Join Collin as he breaks down Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, with the help of a LibriVox audiobook. Each month, a new episode of A Christmas Carol Deep Dive will drop, until we have gotten through the whole book. Find out about the historical context, cultural references, inspiration for adaptations, and much more. This episode covers the first half of the book's first stave, from the beginning of the story up through Bob Cratchit leaving the counting house.

Sources and additional links:

LibriVox Audiobook

Ghost Stories in Victorian England

Dead as a Doornail

Dead as a Doornail #2

John Elwes

Who Was the Real Ebenezer Scrooge

Humbug

Debtor's Prison

Workhouses (Many books linked on this page)

Workhouse Documentary

Thomas Robert Malthus essay

The Treadmill

Dunstan

On this episode of Scrooge: A Christmas Carol Podcast, Collin looks over the first season of the podcast, answers a few questions from listeners, and talks about what episodes will like throughout the coming year. Thank you for listening!

There is one more TV adaptation to cover from the 1970s, and it deserves its own episode. In An American Christmas Carol, Henry Winkler plays Benedict Slade, an Americanized Ebenezer Scrooge, and he's backed up by a supporting cast including Dorian Harewood, Susan Hogan, R.H. Thomson, and many more. The setting is moved to Concord, New Hampshire during the Great Depression, a perfect choice for this kind of story. Find out why this is one of the most underrated versions of A Christmas Carol.

On this episode, Collin covers three weird adaptations from the 1970s: A Christmas Carol 1977 from the BBC (with Michael Hordern as Scrooge), Rich Little's Christmas Carol (with Rich Little as W.C. Fields as Scrooge), and A Special Sesame Street Christmas with Oscar the Grouch needing a change. All three of these are extremely weird in their own way, and there is a lot to talk about. Guests on these specials include Ethel Merman, Patricia Quinn, Leslie Uggams, and Rich Little many times over.

In this episode of Scrooge: A Christmas Carol Podcast, Collin covers the three animated adaptations from the 1970s. First, it's the Richard Williams Oscar-winning short A Christmas Carol from 1971, with Alastair Sim reprising his role. Second, it's the Rankin/Bass remake of The Stingiest Man in Town, with Walter Matthau as Scrooge. Finally, it's Bugs Bunny's Christmas Carol, with Yosemite Sam as Scrooge. Plus, find out more about why these 1970s versions were obsessed with the Devil.

There have been musical versions of A Christmas Carol before, but today, it's the first theatrical musical version: Scrooge from 1970. Starring Albert Finney as the old and young Scrooge, this bombastic musical definitely leaves an impression. Plus, if you've seen this one, you know that this episode's title is not figurative.

The early 1960s were a golden age for TV Christmas specials, and they gave us Mister Magoo's Christmas Carol and Rod Serling's Carol for Another Christmas. Collin covers both in today's episode, plus the obscure 1969 Australian animated version of A Christmas Carol.

It's my review of the 1951 classic Scrooge, starring Alastair Sim in the title role. It's one of the most beloved adaptations of A Christmas Carol, and many call it the very best. This one expands on Scrooge's past quite a bit, showing how he made his way in the world during the Industrial Revolution. Is it the definitive version of the tale? Tune in to find out.

On episode 2 of Scrooge: A Christmas Carol Podcast, Collin talks about 4 TV adaptations from the 1940s and 1950s: The Christmas Carol (1949), A Christmas Carol (1954), The Stingiest Man in Town (1956) and Tales of Dickens: A Christmas Carol (1959). Featuring legendary actors like Vincent Price, Fredric March, and Basil Rathbone, these adaptations show the unique ways in which early TV presented Dickens' tale. Two are just 25 minutes long, and two are musicals.

On the premiere episode of Scrooge: A Christmas Carol Podcast, Collin talks about his love for A Christmas Carol and what this podcast will look like, before covering SCROOGE (1935) and A CHRISTMAS CAROL (1938), the two earliest feature-length sound versions of the story.