0:00:27 > 0:00:30- The date...- 1843.
0:00:30 > 0:00:33- The place...- London!
0:00:33 > 0:00:35The season...
0:00:35 > 0:00:38That of jollity, festivity and charity.
0:00:38 > 0:00:42Holly and berries and good will to all men.
0:00:42 > 0:00:44With perhaps one exception...
0:00:44 > 0:00:47ALL: SCROOGE!
0:00:47 > 0:00:48A squeezing...
0:00:48 > 0:00:49..wrenching...
0:00:49 > 0:00:50..grasping...
0:00:50 > 0:00:52..scraping...
0:00:52 > 0:00:53..clutching...
0:00:53 > 0:00:54.covetous old sinner!
0:00:54 > 0:00:56Hard and sharp as flint...
0:00:56 > 0:00:58..from which no steel had ever struck out generous fire.
0:00:58 > 0:01:00Secret and self-contained...
0:01:00 > 0:01:02..and as solitary as an oyster
0:01:02 > 0:01:05He carried his own low temperature always about him.
0:01:05 > 0:01:08He iced his office in the dog days...
0:01:08 > 0:01:11..and didn't thaw it one degree at Christmas.
0:01:11 > 0:01:13Once upon a time...
0:01:13 > 0:01:16..of all the good days in the year, on Christmas Eve...
0:01:16 > 0:01:19Old Scrooge sat busy in his counting house.
0:01:21 > 0:01:23It was cold, bleak, biting weather.
0:01:23 > 0:01:27The clocks had just gone three, but it was already quite dark.
0:01:27 > 0:01:30The door to Scrooge's office was open that
0:01:30 > 0:01:32he might keep his eye upon his clerk...
0:01:32 > 0:01:36..who, in a dismal little cell beyond, was copying letters and
0:01:36 > 0:01:40trying to warm himself at the candle, in which effort...
0:01:40 > 0:01:43..not being a man of strong imagination...
0:01:43 > 0:01:44..he failed.
0:01:46 > 0:01:48Merry Christmas, Uncle, God save you!
0:01:48 > 0:01:51It was Scrooge's nephew Fred, in cheerful voice.
0:01:51 > 0:01:53Bah! Humbug!
0:01:53 > 0:01:55Christmas a humbug, Uncle? You don't mean that, I am sure.
0:01:55 > 0:01:57I do. "Merry Christmas"?
0:01:57 > 0:01:59What right have you to be merry?
0:01:59 > 0:02:02What reason have you to be merry, you are poor enough.
0:02:02 > 0:02:05What right have you to be dismal? What right have you to be morose? You're rich enough!
0:02:05 > 0:02:09Scrooge, having no better answer ready on the spur of the moment,
0:02:09 > 0:02:11- said...- Bah!
0:02:11 > 0:02:13- ..again, and followed it up with... - Humbug!
0:02:13 > 0:02:14Don't be cross, Uncle!
0:02:14 > 0:02:18What else can I be, when I live in such a world of fools as this?
0:02:18 > 0:02:20"Merry Christmas"(!)
0:02:20 > 0:02:23If I could work my will, every idiot who goes about with
0:02:23 > 0:02:27"Merry Christmas" on his lips should be boiled with his own pudding,
0:02:27 > 0:02:30and buried with a stake of holly through his heart.
0:02:30 > 0:02:31Oh, Uncle!
0:02:31 > 0:02:34Keep Christmas in your own way, and let me keep it in mine.
0:02:34 > 0:02:37I have always thought Christmas a good time - a kind, forgiving,
0:02:37 > 0:02:40charitable time when men and women open their shut-up hearts
0:02:40 > 0:02:42freely and think of people below them.
0:02:42 > 0:02:44Come dine with us tomorrow!
0:02:44 > 0:02:45I'll see you in hell first, Nephew.
0:02:45 > 0:02:48I'm sorry with all my heart to see you so resolute,
0:02:48 > 0:02:51but I'll keep my Christmas humour to the last.
0:02:51 > 0:02:53Good afternoon, Nephew.
0:02:53 > 0:02:54Merry Christmas, Uncle.
0:02:54 > 0:02:56I said good afternoon!
0:02:56 > 0:02:58And Happy New Year! And to you too, Mr Cratchit.
0:02:58 > 0:02:59Merry Christmas, sir.
0:03:01 > 0:03:03There's another fellow, my clerk,
0:03:03 > 0:03:06with 15/- a week and a wife and family,
0:03:06 > 0:03:08talking about a merry Christmas.
0:03:10 > 0:03:12Bah!
0:03:14 > 0:03:15What now, Cratchit?
0:03:15 > 0:03:17Sir, these gentlemen...
0:03:17 > 0:03:22Have I the pleasure of addressing Mr Scrooge or Mr Marley?
