"If I Were King..." - Stave Three

We continue our look into the necessary story elements of "A Christmas Carol" that should be included in short-form adaptation, such as an audio drama.

For the introduction of the Ghost of Christmas Present, I would have Scrooge see the light coming from the other room and enter right away. The a bit of exposition about the ghost sitting on the throne of food and such.

I would just get them over to Bob Cratchit's house rather than any description of the bustle of city, which while very evocative, would just slow down the story.

At the Cratchit house, as much as I like the Martha character and how she playfully hides from Bob, I don't think we need all that. Same with Peter and the potatoes and the young Cratchit kids.

Let's just have the family welcome Bob and Tiny Tim with the narrator telling us about Tim and also Bob and his wife talking about how he behaved in church.

Some talk about the goose and the pudding and have Tiny Tim say his big line.

The Scrooge asks the ghost about Tiny Tim's fate and it is imperative that the ghost throws the "surplus population" back at him!

The toast to Scrooge with Mrs. C objecting, then we can leave.

A bit of a mention that the ghost takes Scrooge on a whirlwind tour, but they should get to Fred's house pretty quickly.

Again, as much as I like the antics with Topper, I think we really only need to have Fred talking about Scrooge and everyone raising a toast to him. But don't have Fred say "whatever he is" because we didn't get a chance to play that yes or no game!

I would probably end things with the present right there and not include Ignorance and Want as that whole thing seems hard to describe aurally.

On to the future!

Stave Three. The Second of the Three Spirits. (Part 2!)

So, the Ghost of Christmas Present shows Scrooge what's going on with the Christmas spirit that everyone else seems to possess - even if they need a sprinkle from the ghost's torch to be reminded of it!

Dickens is very descriptive about the various goings on, but the first major stop is Bob Cratchit's house. It's at this point that we finally learn his name!

We also first hear about Tiny Tim, as he's at church with Bob while the rest of the family helps prepare the Christmas dinner. In almost every version, Martha, the oldest child, comes from her job at a milliner's (she doesn't get all day off on Christmas, although the following day is a holiday) and hides from Bob so the family can pretend she's not coming.

The Cratchits have six kids altogether. Martha's the oldest, then Peter, then Belinda, then an unnamed boy and girl, and last of all is Tiny Tim. Various adaptations will play with the number of kids, but there's always a few.

Apparently Tiny Tim is pretty sick, not just because he has a brace on his leg and a crutch. He's so sickly looking that even Scrooge is worried if he'll make it. The ghost throws back the "surplus population" line at Scrooge, which hits him pretty hard. It seems that Scrooge was unaware that Bob had a child who was so sick, although he did know he had a wife and family.

One thing about Tiny Tim is that I've always thought is that he's hard to represent in a live action adaptation. A kid that looks so sick wouldn't be allowed to work. As a result, almost every Tiny Tim seems too healthy!

Bob shows his loyalty and humility by offering a toast to Scrooge, which nobody else is in the mood for, especially Mrs. Cratchit.

The main point about the Cratchits is that they have very little materially, but they are happier than most people because they have each other!

Oh, and Tiny Tim has to say, "God bless us, everyone!"

After leaving the Cratchits, the ghost takes Scrooge on a whirlwind tour of all sorts of locations where one might expect to find Christmas spirit, but they find plenty of it.

Next up is Scrooge's nephew's house. His wife (who is unnamed) calls him "Fred," which is how we finally learn his name!

There are about 20 people at this party, including the wife's two sisters (one of whom is plump) and Fred's friend Topper.

Fred presents Scrooge as a comical figure and everyone joins in a jolly toast to him.

In virtually every adaptation, we see Fred and his guest play a game. Here they play a "twenty questions" type game with the answer, of course, being Fred's wacky uncle!

Scrooge has a great time at this party, joining in the games and begging the spirit to stay. He's pretty reformed, but he still needs a couple more lessons.

Ignorance and Want are big buzzkills, but the next ghost really turns up the heat!

Stave Three. The Second of the Three Spirits (Part 1!)

When we last left Scrooge, he had fallen back asleep after his whirlwind journey into Christmas Past!

He wakes up and pulls open his bed curtains, so as not to be surprised by the next ghost. While he's waiting for something to happen, he gradually becomes aware of a light in the adjoining room.

In that room is, of course, the Ghost of Christmas Present. Scrooge greets him timidly and even mentions that he had learned a lesson the night before!

