Scary ghost stories and tales of the glories

NICK EICHER, HOST: Today is Friday, December 15th. Thank you for turning to WORLD Radio to help start your day.

Good morning. I’m Nick Eicher.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: And I’m Myrna Brown.

Coming next on The World and Everything in It: a Christmas podcast recommendation.

As the Christmas song says, “there will be scary ghost stories and tales of the glories of Christmases long long ago.”

NICK EICHER, HOST: Program Producer Harrison Watters now with a review of a new take on the classic ghost story, Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol.

NARRATOR: Jacob Marley was indeed dead. There is no doubt whatsoever about that. And this must be distinctly understood or nothing can come of this story.

HARRISON WATTERS: Back in November, Hope Media Group released Scrooge: A Christmas Carol… a 4-part podcast series sponsored by Compassion International.

John Rhys-Davies, better known for performances in Indiana Jones and the Lord of the Rings movies, narrates the story. Ebenezer Scrooge is a selfish and heartless miser in 19th century England and on Christmas Eve, he is visited by the ghost of his long-dead business partner and three spirits. They show him how he’s wasted his life and give him the chance to make amends.

SCROOGE: Christmas, bah! Fools.

Sean Astin of Rudy and Lord of the Rings fame plays Scrooge.

SCROOGE: Christmas: a time for paying bills without money, finding yourself a year older and not an hour richer. How is that merry?

At first, that casting decision seems backwards. Shouldn’t the actor with the older voice play the scraping, clutching, covetous old sinner? Sean Astin’s Scrooge hardly sounds old enough to be Frederick’s uncle.

FREDERICK: I’ve come, as I do every year, to invite you to dine with us tomorrow.

ASTIN: And I, as I do every year, will decline. Thank you.

But Producer Mark Ramsey sees Scrooge from a different angle.

RAMSEY: We wanted to create it so that you could relate to the fact that this man had time left, that this wasn't someone who was 80 years old who decided to change his life forever. This was someone who was maybe 50 years old, who had time to change and to live the life he had so far denied himself and those around him.

The cast also includes Ben Barnes from the 2008 Prince Capsian movie as the ghost of Christmas present.

PRESENT: Look at you, cute as a kitten, and none the brighter.

SCROOGE: Who are you spirit?

PRESENT: Not who so much as when am I, mortal.

Barnes isn’t exactly the “jolly giant” of Dickens’s Christmas Carol. In most of Episode 3, his voice is basically unfiltered and sounds like he’s down at Scrooge’s level, speaking right into his ear. Perhaps this implies that the present is up close and personal.

The writers also depart from convention by reworking many memorable moments in the story.

For example, Bob Cratchitt takes several lines from Scrooge…which seems out of character for a clerk trying to avoid annoying his boss.

SCROOGE: If I could work my will, every idiot who goes about—

CRATCHIT: —Who goes about with “Merry Christmas” on their lips would be boiled in his own pudding and buried with a stake in his heart.

Ramsey explains the decision.

RAMSEY: Isn't it very likely that this is a mantra of Scrooge that this is something he said a hundred times to Cratchit? And by the way, it’s not the first time you’ve heard that, or that I’ve heard that. So of course, Cratchit has heard it a hundred times, and he can finish the sentence for that reason.

Other instances of creative license go further. The writers add whole storylines to the plot, including one involving Scrooge’s father and the role he played in poisoning Ebenezer’s soul.

SCROOGE’S FATHER: You don't think I'd be here if it wasn't for you, your mother—God, rest her soul—and your sister? Do you have any comprehension of the burdensome cost of fatherhood? Of course, you don’t.

Other scenes condense parts of the narrative. For example, one scene begins with an invitation to dance at Fezziwig’s party and ends with a broken engagement after just two minutes of dialogue.

Another aspect of this production that’s unique is how it connects the dots between Scrooge and the lives of listeners. Halfway through each episode is an ad for a Scrooge devotional. The free digital guide applies scripture to conversations about greed, joy, contentment and mercy.

That said, I was surprised to discover that the podcast itself ends on a somewhat shallow note.

NARRATOR: We all need God's blessing, each and every one of us. Tiny Tim said it. Ebenezer Scrooge said it. And he who blesses us every day manifested it.

This ending is spiritually clearer than Charles Dickens’ conclusion to the original story…but it still leaves a lot out. Jesus Christ didn’t merely manifest or display God’s blessing when he came to earth in bodily form…he is himself God’s blessing as Paul says in Ephesians 1…and only through faith in him can scraping, clutching, covetous old—and young—sinners find forgiveness and redeemed purpose in life.

So, if you happen to be a connoisseur of Christmas Carol adaptations, there’s a good chance you’ll end this podcast with “bah, humbug!” on your lips. A more faithful dramatization I’d recommend is Focus on the Family Radio Theater’s 1996 production…available for purchase as an audio download.

But for those willing to be surprised by a new take on A Christmas Carol, available for free wherever you get your podcasts, Hope Media Group’s Scrooge podcast is worth queueing up.

I’m Harrison Watters.

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