0:03:22 > 0:03:25Jacob Marley died seven years ago this very night, sir.
0:03:25 > 0:03:28We have no doubt his liberality is well represented by his
0:03:28 > 0:03:30surviving partner.
0:03:30 > 0:03:33At this festive season of the year, Mr Scrooge,
0:03:33 > 0:03:37it is more than usually desirable that we make provision for
0:03:37 > 0:03:40the poor and destitute who suffer greatly.
0:03:40 > 0:03:44Many thousands are in want of common necessities and comforts, sir.
0:03:44 > 0:03:47Are there no prisons or workhouses in operation?
0:03:47 > 0:03:49There are, I wish I could say they were not.
0:03:49 > 0:03:53I'm very glad to hear it. I help to support those establishments,
0:03:53 > 0:03:57they cost enough and those who are badly off must go there!
0:03:57 > 0:03:59Many would rather die!
0:03:59 > 0:04:04Then they had better do it and decrease the surplus population.
0:04:04 > 0:04:05Now, good afternoon, gentlemen!
0:04:05 > 0:04:08- But sir...! - This way. if you please, gentlemen.
0:04:12 > 0:04:16# God rest ye merry Gentlemen, let nothing you dismay... #
0:04:16 > 0:04:18Cease your caterwauling, child!
0:04:21 > 0:04:24At length, the hour of shutting up the counting house arrived
0:04:24 > 0:04:29and Scrooge tacitly admitted the fact to the expectant clerk,
0:04:29 > 0:04:31who instantly snuffed his candle out.
0:04:38 > 0:04:41You'll want all day tomorrow, I suppose?
0:04:41 > 0:04:43If quite convenient, sir.
0:04:43 > 0:04:47It is NOT convenient and it's not fair.
0:04:47 > 0:04:49If I was to stop you half a crown for it,
0:04:49 > 0:04:51you'd think yourself ill used, I'll be bound.
0:04:51 > 0:04:55And yet you do not think me ill used when I pay a day's wages for no work!
0:04:55 > 0:04:57It is only once a year, sir.
0:04:57 > 0:05:02A poor excuse for picking a man's pocket every 25th of December!
0:05:02 > 0:05:06Yes, sir, Merry Christmas, sir... I mean... Um...
0:05:06 > 0:05:09The clerk made his exit as fast as he could,
0:05:09 > 0:05:13went down a slide on Cornhill in honour of its being Christmas Eve...
0:05:13 > 0:05:17And then ran home to Camden Town as hard as he could pelt,
0:05:17 > 0:05:20to play blind man's buff with his children.
0:05:24 > 0:05:29Scrooge took his melancholy dinner in his usual melancholy tavern,
0:05:29 > 0:05:33and having read all the newspapers, and beguiled the rest of the
0:05:33 > 0:05:37evening with his banker's book, went home to bed.
0:05:42 > 0:05:46He lived in chambers which had once belonged to his deceased partner...
0:05:49 > 0:05:51A gloomy set of rooms...
0:05:53 > 0:05:56..old enough and dreary enough now...
0:05:59 > 0:06:02..for nobody lived in them but Scrooge.
0:06:07 > 0:06:09CRASHING
0:06:12 > 0:06:15How now, what do you want with me?
0:06:15 > 0:06:16Much.
0:06:18 > 0:06:21Who are you?
0:06:21 > 0:06:23Ask me who I was.
0:06:29 > 0:06:31Marley?!
0:06:31 > 0:06:32Do you believe in me?
0:06:32 > 0:06:34I don't!
0:06:34 > 0:06:35HE GROANS
0:06:38 > 0:06:42Mercy! Dreadful apparition, why do you trouble me?
0:06:42 > 0:06:46Man of the worldly mind, do you believe in me or not?
0:06:46 > 0:06:49I do...I must!
0:06:49 > 0:06:53But why does a spirit such as you walk the Earth?
0:06:53 > 0:06:54And why do you come to me?
0:06:54 > 0:06:57It is required of every man that the spirit within him should walk
0:06:57 > 0:06:59abroad and travel far and wide.
0:06:59 > 0:07:02It is doomed to wander through the world and witness what it
0:07:02 > 0:07:07cannot share, but might have shared on Earth and turned to happiness.
0:07:07 > 0:07:10Why are you fettered so?
0:07:11 > 0:07:13I wear the chain I forged in life.
0:07:16 > 0:07:19I made it, link by link and yard by yard.
0:07:21 > 0:07:23It is a ponderous chain.
0:07:23 > 0:07:25Jacob, please, speak comfort to me.
0:07:25 > 0:07:27I have none to give.
0:07:27 > 0:07:31I cannot rest, Ebenezer, I cannot stay, I cannot linger anywhere.
