Dickensblog

FX partners with BBC on 'A Christmas Carol'

We Americans will get to see the three-part drama on the FX channel in December! In addition to this news, Deadline also has a cast list:

"The remake stars Guy Pearce as Ebenezer Scrooge, Andy Serkis as Ghost of Christmas Past, Stephen Graham as Jacob Marley, Charlotte Riley as Lottie, Joe Alwyn as Bob Cratchit, Vinette Robinson as Mary Cratchit, Rutger Hauer as the Ghost of Christmas Future, Kayvan Novak as Ali Baba and Lenny Rush as Tim Cratchit."

(If Ali Baba made it in -- you'll recall that he appears in the book as a vision of young Scrooge's in the past -- it sounds like they studied the original story very carefully! Although I'm not sure who Lottie might be.)

And speaking of A Christmas Carol, it turns out that rumors of its filming at Rainham Hall were correct. The Romford Recorder has details, photos, and video.

R.I.P. John McEnery

The British actor played John Harmon in the 1976 TV adaptation of Our Mutual Friend (click here to read a short reminiscence by co-star Jane Seymour); Mr. Mantalini, William the Waiter, and Mr. Snevellicci in the celebrated stage and television versions of Nicholas Nickleby in the early 1980s; and Captain Hopkins in the 1987 feature film of Little Dorrit. McEnery passed away April 12 at the age of 75.

'A Christmas Carol' filming rumors

There's filming of some sort going on at Rainham Hall in Essex, and speculation is rife that it's the new BBC version of "A Christmas Carol" with Tom Hardy. If you look at the set and the costumes, you can see why that appears likely!

TCM alert

Great Expectations (1946) will air tomorrow at 9:45 a.m. Eastern, as part of the channel's birthday tribute to director David Lean.

TCM alert

Oliver! airs on TCM today at 2 p.m. Eastern, as part of the channel's 31 Days of Oscar celebration.

BBC Dickens miniseries news

My friends, I've failed you badly. I promised you book reviews, and then I left you dangling. For that I sincerely apologize. I have so many books that are due (overdue, really) for reviews, I couldn't seem to get all the reviews written! I haven't given up on that project, but today I have something else to share: news of the upcoming series of BBC Dickens adaptations.

Steven Knight, who will co-produce these with Tom Hardy, has told Collider that their Christmas Carol script is "largely done," that Hardy will star (whether as Scrooge or another character is not known), and that they're aiming for Christmas 2019. He also had some general thoughts on the other adaptations they plan to do. Like most adapters these days, he speaks of wanting to make them "modern" and gritty and so forth; as with most adapters, we'll have to wait and see exactly how these particular projects end up interpreting those terms.

We've been having a good discussion of the news in the Dickensblog Facebook group (thanks to Art for getting that started). Which reminds me, if you're a fan of this blog and you're on Facebook, please come join us there! 

TCM alert

The 1935 film of A Tale of Two Cities will air Saturday at 12 p.m. Eastern.

TCM alert

The 1948 version of Oliver Twist is on Wednesday night at 9:45 Eastern.

'A Christmas Carol' on TV

In accordance with our usual tradition, here is this year's list of Christmas Carol airings! As always, keep checking back for updates, and let us know if you come across any that I've missed. All times are Eastern.

• Scrooge (1935, starring Seymour Hicks): December 23 at 6 a.m., TCM
• A Christmas Carol (1938, starring Reginald Owen): December 2 at 8:30 a.m. and December 24 at 10 p.m., TCM
• Scrooge, a.k.a. A Christmas Carol (1951, starring Alastair Sim): December 23 at 10 p.m., TCM; December 24 at 6:50 p.m., 8:40 p.m., and 10:30 p.m.; December 25 at 12:20 a.m., 2:10 a.m., 3 p.m., 4:50 p.m., 6:40 p.m., 8:30 p.m., and 10:20 p.m., and December 26 at 12:10 a.m. and 2 a.m., FXM
• A Christmas Carol (1984, starring George C. Scott): December 3 at 6:45 and 9:45 a.m.; December 11 at 2:25 and 5:25 p.m.; December 14 at 8 and 11 a.m., HBO2; December 24 at 5:15 p.m and 8:15 p.m., HBO Signature; December 25 at 6:55 a.m. and 9:55 a.m., HBO Family
• A Christmas Carol (1999, starring Patrick Stewart): December 3 at 8 p.m., December 23 at 4 p.m., and December 24 at 9 p.m., Get TV; December 21 at 10:15 p.m. and December 22 at 6 p.m., TNT
• Disney's A Christmas Carol (2009, starring Jim Carrey): December 7 at 9:50 p.m.; December 8 at 2:20 p.m.; December 12 at 9 p.m.; December 17 at 4:20 p.m.; December 24 at 4:10 p.m.; December 25 at 12:40 p.m., Freeform

TCM alert

David Copperfield (1935) will air at 7:30 this morning (Sunday).