A darker version of the tale...
"This is not a game of reason against fancy, Ebenezer. I will put hot tweezers to your soul and remove the splinters. I am gonna take you on a long journey, measured not in yards and miles but in days and years... Come with the Ghost of Christmas Past who feels your heart beating."
A Darker and Edgier 2019 miniseries based on the classic novel of the same name by Charles Dickens, written by Stephen Knight. This version takes many liberties with the original story, adding and subtracting plot elements while placing a new emphasis on Marley and the Spirits.
Has an under-construction characters page.
This miniseries contains examples of:
- Abusive Parents: Scrooge's father, who beheads his son's pet mouse and gives Scrooge away to be molested by a schoolmaster.
- Age Lift: Scrooge and Marley, usually depicted as elderly men, are played by 52-year-old Guy Pearce and 46-year-old Stephen Graham respectively.
- Adaptational Angst Upgrade: Scrooge's childhood is made much, much worse in this version. His father, rather than just being distant, is aggressively abusive. His worst acts include beheading a pet mouse Scrooge's sister gave him for a Christmas present and arranging for Scrooge to be molested by the headmaster of the boarding school in exchange for waiving tuition fees.
- Adaptational Badass: Most characters, for better or worse.
- Scrooge's sister, who pulls a gun on the schoolmaster to force him to release her brother.
- Bob Cratchit in this version is much less submissive and far more willing to stand up to his boss.
- The Ghost of Christmas Past is no stranger to being adapted to the screen in a multitude of disparate ways, but the miniseries's version is a haggard, intimidating warlock with a crown of thorns and the commanding screen presence of Andy Serkis.
- As a profoundly negative example, Scrooge is far more obstinate and less easily intimidated by the Spirits' attempts to get through to him in this version.
- Mrs. Cratchit, who uses the power of prayer to curse Scrooge into redeeming himself.
- Adaptation Expansion: The series expands many previously unexplored plot points from the novella such as Jacob Marley's path through the afterlife and subsequent "recruitment" as a harbinger for the Spirits, to Scrooge's time at the boarding school, to Mary Cratchit's expanded role in the story.
- Adaptational Name Change: Scrooge's sister, while typically named Fan, is named Lottie in this adaptation.
- Additionally, his long-lost love is named Elizabeth rather than Belle.
- Adaptational Villainy:
- While Scrooge in other adaptations is cruel and miserly, he never inflicts psychological harm on other people for his own amusement (or "experimentation"). This version of Scrooge, on the other hand, gets Mary Cratchit to perform sexual favours in exchange for money for a life-saving operation for Tiny Tim. While he does not actually follow through on this threat and does give her the money, it is only after she has stripped to her undergarments in his presence and he has taunted her with the knowledge that she would have performed said acts. All this happens on Christmas Day, to boot. The Ghost of Christmas Past even calls this Scrooge's "act of greatest evil."
- Scrooge's and Marley's business is also far more despicable in this adaptation. They prey on struggling small businesses, buying them for less than they're worth via blackmail and demolishing them for a profit. They are also directly responsible for a factory fire that killed and maimed several workers and a Christmas Eve mine collapse that kills thirty miners, having reduced the amount of wood propping up the mine's roof in order to save money.
- Scrooge's father and headmaster are far more evil in this adaptation than they were in the original book. Scrooge's father killed his pet mouse then he sexually exploited Scrooge by having him molested by his boarding school headmaster in exchange for waiving tuition fees.
- Adapted Out:
- There is no mention of Fezziwig in this version.
- Likewise, the Cratchits only have two children (Tiny Tim and Martha) instead of six, getting rid of Belinda, Peter, and the two other unnamed kids.
- An Aesop: As noted by the AV Club
, the series has a point worth making about the nature of forgiveness and redemption."Why Scrooge’s assertion that he neither expects nor seeks forgiveness? Because part of doing right by the people you’ve wounded is by not putting the burden of your redemption on them; the least the offending party can do is apologize if the apology is welcome, and then get the hell out of the way. Why no scene with Fred at the end? Because Scrooge doesn’t deserve a cookie. Self-improvement takes work, self-awareness requires practice, and sure, maybe he goes to that dinner, but what matters is him walking away and leaving the Crachits to have their dinner in peace." - Arc Words:
- "Gift"
- "Proof"
- "This is no game," said by the ghosts.