0:07:31 > 0:07:37No rest, no peace. Incessant torture of remorse.
0:07:38 > 0:07:42No space for regret, to make amends for life's opportunities misused!
0:07:42 > 0:07:44Yet such am I!
0:07:44 > 0:07:47But you were always such a good man of business, Jacob.
0:07:47 > 0:07:50Business! Mankind was my business!
0:07:50 > 0:07:57Charity, mercy, benevolence were all my business and I failed.
0:07:57 > 0:07:59But Jacob...
0:07:59 > 0:08:00I am here tonight to warn you
0:08:00 > 0:08:04that you have a chance yet and a hope of escaping my fate.
0:08:04 > 0:08:07A chance and hope of my procuring, Ebenezer.
0:08:07 > 0:08:09You always were a good friend to me.
0:08:09 > 0:08:12You will be haunted by three spirits.
0:08:12 > 0:08:13I think I'd rather not.
0:08:13 > 0:08:16Without their visits, you cannot hope to shun the path that I tread.
0:08:16 > 0:08:21The first tomorrow, when the bell tolls one.
0:08:21 > 0:08:23Couldn't I take 'em all at once and have it over, Jacob?
0:08:23 > 0:08:28Expect the second on the next night at the same hour. The third upon the next night.
0:08:28 > 0:08:34Look to see me no more, and look that, for your own sake,
0:08:34 > 0:08:39you remember what happened between us.
0:08:42 > 0:08:47And then the air was filled with phantoms, wandering hither
0:08:47 > 0:08:51and thither in restless haste and moaning as they went.
0:08:51 > 0:08:55And whether these creatures faded into mist, or the mist enshrouded them,
0:08:55 > 0:08:57he could not tell.
0:08:57 > 0:09:00But they and their spirit voices faded
0:09:00 > 0:09:02and the night became as it had been.
0:09:02 > 0:09:05HE BREATHES HEAVILY
0:09:05 > 0:09:08When Scrooge awoke it was so dark and he was endeavouring to
0:09:08 > 0:09:13pierce the darkness when the chimes of the neighbouring church struck.
0:09:13 > 0:09:15CLOCK STRIKES
0:09:15 > 0:09:17One o'clock?
0:09:17 > 0:09:19It isn't possible that I have slept through
0:09:19 > 0:09:21a whole day and far into another night.
0:09:28 > 0:09:32Are you the spirit, whose coming was foretold to me?
0:09:32 > 0:09:33I am.
0:09:34 > 0:09:36Who and what are you?
0:09:36 > 0:09:41I am the Ghost of Christmas Past. Your past.
0:09:41 > 0:09:43And what is your business?
0:09:43 > 0:09:47Your welfare. Now rise, and walk with me.
0:09:49 > 0:09:55They passed through a wall and arrived upon a country road,
0:09:55 > 0:09:57with fields on either side.
0:09:57 > 0:10:02The darkness had vanished, for it was a clear, cold winter day,
0:10:02 > 0:10:04with snow upon the ground.
0:10:04 > 0:10:05Good heaven!
0:10:05 > 0:10:09I was bred in this place, I was a boy here!
0:10:09 > 0:10:14- Your lip is trembling. - And what is that upon your cheek?
0:10:14 > 0:10:16They walked on along the road,
0:10:16 > 0:10:19Scrooge recognising every gate and post and tree.
0:10:19 > 0:10:23Some shaggy ponies now were trotting towards them with boys upon
0:10:23 > 0:10:24their backs.
0:10:24 > 0:10:25PONIES NEIGH
0:10:25 > 0:10:27Come on, hurry up!
0:10:27 > 0:10:29Wait for me!
0:10:29 > 0:10:31Why, it's Pip, and young Davey! Hello there!
0:10:31 > 0:10:33These are but shadows of things that have been,
0:10:33 > 0:10:37they have no consciousness of us.
0:10:37 > 0:10:41But Scrooge knew and named them, every one.
0:10:41 > 0:10:43Why did his cold eye glisten,
0:10:43 > 0:10:47and why did his heart leap up as they went past?
0:10:47 > 0:10:50Why was he filled with gladness when he heard them give each other
0:10:50 > 0:10:52a "Merry Christmas" as they parted?
0:10:52 > 0:10:55What was "Merry Christmas" to Scrooge?
0:10:55 > 0:10:57What good had it ever done him?
0:10:57 > 0:11:00That school is not quite deserted.
0:11:01 > 0:11:06A solitary child, neglected by his friends, is left there still.
0:11:06 > 0:11:08And there, in a melancholy room,
0:11:08 > 0:11:12a lonely child sat reading by a feeble fire.
0:11:12 > 0:11:18Scrooge wept to see his poor forgotten self as he used to be.
