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A Christmas Carol is a three-part mini-series adaptation of Charles Dickens' classic tale of Christmas that premiered on December 19, 2019 on FX. It is a darker, more mature take on the classic story.

A christmas carol 2019

Synopsis[]

The series opens with Jacob Marley's grave, and shows a young man urinating on it. It is revealed that Jacob Marley, though dead and buried, is still conscious and aware, unable to pass on. After years of this, Marley began to grow restless and begged for forgiveness and announced a willingness to pay any penance for his crimes.

His cry is heard, and he is transported to a spectral factory. There, he meets the ghost of a man who died in one of his factory fires, who has forged a series of chains for Marley, with each link representing a life lost on his account. Marley is forced to wear these chains, and is dragged behind a carriage to another part of purgatory where the Ghost of Christmas Past awaits. He tells Marley that his soul will only be redeemed if somehow, his partner Ebenezer Scrooge's soul is too. Marley at first thinks the task impossible, but agrees to try anyway.

On Earth, Scrooge is angry at the return of the Christmas holiday, writing a letter of complaint about the carolers and well-wishers. He muses to his employee Bob Cratchit about the hypocrisy of Christmas, asking why one day must be good and all else bad instead of one day bad and all else good. When Fred offers for the last time an invitation to Christmas dinner, urging him to see it as Jesus Christ's birthday party if he so wishes, Scrooge again declines and mocks the idea of Jesus Christ. Scrooge allows Cratchit to leave forty minutes early, then heads home himself. On the way, a couple of men ask if he would like to donate to the impoverished, to which Scrooge replies that they should all just die.

Upon returning to his home, Scrooge sees a carriage drawn by two horses left out in the snow in front of his home. With the horses reminding him of a childhood pet and feeling a sense of pity for the two creatures, Scrooge drapes a blanket over them. In actuality, this carriage was a test by the spirits to see if he was even worth the attempt at redemption, and he passed.

Scrooge approaches his doorstep, and sees Marley's face replacing his door knocker. Startled, Scrooge makes his way inside, where Marley's ghost materializes before him. Scrooge demands that Marley leave, but Marley instead shows him the aftermath of one of their factory fires, where Scrooge is forced to witness the injuries and deaths caused by his negligence. Marley informs Scrooge that he will be haunted by three spirits, who seek to redeem him. Scrooge welcomes their visits, not out of a desire to reform, but to prove to them that he is irredeemable. Marley leaves to wait back in purgatory, and the first spirit goes to meet with Scrooge.

As Scrooge is expecting the first ghost, he hears a bell ring and follows it to his window, where he sees an albino rat with a bell around its neck waiting for him. Scrooge is enchanted and recalls his past: as a child, Ebenezer was given a pet albino rat with a bell around its neck as a Christmas gift, and loved it dearly. However, his father was enraged by the gift; he saw the faux golden bell as a mockery of their poverty, despised the idea that the rat somehow ceased to be vermin simply due to the holiday, and saw it as nothing more than a nuisance and another mouth to have to provide for. In one of his drunken rages, Franklin stole the rat from Ebenezer and decapitated it in front of the boy. The event would traumatize Ebenezer, and instill a softness for animals for the rest of his life. Though Scrooge is at first softened by the sight of his old companion, but then assumes that it is the spirit Marley told him about, and throws it out the window. It is then that The Ghost of Christmas Past arrives, bearing the appearance of Scrooge's late father, and tormenting him with the memories of abuse and the death of the rat. He recalls how Scrooge's father instilled into him from an early age the importance of wealth and material possessions above all else.

The Ghost then takes him back to his old schoolhouse and takes the appearance of Ali Baba, the icon of hope that Scrooge read about in his childhood. Upon seeing his old Schoolmaster, Scrooge grabs the Ghost's hatchet and tries to kill him, only for the Ghost to explain that they are unable to be seen, heard, or felt. Scrooge is reminded of how his father made a deal with the Schoolmaster that, in exchange for not having to pay any school fees, the Headmaster could have his way with the boy, and that Ebenezer would never be released from the school, even on breaks and holidays. Ebenezer spent the next few years of his life in misery under the abuse and misconduct of the schoolmaster, with his only escape being the books he read, and his only companions being the characters and the occasional schoolmate.

One Christmas, Lottie arrives at the school and informs Ebenezer and the schoolmaster that Franklin Scrooge has died, and that Ebenezer is to be taken home. Ebenezer flees to the carriage, and when the schoolmaster tries to give chase, Lottie pulls a gun on him and threatens to reveal what he had been doing to Ebenezer if he tried to follow. Lottie and Ebenezer go home, but at that point, Ebenezer had lost his hope in humanity, and found himself incapable of loving another, even his own sister.

The Ghost then transforms into a coal miner, and shows Scrooge one of the accidents in his coal mines. Scrooge admits that he tried not to think about the horses that died, but never stopped to think about the people. Scrooge is forced to watch the mine collapse and kill many workers before the Ghost transports him to the textile factory he flipped, taking the form of a dapper businessman, and shows Scrooge the result of his greed.

The Ghost then shows him visions of what his life would have been if he had stayed with his one-time love Elizabeth, showing him as a happy husband and father. Scrooge wishes that things would have been different as the Ghost returns him home, telling him that the next spirit is on their way. After the first spirit is done, Marley is surprised that he made any progress with Scrooge at all, and is surprised more when The Ghost of Christmas Present resembles Scrooge's late sister Lottie.

