scrooge's home. Clever use of lighting, sound and smoke is made to give the production atmosphere. At one point Callow lights a small fire to give the room a glow or warms his hand on a lit candle.

Callow tells the audience of how Scrooge meets the spectre of his former business partner, Jacob Marley. How three ghostly guides try to get Scrooge to make mankind his business in time or Christmas.

Callow uses his skill and experience to draw the audience in. Cairns does not keep the action static, moving the camera around, at one point dropping snow as Scrooge is taken by a spirit but he is still in the warehouse.

Of course the production demands your concentration which to me was not always maintained. I think one thing that surprised me was the Callow gives a low key narration when I expected something more fruity.