0:11:18 > 0:11:22After a moment, the spirit took his hand, and on they went.
0:11:22 > 0:11:25Let us see another Christmas.
0:11:25 > 0:11:28To the busy thoroughfare of the city, and it was plain enough
0:11:28 > 0:11:30that here was Christmas-time.
0:11:30 > 0:11:34The ghost stopped at a certain warehouse door.
0:11:38 > 0:11:40Do you know this place?
0:11:40 > 0:11:43Why, I was apprenticed here!
0:11:43 > 0:11:46Why, it's old Fezziwig! Fezziwig, alive again!
0:11:46 > 0:11:48Bless his heart.
0:11:48 > 0:11:50Yo-ho there, Ebenezer, Dick!
0:11:50 > 0:11:52No more work tonight, it's Christmas Eve!
0:11:52 > 0:11:55Clear away, lads, let's have lots of room here!
0:11:55 > 0:11:57It was done in a minute.
0:11:57 > 0:12:01Every movable was packed off, the floor was swept and watered,
0:12:01 > 0:12:05the lamps were trimmed and the warehouse was as dry and warm and
0:12:05 > 0:12:09snug and bright a ballroom as you could desire on a winter's night.
0:12:09 > 0:12:11In came a fiddler and Mrs Fezziwig
0:12:11 > 0:12:14and all the men and women employed in their business.
0:12:14 > 0:12:16Welcome, welcome all!
0:12:21 > 0:12:23FOLK MUSIC PLAYS
0:12:23 > 0:12:25There were dances and forfeits.
0:12:27 > 0:12:29And more dances and cakes.
0:12:29 > 0:12:32And a great piece of cold roast.
0:12:32 > 0:12:34Mince pies and plenty of beer.
0:13:15 > 0:13:17APPLAUSE
0:13:18 > 0:13:22A small matter to make these silly folks so full of gratitude.
0:13:22 > 0:13:25- Small?! - Is it not?
0:13:25 > 0:13:28He has spent just a few pounds of your mortal money.
0:13:28 > 0:13:31Is that so much that he deserves this praise?
0:13:31 > 0:13:37It isn't that. He has the power to render us... happy.
0:13:37 > 0:13:41The happiness he gives is as great as if it cost a fortune!
0:13:42 > 0:13:44I...
0:13:44 > 0:13:45What is the matter?
0:13:45 > 0:13:47Nothing.
0:13:47 > 0:13:49I should like to be able to say a word or two to my clerk just
0:13:49 > 0:13:51now is all.
0:13:51 > 0:13:52My time grows short. Quick!
0:13:55 > 0:13:59And now Scrooge saw himself, older now, in the prime of life.
0:13:59 > 0:14:04His face had begun to wear the signs of care and avarice
0:14:04 > 0:14:10And by him, a fair young girl, in whose eyes there were tears.
0:14:10 > 0:14:16Oh, Ebenezer, another idol has displaced me,
0:14:16 > 0:14:21and if it can cheer and comfort you in time to come as I would
0:14:21 > 0:14:25have tried to do, I have no just cause to grieve.
0:14:26 > 0:14:27What idol?
0:14:27 > 0:14:29A golden one.
0:14:29 > 0:14:33But this is the dealing of the world!
0:14:33 > 0:14:35There is nothing so hard as poverty.
0:14:35 > 0:14:39You fear the world too much and it has changed you.
0:14:39 > 0:14:43I have seen your nobler aspirations fall off one by one,
0:14:43 > 0:14:46until only gain engrosses you.
0:14:46 > 0:14:48I am not changed towards you.
0:14:48 > 0:14:51Our contract was an old one.
0:14:53 > 0:14:57It was made when we were both poor and content to be so.
0:14:57 > 0:15:00When it was made, you were a changed man.
0:15:01 > 0:15:03I was a boy.
0:15:03 > 0:15:07That which promised happiness when we were one in heart
0:15:07 > 0:15:10is fraught with misery now that we are two.
0:15:12 > 0:15:15I release you from our betrothal.
0:15:15 > 0:15:17Have I ever sought release?
0:15:19 > 0:15:21In words, never.
0:15:21 > 0:15:23In what, then?
0:15:23 > 0:15:26In a changed nature, an altered spirit.
0:15:26 > 0:15:31In everything that made my love of any worth or value in your sight.
0:15:33 > 0:15:34Belle!
0:15:34 > 0:15:38May you be happy in the life that you have chosen.
0:15:40 > 0:15:41SHE SOBS
0:15:44 > 0:15:46Remove me from this place.
0:15:46 > 0:15:49She is married now, with a happy family of her own.
0:15:49 > 0:15:51Why do you delight in torturing me?
0:15:51 > 0:15:55I told you these are but shadows of things that have been.