- Ascended Extra:
- Mary Cratchit, who typically only appears in one scene with Scrooge and Christmas Present, has a much bigger role here. This is combined with Named by the Adaptation, since Mrs. Cratchit does not typically get a first name.
- The same is true of Marley, who gets to appear in more scenes with Scrooge and the Spirits, as well as getting to make one final plea to Scrooge to change his ways.
- Scrooge's sister here also plays the role of the Spirit of Christmas Present, giving her significantly more screentime than usual.
- Cool Big Sis: Lottie Scrooge, who pulls a gun on Scrooge's schoolmaster when the latter refuses to let him go home for Christmas.
- Covers Always Lie: The promotional image depicts Scrooge with the Ghost of Christmas Future in his traditional visage - the Grim Reaper - hovering ominously behind him. In the actual movie, the Ghost of Christmas Future looks nothing like this, instead, he looks like an eerie gothic man with his lips sewn shut.
- Darker and Edgier: Extremely so. This version amps up Scrooge's cruelty to a degree that it nears the
Moral Event Horizon, gives him a horrendously tragic past, and cuts out almost all of the original story's lighthearted moments. - Deadpan Snarker: Scrooge, as usual. For instance, responding to Bob Cratchit's "Sort of Christmas present, is it?" (when Scrooge lets him use his ink) with "If it were, I would have wrapped it in paper and ribbons in order to artificially increase your anticipation."
- Also Marley, in a more literal sense.
- Demoted to Extra:
- Nephew Fred appears in only one scene, while Scrooge's lost love Elizabeth (usually called Belle) appears only in a vision the Spirit of Christmas Past shows to Scrooge and does not even have any lines in said vision.
- The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come, already the Spirit with the least screentime in most adaptations, has an even smaller presence in this version of the story.
- Dropping the Bombshell: After discovering that Scrooge never intended to have sex with her, Mrs. Cratchit curses him in a way that indicates her involvement with Scrooge's haunting."I will... and I will say a prayer, that someday, some power of justice will grab you by the throat and drag you to a true, bright mirror that you might see the truth in your reflection and that the truth will be known to the world. I am a woman, and I have the power to summon such spirits... and I fucking will".
- The Ending Changes Everything: The ending suggests the ghosts themselves were actually instruments of Mrs. Cratchit's curse towards Scrooge for sexually exploiting her.
- Ethnic Magician: Mary is given a Race Lift and is not only aware of the Spirits, but heavily implied to have summoned them.
- "Eureka!" Moment: An old woman, putting gravel out onto the ice, unwittingly gives Scrooge the key to his redemption. He snatches her pouch away, runs toward the icy pond, and empties the gravel out onto the ice, rendering it unusable for skating and saving Tim's life.
- Fan Disservice: Mary strips for Scrooge, who offers her money to pay for her son's medical care. Though he does not actually touch her, the whole situation is played explicitly like rape.
- Flawless Token: In the series, women are depicted as the justified protectors of victims of sexual assault (or in Belle's case, Scrooge's potential saviour), while the men are depicted as either jerks or the source of all the evil in the series.
- In this version, Lottie was able to obtain a gun and hold Scrooge's headmaster at gunpoint so he would release him from the boarding school. In the novel, she brought Scrooge home after their father had a change of heart allowed Scrooge to come home to celebrate Christmas.
- Mrs. Cratchit was lead to believe that she was going to be sexually assaulted by Scrooge, and her monologue is a firm indication that she was responsible for summoning the ghosts to haunt Scrooge. In the novel, Jacob Marley wanted to help Scrooge atone so he didn't suffer the same fate as him when he dies. Mrs. Cratchit was still a prominent character and a source of moral support for Bob Cratchit.
- Foregone Conclusion: Scrooge's death is treated as one, where normally it's the final twist.
