[9] In 1843, four years after the success of Oliver Twist, Charles Dickens is suffering financial hardship after the failures of his last three books.

Charles' relationship with his family and friends is increasingly strained as he struggles with Scrooge's ending, and his debts mount.

His wife, Catherine Dickens, tearfully confronts Charles over his recklessness and instability, and admits that she believes that he puts his work before his own family.

It is revealed that much of Charles' animosity toward his father stems from his childhood trauma of laboring in a blacking factory after his family was taken to debtors' prison, all due to John Dickens' failure to pay his debts.

As Charles is about to leave his home to submit it to his printer, he finds that Tara has come to return a book that he had lent her, and he apologizes for his angry outburst and invites her back to the household.

"[12] He also expressed an interest in Miriam Margolyes' theory that Dickens was bipolar, saying: "There were moments when he was bleak and depressive.

"[12] A Time magazine review mentions that "some major plot points are the product of dramatic license" but concludes that the film "does provide viewers with a fairly accurate sense of how Dickens successfully changed the way Christmas is celebrated".

[13] Dickens is shown visiting Warren's Blacking Factory as an adult, but this building was demolished in the early 1830s.

"[18] Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian was less impressed, giving it one star and calling it "a kind of wacky and saccharine muttonchop-whisker-gawd-bless-yer fantasy-comedy".