0:15:55 > 0:15:58That they are what they are, do not blame me!
0:15:58 > 0:16:01I cannot bear it, take me back, haunt me no more!
0:16:01 > 0:16:03Awaking in the middle of a prodigious snore,
0:16:03 > 0:16:08and sitting up in bed to get his thoughts together, Scrooge had
0:16:08 > 0:16:14no occasion to be told that the bell was again upon the stroke of one.
0:16:14 > 0:16:17It was his own room, but transformed.
0:16:17 > 0:16:19CLOCK STRIKES
0:16:19 > 0:16:22The walls and ceiling were so hung with living green that it
0:16:22 > 0:16:24looked a perfect grove.
0:16:24 > 0:16:27Come, Ebenezer Scrooge!
0:16:27 > 0:16:31And heaped upon the floor were turkeys, geese, game,
0:16:31 > 0:16:33great joints of meat,
0:16:33 > 0:16:35sausages, mince pies,
0:16:35 > 0:16:38plum puddings and seething bowls of punch,
0:16:38 > 0:16:44and there sat a jolly giant, glorious to see.
0:16:44 > 0:16:49I am the Ghost of Christmas Present - look upon me!
0:16:49 > 0:16:52You have never seen the like of me before!
0:16:52 > 0:16:57Never. Spirit, conduct me where you will.
0:16:57 > 0:17:02Tonight, if you have ought to teach me, let me profit by it.
0:17:04 > 0:17:06Touch my robe.
0:17:06 > 0:17:08The room, the fire, the ruddy glow, all
0:17:08 > 0:17:12vanished instantly and they stood in the streets
0:17:12 > 0:17:14on Christmas morning.
0:17:14 > 0:17:16And they came to the threshold of Bob Cratchit's dwelling
0:17:16 > 0:17:22and the spirit smiled and blessed it with a sprinkling of her torch.
0:17:24 > 0:17:27And then came Mrs Cratchit, dressed out but poorly in
0:17:27 > 0:17:31a twice-turned gown but brave in ribbons, and laid the cloth.
0:17:31 > 0:17:34And in came Bob with Tiny Tim on his shoulder.
0:17:34 > 0:17:37How did little Tim behave?
0:17:37 > 0:17:39As good as gold and better.
0:17:39 > 0:17:43He told me coming home that he hoped the people saw him in church
0:17:43 > 0:17:46because he was a cripple, and it might be pleasant for them to
0:17:46 > 0:17:49remember upon Christmas Day who made lame beggars walk and blind men see.
0:17:49 > 0:17:54Oh, Tim, sometimes you think the strangest things I ever heard.
0:17:54 > 0:17:57But you're growing strong and hearty, aren't you, Tim?
0:17:57 > 0:17:59Strong and hearty!
0:17:59 > 0:18:02And such a bustle ensued, with goose and gravy
0:18:02 > 0:18:04and mashed potatoes.
0:18:04 > 0:18:05And a steamed pudding.
0:18:05 > 0:18:07A wonderful pudding, my dear.
0:18:07 > 0:18:10It is your greatest success since our wedding day.
0:18:10 > 0:18:13A merry Christmas to us all, my dears.
0:18:13 > 0:18:15God bless us.
0:18:15 > 0:18:16Bless us, every one.
0:18:16 > 0:18:21And Bob held his withered little hand in his, as if he
0:18:21 > 0:18:24loved the child and wished to keep him at his side and dreaded
0:18:24 > 0:18:27that he might be taken from him.
0:18:27 > 0:18:32Spirit, tell me, tell me Tiny Tim will live.
0:18:34 > 0:18:37I see a vacant seat in the poor chimney corner,
0:18:37 > 0:18:40and a crutch without an owner.
0:18:40 > 0:18:43No, no!
0:18:43 > 0:18:48If these shadows remain unaltered by the future, the child will die.
0:18:48 > 0:18:53No, kind spirit, say he will be spared!
0:18:53 > 0:18:55If he be like to die,
0:18:55 > 0:18:58he had better do it and decrease the surplus population.
0:18:59 > 0:19:02And Scrooge hung his head to hear his own words quoted by the
0:19:02 > 0:19:07spirit, and was overcome with penitence and grief.
0:19:07 > 0:19:09Mr Scrooge.
0:19:09 > 0:19:12A toast to Mr Scrooge, a founder of the feast.
0:19:12 > 0:19:15The founder of the feast, indeed(!)
0:19:15 > 0:19:17I wish I had him here.
0:19:17 > 0:19:20I'd give him a piece of my mind to feast upon.
0:19:20 > 0:19:24Scrooge was the ogre of the family, the mention of his name cast
0:19:24 > 0:19:29a dark shadow on the party for a full five minutes.