- Freudian Excuse: Scrooge gets one here. His father was a materialist who was cruel enough to decapitate Ebenezer's pet mouse. Scrooge was also molested by the headmaster of his boarding school, in an arrangement agreed upon by his abusive father.
- Freudian Excuse Is No Excuse: While The Ghost of Christmas Past is sympathetic to Ebenezer for what he went through, he still tells him that his history of abuse doesn't excuse his abuse towards others.
- Horrifying the Horror: The Ghost of Christmas Past is initially confident that he alone can convince Scrooge to repent as he has done for thousands of other sinful souls, but upon seeing for himself the mental gymnastics that Scrooge is willing to leap through to justify even his most heinous actions appear to send the formidable spirit into a Despair Event Horizon, now convinced as Marley was that there is no hope for Scrooge.
- Irony: The legend of Icarus is a story for Tiny Tim and Scrooge references it in a final conversation with him, stating Tiny Tim will learn how to fly. Icarus is famous for flying too close to the sun and plunging to his death after the heat melts the adhesive wax on his wings.
- Jerkass Has a Point: Scrooge, despite his many, many shortcomings, does make the good point that people should be kind to each other all year round, rather than just Christmas Day. His other monologues and soliloquies about the more minor hypocrisies and meaningless trivialities brought upon by the holiday are also hard to dispute.
- Love Redeems: Subverted; The Ghost of Christmas Past shows Scrooge the love of his life and explains to him how Scrooge could have redeemed himself or had a better life if he chose to raise a family instead of work for material gain.
- Magical Negro: Twice;
- Played straight with The Ghost of Christmas Past; who assumes the identity of Ali Baba (played by Kayvan Novak), Scrooge's childhood hero from the story Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves.
- Downplayed with Mrs. Cratchit, who seemingly used the power of prayer to summon ghosts to scare Scrooge into atoning for forcing her to sell her virtues to gain money for Tim's medical bills. The ending implies that she plans to become a protector of women by punishing the men who abuse them.
- Mouth Stitched Shut: As mortals are not supposed to know too much of their future, the Ghost of Christmas Future's mouth is sewn shut.
- Not His Sled: The entire Ghost of Christmas Future segment plays out very differently to the original book. First, Tiny Tim's death is shown to be caused not by illness but by falling through the icy lake he was skating on that Christmas afternoon. Next, when faced with the corpse on the bed, Scrooge does peel the sheet back to see that it is himself. Then, when he sees his grave being treated the same as Marley's, in a quiet moment with his deceased partner he admits that he doesn't want redemption as he doesn't deserve it and that the only thing he wants to change is Tiny Tim's fate (which he gets to do himself by spreading salt on the lake and making sure Tiny Tim goes nowhere near it). Evidently, this is enough for the powers that be as Marley is shown to receive the peace he was promised at the start of the miniseries for getting Scrooge to change.
- Pet the Dog: Almost literally. Even at his worst, Scrooge has a soft spot for animals and it's this, plus an act of kindness to two cold horses, that convinces the powers that be that there is some good worth saving in the man.
- Pimping the Offspring: As its revealed in this adaptation, whilst he was a boy Ebenezer Scrooge's father worked out a deal with the pedophilic headmaster of his boarding school that he was free to abuse Scrooge in exchange for his father not having to pay his fee's to attend the school.
- Race Lift: Mrs. Cratchit is played by black actress Vinette Robinson when most adaptations portray her as white.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Mary gives a massive one to Scrooge after he makes her strip to her undergarments to see how far she would go to save her son's life.
- Redemption Rejection: Scrooge attempts this near the end, declaring that he doesn't deserve to be redeemed. The spirits give him another chance anyway.
- Rewatch Bonus: The feminist theme changes the interaction with The Ghost of Christmas Past; when Scrooge's sister saves him from the boarding school by holding the headmaster at gunpoint, it's initially portrayed as if the ghost is showing how much his family actually loved him. With the ending in mind; the scene changes into the ghost shaming him for becoming just as bad as his headmaster for sexually extorting Mrs. Cratchit, despite being in a similar situation when he was a child.
