A Christmas Carol is a 2019 British dark fantasy drama television miniseries based on the 1843 novella by Charles Dickens.

The three-part series is written by Steven Knight with Tom Hardy and Ridley Scott among the executive producers.

Cast members include Guy Pearce, Andy Serkis, Stephen Graham, Charlotte Riley, Johnny Harris, Jason Flemyng, Vinette Robinson and Joe Alwyn.

At home, Scrooge's clerk Bob Cratchit, and his wife Mary, struggle to survive and raise their children, especially the disabled Tim.

Marley visits Scrooge, shows him visions of the exploited workers in their mills and sweatshops, and explains that each link of his chains represents a life lost because of their greedy business practices.

One vision shows Scrooge's childhood self at a boarding school, where he was made to stay during the Christmas season and was sexually abused by the schoolmaster.

Humiliated, Mary told Scrooge he would one day see a "mirror" showing him his true self, stating that as a woman she had "the power to summon such spirits."

The Ghost of Christmas Present appears, in the form of Scrooge's long-dead sister Lottie, the mother of his nephew Fred.

She lies to Bob, telling him that she stole a pair of diamond earrings from a wealthy, old woman in town, and sold them.

Marley arrives and talks of redemption, but Scrooge refuses a second chance, saying he does not deserve forgiveness and will accept his fate, if only Tim will live.

It was announced in November 2017 that the BBC had commissioned a new telling of the Dickens tale, with Steven Knight writing the three-part series.

[3] In May, Guy Pearce was revealed to be playing Scrooge, alongside the castings of Andy Serkis, Stephen Graham, Charlotte Riley, Johnny Harris, Joe Alwyn, Vinette Robinson and Kayvan Novak.

The subsequent two episodes failed to register in the top 15 BBC1 broadcasts for week ending 29 December, achieving fewer than 5,887,097 viewers.

The Hollywood Reporter described the miniseries as "designed to alienate the Dickens brand's traditional core audience and probably won't much engage the curiosity of more mature viewers.

"[20] Nick Allen of RogerEbert.com also gave it two stars and described viewing it as "approximately three joyless hours of watching an adaptation try to justify its edginess.