0:19:29 > 0:19:33After that had passed away, they were ten times merrier than before.
0:19:33 > 0:19:37They were not a handsome family, not well dressed, and their shoes
0:19:37 > 0:19:41were far from being waterproof, their clothes were scanty.
0:19:41 > 0:19:43But they were happy.
0:19:43 > 0:19:46Grateful and happier yet in the bright sprinkling of the
0:19:46 > 0:19:48spirit's torch at parting.
0:19:48 > 0:19:52Scrooge had his eye upon them, especially on Tiny Tim,
0:19:52 > 0:19:54until the last.
0:19:55 > 0:20:01# In the bleak midwinter
0:20:01 > 0:20:06# Frosty wind made moan
0:20:07 > 0:20:11# Earth stood hard as iron... #
0:20:11 > 0:20:14And without a word of warning from the ghost, they flew to
0:20:14 > 0:20:17the deep mines of the moors where an old man sang a song from when he
0:20:17 > 0:20:22was a boy, to a solitary lighthouse on which the waters chafed
0:20:22 > 0:20:27and dashed, but even here, two men wished each other a Merry Christmas.
0:20:27 > 0:20:33And across the heaving sea to a ship, where every man among them
0:20:33 > 0:20:34hummed a Christmas tune.
0:20:34 > 0:20:39And finally to the home of his nephew, Fred.
0:20:41 > 0:20:44He said that Christmas was humbug, as I live.
0:20:44 > 0:20:45More shame for him!
0:20:45 > 0:20:47And not so pleasant as he might be.
0:20:47 > 0:20:48Well, I'm sure he's very rich, Fred.
0:20:48 > 0:20:49What of that?
0:20:49 > 0:20:52His wealth will be of no use to him.
0:20:52 > 0:20:53He don't do any good with it,
0:20:53 > 0:20:55he's never going to benefit us with it.
0:20:55 > 0:20:56Well, I have no patience for him.
0:20:56 > 0:20:59I have. I am sorry for him.
0:20:59 > 0:21:02Who suffers by his ill whims? Himself!
0:21:02 > 0:21:04He takes it into his head to dislike us,
0:21:04 > 0:21:06then he won't come and dine with us...
0:21:06 > 0:21:08And loses himself a very good dinner.
0:21:08 > 0:21:10Well, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to the old man,
0:21:10 > 0:21:11wherever he is!
0:21:11 > 0:21:14He wouldn't take it from me, but he may have it nonetheless!
0:21:14 > 0:21:16Scrooge would have thanked his nephew,
0:21:16 > 0:21:20had the ghost given him time, but they were again on their travels.
0:21:20 > 0:21:25Much they saw, and far they went, and many homes they visited,
0:21:25 > 0:21:27but always with a happy end.
0:21:27 > 0:21:31It was a long night, and strange, for while Scrooge remained
0:21:31 > 0:21:36unaltered, the ghost grew older.
0:21:36 > 0:21:39Are spirits lives so short?
0:21:40 > 0:21:45My life is brief, it ends tonight at midnight.
0:21:45 > 0:21:47CLOCK CHIMES
0:21:47 > 0:21:49Hark.
0:21:49 > 0:21:51The time is drawing near.
0:21:51 > 0:21:55Forgive me, but I think I see something strange protruding
0:21:55 > 0:21:57from your skirts.
0:21:57 > 0:22:01Aye, look here.
0:22:01 > 0:22:05They were a boy and girl.
0:22:05 > 0:22:11Yellow, meagre, ragged, scowling, wolfish.
0:22:12 > 0:22:16Age had pinched and twisted them and pulled them into shreds.
0:22:16 > 0:22:18Where angels might have sat,
0:22:18 > 0:22:21devils lurked and glared out menacingly.
0:22:21 > 0:22:23Are they yours?
0:22:23 > 0:22:29They are Man's, they cling to me, appealing for their fathers.
0:22:29 > 0:22:33This boy is Ignorance, this girl is Want.
0:22:33 > 0:22:37Beware them both, but most beware the boy, for he is Doom!
0:22:37 > 0:22:39Have they no refuge or resource?
0:22:39 > 0:22:43Are there no prisons? Are there no workhouses?
0:22:43 > 0:22:46And as Scrooge looked in shame to the ground,
0:22:46 > 0:22:49the spirit turned from him for the last time.
0:22:49 > 0:22:51CLOCK CHIMES
0:22:51 > 0:22:53And lifting up his eyes, Scrooge beheld a solemn phantom,
0:22:53 > 0:22:56draped and hooded, coming towards him.
0:22:57 > 0:23:01The mysterious figure filled him with solemn dread,
0:23:01 > 0:23:03but did not speak.
0:23:03 > 0:23:08I am in the presence of the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come.
