This is SUCH a treat to be able to enjoy Dickens' original classic read by such a talented actor in such a gemütlich setting!
So, just that so any of you who are listening to the audio only version of this book can get the full visuals:
The jingles start with showing the title card after which Gildart is shown entering from stage left clad in a suit and tie with a colorful or very decorative scarf (which is different for each installment) and overcoat. He walks to the center of a fairly formal, yet cozy 19th Century English living room. Gildart is a pleasant, smiling middle aged white man with medium length salt-and-pepper hair and a closely trimmed goatee. He often uses gestures and animated facial expressions to highlight or emphasize the text.
The room itself is beautifully decorated, strung with evergreen garlands dotted with pine cones, boughs of holly, nutcrackers, and a lavishly decorated fir tree visible off to the side. There is a roaring fire in the fireplace (which must be gas, since it never changes throughout, but it looks great!) and he addresses the camera standing for the initial welcome. The pause after the greeting is him talking off his overcoat and scarf and walking over to hang them on a hook to the left of the fireplace and crossing back in front of the fire to retrieve a very large hard-bound book entitled "Fireside Reading of 'A Christmas Carol'" from its position sitting upright (title visible) and leaning against the back of a very large overstuffed easy chair. This is repeated for every installment: he picks up the large, ancient looking book sits down in the chair, adjusts himself, crosses his legs (where we see his Christmas red socks as well as the soles of his shoes, which are also a vivid red!), and begins the intro and reading.
The book itself appears to have been "modified" to accommodate an iPad or other tablet reader on the right-hand page. A section of the pages appear to have been carved/cut out and the tablet inserted in the void space. He opens the book to the same point (a few dozen pages in from the beginning) every time, and when he looks down (which is only less than half the time) he always looks at the same right-hand page and he never turns a physical page for the duration of each installment. ;-)
At the end after the farewell blessing, he rises, places the book upright on the chair with the cover facing the camera, and walks out of the shot to retrieve his overcoat as the camera zooms in to the book sitting on the chair and . . . (fade to black).
I hope that helps to set the mood and atmosphere. <3.
