Watching the Carol

Title: Carry On Christmas Format: Pre-recorded colour videotaped Christmas television comedy special Country: UK Production company: Thames Television Year: 1969 – transmitted on the ITV network on December 24 that year Length: 50 minutes Setting: Victori…

Title: A Christmas Carol Format: Live television drama Country: UK Production company: BBC Television Year: 1950 – broadcast twice, both as live performances by the same cast; first at 9pm on Christmas Day, and then again in the For the Children slot at 5…

Title: A Christmas Carol Format: Live action feature film Country: UK Production company: Frith Street Films Year: 2020 Length: 96 minutes Setting: Fantasy Victorian Background: This is, I feel reasonably certain of saying, a unique version of the Carol.

Title: Scrooge, or A Christmas Carol Sarah Format: Multi-camera studio VT children’s comedy Country: UK Production company: BBC Television Year: 1990 – transmitted on BBC One on December 29 that year Length: 41 minutes Setting: Contemporary Background: Go…

Title: A Christmas Carol Format: Illustrated reading Country: UK Production company: Anglia Television, for the ITV network Year: 1970 – shown at various points by several different ITV regional companies that Christmas season Length: 48 minutes Setting:…

Title: Scrooge Format: Black-and-white feature film Country: United Kingdom Production company: George Minter Productions Year: 1951 Length: 87 minutes Setting: Victorian Background: The first major British version of A Christmas Carol since 1935’s Scroog…

Title: Scrooge Format: Colour musical feature film Country: UK (although made with American money) Production company: Westbury Films, for Cinema Centre Productions Year: 1970 Length: 113 minutes Setting: Victorian – specifically, 1860 Background: In 1968,

Title: A Christmas Carol Format: Single camera one-man performance Country: UK Production company: That’s My Cue Productions Year: 2019 Length: 57 minutes Setting: Victorian Background: Martin Prest first performed a one-man-show version of A Christmas Ca…

Title: Christmas Night Format: Live television ballet performance Country: UK Production company: BBC Television Year: 1946 (broadcast live on the BBC Television Service at 9pm on December 25th that year) Length: 60 minutes Setting: Victorian Background:…

Title: Scrooge Format: Scheduled but never broadcast live performed reading for television Country: UK Production company: BBC Television Year: 1936 – it was due to be broadcast live on the BBC Television service twice, both on December 24th that year Len…

Title: A Christmas Carol Format: Short online animation Country: Turkey Production company: Adisebaba Year: 2017 – first posted on YouTube on December 25th that year Length: 11 minutes Setting: Victorian-ish!

Title: A Christmas Carol Format: Digitally-released feature film for online streaming Country: UK Production company: Zoghogg Studios Year: 2018 Length: 75 minutes Setting: Contemporary Scotland Background: Another straight-to-streaming effort of the kind…

Title: Mickey’s Christmas Carol Format: Animated short film Country: USA Production company: Walt Disney Pictures Year: 1983 Length: 26 minutes Setting: Fantasy Victorian Background: By the 1980s the idea of making short animated features for theatrical r…

Title: A Christmas Carol Format: Digitally-released feature film for online streaming Country: USA Production company: Salgado Studios Year: 2019 Length: 73 minutes Setting: Contemporary Miami Background: Like many of the low-budget versions made available

Title: A CBeebies Christmas Carol Format: Pre-recorded Christmas pantomime special, shot on multi-camera HD video Country: UK Production company: BBC Television Year: 2013 (first shown on the CBeebies channel in the UK on December 20th that year) Length:…

Title: The Smurfs: A Christmas Carol Format: Animated straight-to-DVD short film Country: USA Production company: Sony Pictures Imageworks and Duck Studios, for Sony Pictures Animation Year: 2011 Length: 22 minutes Setting: Fantasy Background: The titular…

Title: A Christmas Carol Format: Digitally released short-ish feature film for online streaming Country: UK Production company: Acclaim Video Year: 2019 Length: 40 minutes Setting: Contemporary (sort of) Background: 2019 seems to have been a bit a year for

Title: A Christmas Carol Format: Live online streaming relay of stage play Country: UK Production company: The Old Vic Year: 2020 Length: 2 hours approximately, including a 15-minute interval Setting: Victorian Background: Into the twenties!

Title: A Sesame Street Christmas Carol Format: Multi-camera studio video direct-to-DVD special Country: USA Production company: Sesame Workshop Year: 2006 (released on DVD in the US on November 14th that year) Length: 46 minutes Setting: A fantasy version…

Title: Brer Rabbit’s Christmas Carol Format: Straight-to-video animated special Country: USA Production company: Magic Shadows Year: 1992 Length: 56 minutes Setting: Fantasy Background: Brer Rabbit (or more correctly it perhaps ought to be Br’er Rabbit) is

Title: A Christmas Carol Format: One-man performance with illustrations, on multi-camera studio video Country: UK Production company: BBC Television Year: 1982 (first broadcast on BBC Two in the UK from December 21st-24th that year) Length: 4 episodes, ea…

Title: The Right to Be Happy (also released as Scrooge the Skinflint in the UK) Format: Silent film Country: United States Production company: Bluebird Photo Plays Year: 1916 (released in the USA on December 25th that year) Length: 50 minutes (approximate…

Title: A Christmas Carol Format: Digitally-released feature film for online streaming Country: Ireland Production company: Sallybrook Productions Limited Year: 2019 (premiered at Fermoy in Ireland in December, although released online in 2020) Length: 77…

Title: Bugs Bunny’s Christmas Carol Format: Short segment of an animated television special Country: USA Production company: DePatie–Freleng Enterprises, for Warner Brothers Television and CBS Year: 1979 (first broadcast on the CBS network in the USA on N…

Title: The Stingiest Man in Town Format: Animated television special Country: USA / Japan Production company: Rankin/Bass Productions and Topcraft, for NBC Year: 1978 (first shown on the NBC network in the USA on December 23rd that year) Length: 50 minutes