The depiction of the ghost in most adaptations follow the book pretty closely. He's a giant wearing a green robe with a wreath of holly on his head. Dickens says it has dark brown curls, but does not say that it has a beard, though he's almost always depicted as having one. He also wears a belt with an empty sheath and carries a torch.

Scrooge's room is decorated with all sorts of holly, mistletoe and ivy and the ghost sits upon a throne made of all kinds of food. It seems that the way these things are depicted depend upon the budget of the production in question!

The spirit tells Scrooge that he has more than eighteen hundred brothers, which makes sense if there's one for every Christmas and we're in 1843!

So, Scrooge is ready to learn a few things and reform a bit more. What will he see during the present Christmas?

Stave Two. The First of the Three Spirits. (Part 2!)

Now the Ghost of Christmas Past takes Scrooge on a journey to the past. They're there strictly as "shadows," so they can't interact with anyone or change anything that's already happened.

I've broken down five distinct periods and/or events that the spirit shows Scrooge in the book. The various adaptations always include some of these, but it's rare to see them all. Each offers its own insights.

First, we go back to the town where Scrooge attended boarding school. He's excited to see it once again. However, when they go inside the schoolhouse and see the lonely young Ebenezer, he weeps. He compares himself as a boy to the caroler that he chased away, so he's already learning a lesson!

An interesting little touch that occasionally pops up is that Scrooge sees the characters from the books that the young Ebenezer is reading (Ali Baba, Robinson Crusoe, etc.). Old Scrooge is excited to see them!

The next image is Scrooge growing and the same school getting older. He had been a boy, but now seems to be perhaps a teenager. He's visited by his "much younger" sister Fan, who has come to take Scrooge home because their father is kinder these days. No mention at all of their mother. Scrooge loved his sister very much.

The spirit reminds Scrooge that his nephew is Fan's son. Something else for Scrooge to think about.

Sometime later, Scrooge is now an apprentice with Fezziwig. He sees another version of his younger self, a little bit older, along with his fellow apprentice, Dick Wilkins. We only see Dick in this one sequence, but Scrooge says, "Poor Dick! Dear, dear!" which has always made me wonder what happened to him. Fezziwig is apparently deceased in the "present," as Scrooge exclaims, "It's Fezziwig alive again." Presumably Fezziwig had passed away from natural causes, as he was quite a bit older than Scrooge.

In any event, Fezziwig throws an awesome Christmas party, vividly described by Dickens. And through it all, present day Scrooge has a blast reliving it!

The spirit needles Scrooge a bit about whether Fezziwig is so great, which makes Scrooge realize that he's rather un-Fezziwig-like to his own employee! So, he's learning some lessons!

Next we get another version of young Scrooge, perhaps now in business for himself. Whatever the case, he's now consumed with the pursuit of wealth. This change does not sit well with his fiancée, who releases Scrooge from his promise. Present-day Scrooge certainly does not look upon this as a fond memory and the spirit has to restrain him in order to show him one more vision.

One thing to note is that, in the book, the fiancée comes out of nowhere. In so many adaptations, we see her interact with Scrooge at Fezziwig's ball. It's another one of those things that's so common, you would think it's in the original text. Definitely not, though!

The last sequence we encounter from the past is not actually one of Scrooge's own memories. From here on, everything he sees with this ghost and the others is new to him.

This last one takes place seven years earlier, on the night that Marley died. It shows Scrooge's former fiancée now married with a family. Scrooge catches on that this is something he missed out on, especially the oldest daughter (whom Dickens himself practically drools over!), who might have been "a spring-time in the haggard winter of his life" - great line!

The actual husband/father calls Scrooge's former fiancée "Belle" just one time, but naturally that gets retconned in the various versions where Scrooge sees her at Fezziwig's party. Is Belle her name or is her husband calling her by a pet name? We may never know!

Scrooge is getting more agitated and really does not like Belle and her husband pitying him. He gets so mad that he extinguishes the ghost with its cap and falls back asleep. Did the spirit have any other visions lined up?

One thing mentioned in the book that is seldom picked up on is that Scrooge sees all the faces the spirit has shown him in the spirit's face right before he extinguishes it. Another tough trick to pull off in live action.

Scrooge's past is an important part of the story, so these sequences get a lot of play in the various adaptations, but, as mentioned before, there are a lot of variations and many added twists.

There really are four distinct young Scrooges, but it's not common to have four different actors for each scene. It's no doubt much easier to cast a couple of actors and use them as necessary to show Scrooge aging.

Now that we're done with past, what's happening in the present?