- Scarpia Ultimatum: Scrooge's "experiment". He offers to provide money to Mary Cratchit to save Tim's life if she agrees to give up her virtue. He stops her after she's half-undressed, not being interested in actually having sex with anyone, but he is satisfied that she was willing to humiliate herself for the sake of her son. She was not happy, and indeed his putting her through this ordeal may have been the reason that Scrooge encountered the ghosts in the first place.
- Surprisingly Realistic Outcome:
- The series delves into and shows the natural consequences of cutting costs in factories and mines and other places of hard manual labor. Fires and collapses and losses of livelihood abound.
- Even though Scrooge has learned the errors of his ways and learns to accept the goodness in humanity. He still has a long way to go in order to fully redeem himself or atone for his actions. As shown by the Cratchit family expressing their confusion/resentment towards him.
- There Are No Therapists: Justified since this is set in the Victorian era; Scrooge has deep-rooted mental scars after being sexually exploited by his father and repeatedly molested by his headmaster. He was so traumatised that he couldn't recognise how his sister rescued him from the boarding school after the death of his father.
- Twisted Christmas: Noticing a theme here? This is quite possibly the darkest take on the story, if not a leading contender for it.
- Wants a Prize for Basic Decency: Scrooge believes he's a good person because he chose not to rape Mrs. Cratchit after forcing her to undress, The Ghost of Christmas Past understandably doesn't accept this as Scrooge's epiphany.
- Wham Line: After discovering that Scrooge never intended to have sex with her, Mrs. Cratchit curses Scrooge for making her believe she was prostituting herself for Tiny Tim's safety. The phrasing of her curse indicates that the Christmas ghosts aren't actually there to teach Scrooge about greed and goodwill, they are there to punish Scrooge for his sexual misconduct and misanthropic outlook on life."I will... and I will say a prayer, that someday, some power of justice will grab you by the throat and drag you to a true, bright mirror that you might see the truth in your reflection and that the truth will be known to the world. I am a woman, and I have the power to summon such spirits... and I fucking will".
- What Is This Thing You Call "Love"?:
- Scrooge is coldly logical with everything and can't comprehend love or compassion, believing that humanity is naturally evil. His backstory reveals he had a father who prioritised money over everything else and even sexually extorted Scrooge to his boarding school headmaster in exchange for waiving tuition fees. He was so traumatised by the experience that he couldn't see how his sister saved him by using a gun to force the headmaster into releasing him.
- Interestingly, even after his redemption, Scrooge still has elements of this; unlike most adaptations, where he immediately turns into someone warm-hearted and empathic, this Scrooge now focuses entirely on good deeds rather than any emotion attached to them. The possibility of changing his future from one in which he dies alone and unloved doesn't interest him in the slightest, whereas the opportunity to achieve the concrete action of saving Tiny Tim arouses enough passion to earn him a second chance. Likewise, he is not in the slightest bit upset that Mrs. Cratchit explicitly tells him she welcomes his new generosity but does not forgive him, and he says he has little interest in forgiveness while pledging to do more to help others.
- Women Are Wiser: The women in the series are portrayed as strong, in control, and more powerful than the men, while the men are depicted as cruel, weak, and objectifying (with the exception of Bob Cratchit).
- Scrooge's father was a cruel materialist who sexually exploited Scrooge to the paedophile headmaster of his boarding school for waiving tuition fees. Scrooge's sister, Lottie, was able to save him after their father dies by holding the headmaster at gunpoint so he'd be forced to release Scrooge.
- Scrooge followed in his father's footsteps, becoming cold-hearted and objectifying. He lost the love of his life and the chance of redemption because he cared more about money than his wife. He sexually exploited Mrs. Cratchit by leading her to believe that she was prostituting herself for money so she can pay for Tiny Tim's medical bills. The ending indicates Mrs. Cratchit was the one who summoned the ghosts as a curse to punish Scrooge for this and plans to become a protector of women by punishing the men who abuse them.
- Younger and Hipper: Most of the characters are aged down in this adaptation. Bob Cratchit is notably changed from a humble, dumpy, and submissive middle-aged worker to a younger, handsome and assertive man with an open attitude against Scrooge.