0:23:10 > 0:23:12You are about to show me shadows of the things that have not
0:23:12 > 0:23:19happened, but will happen in the time before us, is that so?
0:23:24 > 0:23:27I fear you more than any spectre I have seen.
0:23:30 > 0:23:34But as I know your purpose is to do me good, and as I hope to live
0:23:34 > 0:23:39to be another man from what I was,
0:23:39 > 0:23:45I am prepared to bear your company and do it with a thankful heart.
0:23:47 > 0:23:51Lead on, then, spirit, lead on.
0:23:54 > 0:23:58The city seemed to spring up around them and the spirit stopped
0:23:58 > 0:24:00beside two businessmen.
0:24:00 > 0:24:02I only know he's dead.
0:24:02 > 0:24:04When did he die?
0:24:04 > 0:24:06Last night, I believe.
0:24:07 > 0:24:09I thought he'd never die.
0:24:10 > 0:24:12What have they done with all his money?
0:24:12 > 0:24:14Left it to his company, perhaps.
0:24:14 > 0:24:16Didn't leave it to me, that's all I know.
0:24:16 > 0:24:19It's likely to be a very cheap funeral for I don't know of
0:24:19 > 0:24:21anybody to go to it.
0:24:22 > 0:24:25Suppose we make up a party and volunteer?
0:24:27 > 0:24:30I don't mind going if lunch is provided, but I must be fed,
0:24:30 > 0:24:32if I make one.
0:24:32 > 0:24:35Let's hope he didn't die of anything catching.
0:24:35 > 0:24:37THEY LAUGH
0:24:37 > 0:24:40Spirit, show me see some tenderness connected to death,
0:24:40 > 0:24:43at least.
0:24:45 > 0:24:46And so they moved on,
0:24:46 > 0:24:49to a churchyard, walled-in by houses,
0:24:49 > 0:24:51overrun with grass and weeds.
0:24:51 > 0:24:56And there a solitary figure beside a tiny grave
0:24:56 > 0:25:00No? No, not the boy?
0:25:04 > 0:25:05Spirit?
0:25:05 > 0:25:09Are these the shadows of the things that WILL be,
0:25:09 > 0:25:12or of things that MAY be, only?
0:25:21 > 0:25:24Am I the man who lies in this lonely grave?
0:25:30 > 0:25:34No, Spirit, oh, no, no!
0:25:34 > 0:25:37Hear me, I am not the man I was.
0:25:37 > 0:25:41I will not be the man I must have been but for this intercourse.
0:25:43 > 0:25:46Why show me this if I am past all hope?
0:25:47 > 0:25:51Pray, good Spirit, assure me that I yet may change these shadows
0:25:51 > 0:25:54you have shown me by an altered life!
0:25:54 > 0:25:59I WILL honour Christmas in my heart and try to keep in all the year!
0:25:59 > 0:26:03I will live in the past, the present and the future.
0:26:03 > 0:26:06The spirits of all three shall strive within me!
0:26:06 > 0:26:09I will not shut out the lessons that they teach.
0:26:11 > 0:26:15Tell me...tell me
0:26:15 > 0:26:19I may sponge away the writing on this stone.
0:26:22 > 0:26:27Spirit? Spirit?
0:26:31 > 0:26:33Spirit?
0:26:33 > 0:26:35Scrooge found himself back in his own home.
0:26:35 > 0:26:38The bed was his own, the room was his own.
0:26:38 > 0:26:42Best and happiest of all, the time before him was his own,
0:26:42 > 0:26:45to make amends in.
0:26:45 > 0:26:51I will live in the past, the present and the future!
0:26:51 > 0:26:55The spirits of all three will live within me!
0:26:55 > 0:27:00Oh, Jacob Marley, heaven and...
0:27:01 > 0:27:04..Christmas-time be praised for this!
0:27:04 > 0:27:09The shadows of the things that would have been may be dispelled!
0:27:09 > 0:27:12They will be!
0:27:12 > 0:27:14HE LAUGHS THEN SOBS
0:27:16 > 0:27:19Oh, I don't know what to do.
0:27:19 > 0:27:23I am as light as a feather.
0:27:23 > 0:27:24HE LAUGHS
0:27:24 > 0:27:27I'm as merry as a schoolboy.
0:27:27 > 0:27:30I'm as giddy as a drunken man.
0:27:33 > 0:27:37A very merry Christmas to everybody!
0:27:37 > 0:27:40A Happy New Year to all the world!
0:27:40 > 0:27:44Hello, there. What's today, my fine fellow?
0:27:44 > 0:27:47Today? Why, it's Christmas Day!
0:27:47 > 0:27:49How is that possible?
0:27:49 > 0:27:53Why, the spirits have done it all in one night.
