The first two episodes in this new adaptation were nothing exciting and quite a disappointment considering we were expecting something amazing. With that being said, this final episode was the best episode of the three but it isn’t too much of an achievement considering the two previous were below expectations.
In episode three, we finally get rid of the first ghost and get to meet the Ghost of Christmas Present and the Ghost of Christmas Future. Steven Knight has tried to present this classic tale in a much darker way and give an insight into why Scrooge (Guy Pearce) is the way he is; he was abused by his school headmaster. We have also discovered that Scrooge is the man who paid for Tiny Tim's life-saving operation and it was hinted that Mrs Cratchit got the money from Scrooge by agreeing to have sex with him on Christmas Day, thankfully we learn in this episode that isn’t the case but the events that surround these two characters still scars Mrs Cratchit to this day. This scene was particularly difficult to watch but it was also important to see how twisted Scrooge had become to torment Mrs Cratchit in this way when all she wanted to do was save her son.
This adaption doesn’t follow the original story closely and this can be seen in the form of the Ghost of Christmas Present who takes the form of Scrooge's sister Lottie, played by Charlotte Riley. Lottie is the only character Scrooge will listen to and it is nice to see this relationship play on screen. This is a particular highlight of this episode is watching these two characters together and we sort of wish that we had more time with them. She is the character that starts to break through to Scrooge. This is all down to Pearce and Riley's amazing performances, especially Riley, her performance lifts the entire episode and we want to watch her in scenes and see where she'll go next.
Steven Knight's writing is clever, it may not follow the original story but what he does is shine a light on the people Scrooge has affected especially in the Cratchit family and in particular Mrs Cratchit. Vinette Robinson plays Mrs Mary Cratchit extremely well, her performance is faultless. We feel her pain and understand why she goes behind her husband’s back. She is very much a family person and will always do anything for her children. Even though this story is about Scrooge, Robinson makes Mrs Cratchit more important than Scrooge and the Ghosts thus making her more powerful. If we remember anything from this mini-series it will be the powerful and impressive performance from Robinson. The ghosts have been brought to Scrooge due to the wrath of Mrs Cratchit thus there is more of a reason for their intervention not just Jacob Marley.
This mini-series has been an interesting adaption of the classic Dicken's story but expectation was high and they were not met. This is more down to Steven Knight's writing and his take on this story. The performances were great from Pearce as the broken Scrooge and Robinson as the hurt and angry Mrs Cratchit. The ghosts did their best but it feels that these episodes were dark but they could have gone darker. Although by saying this it would be difficult to be extremely dark considering this is being shown during the festive season and we don’t want everything to be doom and gloom over the festive season because that are what the soaps are for! The first two episode, especially the first episode were much too slow in pace therefore a lot happened in this final episode. It is understandable why Knight choose to do it this why but there must have been more to keep the pace in the first episode. Too much time was spent with the first ghost. Knight picked and choose what he wanted from the original text, which is frustrating for some viewers who feel that it should follow the original story exactly.
This new adaptation wasn’t as good as it could be, the final episode was very enjoyable but it doesn’t make up too much for the previous two episodes. This isn’t a very memorable series and will most likely be forgotten by next year. It is difficult to stand out with a story like this that has been seen, read and taught by some many. Expectations will always be high and unfortunately this didn’t live up to them.