While Scrooge is still reluctant to the thought of his redemption, and even tries to fake kindness, believing that it may be all he needs to save himself from damnation, he waits for the next ghost. The Ghost of Christmas present arrives, taking the form of Lottie. She reminds Scrooge of a terrible act he committed: once, Bob's wife Mary came to Scrooge, begging for money for their son Tiny Tim's operation. Scrooge agreed, but only under the condition that Mary come to his house on Christmas Day. Once there, assuming he desired sexual favors, she undressed in front of him. When she was nude, Scrooge then told her that he did not seek any kind of sexual favors, as he found himself incapable of love and lust. He explains that his only desire is to prove that everyone is as dark as he is, and all he wanted was to see how low she, a married woman and a mother, would go for the sake of money. He gives her the money and commands her to leave, though he blackmails her by threatening to reveal to Bob what she did if Bob ever attempts to resign. Mary takes the money, but swears vengeance on Scrooge. The Ghost then takes Scrooge to the Cratchit household, where Bob and Mary slave through the night to make homemade Christmas presents for Tim and their daughter. At Christmas dinner, the mere mention of Scrooge's name ruins the evening, and Bob announces that he plans on handing in his resignation, much to Mary's concern. Scrooge tells the Ghost to tell Mary that he will not follow through on his blackmail, but he again reminds him that they do not exist there, though Mary's high emotions allow her to briefly see Scrooge in her home.

The Ghost then brings Scrooge to a church, where a yearly memorial is being held for the people who died in the coal mine collapse. Scrooge is told that, despite being responsible for the deaths, only one person in the church actively hated him: a boy who was injured and lost his father and brothers, who goes to urinate on Marley's grave every Christmas.

As the Ghost of Christmas Present fades away, Scrooge admits that, if he could go back, he would take measures to prevent any loss of life, and that he regrets not telling his sister what she meant to him when she was alive. The Ghost warns Scrooge that the next spirit is the least forgiving, and the one who will ultimately judge Scrooge's soul. She tells him to go wait inside the church for the final ghost's arrival.

Scrooge enters the church, which is now empty and decrepit. He is visited by The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come, who appears as a man with his mouth sewn shut. The Ghost takes Scrooge to his office, where Bob Cratchit is writing his letter of resignation, when suddenly Bob is informed of an accident involving Tiny Tim. Scrooge is forced to watch as he sees Tim break through some thin ice on a lake and begin to drown and freeze. Tim is fished out, but dies shortly after being pulled out. Scrooge pleads for Tim to live, but is transported to his home, where he sees himself dead in his bed.

The Ghost transports Scrooge to the graveyard, where Scrooge sees his tombstone next to Marley, and the boy from the mine come and urinate on them both. Scrooge, however, is more distraught by the sight of Tim's grave, which the Cratchit family is visiting.

Forlorn, Scrooge sits next to his grave as Marley appears one last time and asks if he is ready for redemption. To Marley's surprise, Scrooge claims that he rejects redemption, because he deserves all that awaits him in the future. He then says that all he wants is the spirits to ensure that Tim lives. The spirits see that Scrooge values another life far more than his own, and accept his soul as redeemed. Marley is allowed to rest, and Scrooge is brought back to present Christmas Day. Marley is allowed to rest.

Scrooge runs merrily through the streets until slipping on some ice. The woman putting gravel on the ice apologizes, and Scrooge forgives her, seeing her action of putting gravel on the ice to help others with no thought of reward to be an encouraging thought. He borrows the gravel and puts it on the lake to the ice will melt, and no children will be tempted to go skate on it and potentially break through. He then goes to the Cratchit household, where no one is happy to see him, but he tells Bob that he has his blessing to resign, and that he will be giving the Cratchit family three hundred pounds. Bob, though bewildered, accepts.

When Mary shows Scrooge out, she reminds him that his money will not buy him forgiveness. Scrooge accepts that he cannot earn her forgiveness, nor does he deserve it, but that he will try to be the best possible human being he can be from that day forward. He then heads down the street, finally smiling and wishing the crowds a Merry Christmas. However, as he walks away, Mary Cratchit speaks to the spirits and tells them that they have more work to do.

Cast[]

Actor/actress Character
Joe Alwyn Bob Cratchit
Stephen Graham Jacob Marley
Guy Pearce Ebenezer Scrooge
Billy Barratt Ebenezer Scrooge (young; E2)
Vinette Robinson Mary Cratchit
Lenny Rush Tiny Tim E2 & 3)
Tiarna Williams Belinda Cratchit (E1 & 3)
Natasha Culzac Belinda Cratchit (Future; E3)
Thea Achillea Scrooge's Daughter (E2)
Emma Caraman Elizabeth (Scrooge's wife; E1)
Ninette Finch Old Lady (E3)
Johnny Harris Franklin Scrooge (E2)
Jason Flemyng Ghost of Christmas Future (E3)
Carmel Laniado Lottie (young; E2)
Abraham Popoola Blacksmith (E1)
Charlotte Riley Lottie (E1)
Andy Serkis Ghost of Christmas Past (E01)
Elliot Warren Rag & Bone Man (E01)
Uncredited actors/actresses
Zarine Hussain Mill Worker (E1 & 2)
Lucie Cooper-Jones School parent (E3)
Dylan Heath Young Boy (E2)
Nadia Townsend Family member (E1)

Trivia[]

External link[]

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