0:27:53 > 0:27:55Well, of course they can.
0:27:55 > 0:27:57I haven't missed it, then.
0:27:57 > 0:28:00Boy, do you know the poulterer's on the corner?
0:28:00 > 0:28:02I should hope I did.
0:28:02 > 0:28:05An intelligent boy, a remarkable boy.
0:28:05 > 0:28:08Do you know if they've sold the prize turkey that was hanging
0:28:08 > 0:28:10up there?
0:28:10 > 0:28:12What, the one that's as big as me? It's hanging there now.
0:28:12 > 0:28:15Then go and buy it! I am in earnest.
0:28:15 > 0:28:16Tell 'em to bring it here,
0:28:16 > 0:28:19that I might give them the direction of where to take it.
0:28:19 > 0:28:21Come with the man and I will give you a shilling.
0:28:21 > 0:28:23Yes, sir!
0:28:24 > 0:28:26I'll send it to Bob Cratchit's.
0:28:26 > 0:28:28HE LAUGHS
0:28:28 > 0:28:29He won't know who sent it!
0:28:29 > 0:28:32It's twice the size of Tiny Tim!
0:28:32 > 0:28:35Scrooge was early at the office next morning.
0:28:35 > 0:28:37If only he could only be there first,
0:28:37 > 0:28:40and catch Bob Cratchit coming late.
0:28:40 > 0:28:41And he did.
0:28:41 > 0:28:45Bob was a full 18 minutes and a half behind his time.
0:28:46 > 0:28:48Hello...
0:28:48 > 0:28:51What do you mean by coming here at this time of day?
0:28:51 > 0:28:54I am very sorry, sir, I am behind my time.
0:28:54 > 0:28:56Yes, I think you are.
0:28:56 > 0:28:57It's only once a year, sir.
0:28:57 > 0:29:01It shall not be repeated, I was making rather merry yesterday, sir.
0:29:01 > 0:29:06I tell you what, my friend, I am not going to stand for this sort
0:29:06 > 0:29:07of thing any longer.
0:29:09 > 0:29:14And therefore, I am going to raise your salary.
0:29:15 > 0:29:16Sir?
0:29:16 > 0:29:18Merry Christmas, Bob!
0:29:18 > 0:29:19HE LAUGHS
0:29:19 > 0:29:24A merrier Christmas, my good fellow, than I have given you for many
0:29:24 > 0:29:25a year.
0:29:25 > 0:29:29I'll raise your salary and endeavour to assist your struggling
0:29:29 > 0:29:35family and we will discuss your affairs this very afternoon
0:29:35 > 0:29:37over a Christmas bowl of smoking bishop!
0:29:37 > 0:29:39Scrooge was better than his word.
0:29:39 > 0:29:43He did it all, and infinitely more, and to Tiny Tim...
0:29:43 > 0:29:45..who did not die...
0:29:45 > 0:29:47..he was a second father.
0:29:47 > 0:29:50He became as good a friend, as good a master,
0:29:50 > 0:29:53and as good a man as the good, old city knew
0:29:53 > 0:29:55Some people laughed at his alteration
0:29:55 > 0:29:58and he let them laugh and little heeded them.
0:29:58 > 0:30:03His own heart laughed and that was good enough for him.
0:30:03 > 0:30:05He had no further intercourse with spirits.
0:30:05 > 0:30:09And it was always said of him, that he knew how to keep Christmas well...
0:30:09 > 0:30:10If any man possessed the knowledge.
0:30:10 > 0:30:12May that be truly said of all of us.
0:30:12 > 0:30:14Merry Christmas.
0:30:14 > 0:30:16And, as Tiny Tim observed...
0:30:16 > 0:30:17God bless us, every one.
0:30:17 > 0:30:23# God rest ye merry gentlemen, let nothing you dismay
0:30:23 > 0:30:30# Remember Christ our Saviour was born on Christmas Day
0:30:30 > 0:30:34# To save us all from Satan's power
0:30:34 > 0:30:36# Where we were gone astray
0:30:36 > 0:30:42# O, tidings of comfort and joy Comfort and joy
0:30:42 > 0:30:49# Oh, tidings of comfort and joy
0:30:49 > 0:30:54# Now to the Lord sing praises, all you within this place
0:30:54 > 0:31:00# And with true love and brotherhood each other now embrace
0:31:00 > 0:31:03# This holy tide of Christmas
0:31:03 > 0:31:05# All other doth deface
0:31:05 > 0:31:10# O tidings of comfort and joy Comfort and joy
0:31:10 > 0:31:16# O tidings of comfort and joy. #
0:31:16 > 0:31:18APPLAUSE
0:31:18 > 0:31:19AUDIENCE: Bravo! Bravo!