A Christmas Carol

Meet the cast of BBC1’S new twist on the classic story

Not content with writing the finest series yet of his Peaky Blinders earlier this year and creating crazy Appletv+ show See, screenwriter Steven Knight is now taking on legendary Dickens tale A Christmas Carol in a new BBC1 three-parter showing on 22, 23 and 24 December at 9pm. Here, the stars explore their own characters.

SCROOGE (GUY PEARCE)

“When we meet Scrooge, we get a sense that he misses his business partner Marley, who has died. But we also get the sense that he has a toughness to him – he doesn’t crumble under things that are difficult for him, he just gets tougher and tougher and builds this wall up.”

LOTTIE (CHARLOTTE RILEY)

“What sets her aside from the other ghosts is that she was a human, she’s not an entity or an unknown spirit. Her spirit is that of a human, Scrooge’s sister. What I think is exciting is how Steven [Knight] has taken a character that I personally think is a bit dull in the book and created a connection with Scrooge.”

GHOST OF CHRISTMAS PAST (ANDY SERKIS)

“He’s normally portrayed as an affable chap who takes Scrooge back to an early part of his life. But in this version, he’s much more confrontational – he’s got a red-hot poker to press against Scrooge’s conscience.”

JACOB MARLEY (STEPHEN GRAHAM)

“It was great to put my own twist on [the character]. We get to see Marley and Scrooge in a way we haven’t before, as businessmen. He’s in purgatory and can only be redeemed if Scrooge realises the error of his ways.”

BOB CRATCHIT (JOE ALWYN)

“On the one hand, he’s the man people are probably familiar with – a good, loyal family man, who toils away in Scrooge’s workplace and is paid next to nothing. But at the same time, there is a steeliness to him and a degree of pluckiness that hasn’t been seen before.”