The Charles Dickens story has been done on television and in films the traditional hundreds of times in the Victorian era, this is one of the only versions I know set in the modern world, and once I got into it I found it really interesting. Basically Eddie Scrooge (Ross Kemp) is a mean loan shark who works in a poor estate keeping most of the money from those he loans to, collects the debt they owe either by cash or their possessions and may have had some involvement in the murder of his business partner and friend Jacob Marley (Coronation Street's Ray Fearon). It is Christmas Eve, and Eddie is visited by the ghost of Marley who warns him that if he does not change his ways, he will face a horrible afterlife of pain and misery, and to help him mend his errors he tells him that three ghosts will visit him. He dismisses this as a dream, but soon enough the ghost of Eddie's Dad (Till Death Us Do Part's Warren Mitchell) appears to show him his past where he grew up surrounded by despair, including the death of his mother, the death of the Dad himself, and how his ways lost him the love of his life, nurse Bella (Angeline Ball). Eddie wakes up on the same day, Christmas Eve, and he just continues with his mean ways dismissing the events he experienced, but Marley returns acting as his second ghost as well, showing him the present and all people he has encountered, including his work colleague Bob Cratchett (Michael Maloney) who has a son, Tiny Tim (Ben Tibber), very sick in hospital. He sees that he is doing wrong, and waking up on Christmas Eve again he tries in his own way to make some things right, but not really changing his attitude and having a lot of true heart, so the third and final ghost still appears, that is the Ghost of Christmas Future (Ben Inigo-Jones), who is a young boy that he seems to recognise. Eddie is shown the potential future where Tiny Tim dies in hospital, Bella is one of only a couple of people to visit a poorly placed gravestone, and he is shocked to see that it is his own grave, this possible future where he may die is what really triggers him to have his change of heart when he wakes up. Eddie drops all debts people owe, he helps Mrs Marley (Shezwae Powell) find the person who killed her son Jacob, he pays for a holiday that someone mentioned, he pays for a family's Christmas, he helps an elderly couple, and having truly changed his ways he spends Christmas Day, and his future, with the forgiving and loving Bella, and their son (who was the final ghost). Also starring The Royle Family's Liz Smith as Joyce, The Thin Blue Line's Mina Anwar as Julie, Lorraine Ashbourne as Sue Cratchett, Daniel Ainsleigh as Dave and Claudie Blakley as Ellie. Kemp gives a really good performance, without having to go into recognised "bah humbug" and the other Scrooge traits he is a terrific choice, the supporting cast of familiar characters do great as well, it is a fun twist on the famous story and with the plot fits really well into the modern world, I found it just as moving and enjoyable as any regular version, a great drama. Very good!
Review of A Christmas Carol
