Title:
A Christmas Carol
Format:
Live television drama
Country:
UK
Production company:
BBC Television
Year:
1950 – broadcast twice, both as live performances by the same
cast; first at 9pm on Christmas Day, and then again in the
For the Children
slot at 5pm on Wednesday the 27
th.
Length:
Approximately 90 minutes. That was the scheduled slot,
although live dramas could occasionally over- or underrun – but the evidence
suggests this ran pretty much to time, as there’s no mention of anything to the
contrary in the BBC’s audience research report.
Setting:
Victorian
Background:
For the second time,
Bransby Williams was due to bring to the television screen his performance as Scrooge, which had become well-known on stage throughout much
of the 20
th century to this point. And
unlike
his scheduled one-man performance from 1936, this time it did actually
happen – but sadly, once again we are unable to see it now.
That one wasn’t really a ‘Lost Carol’ as it never
actually happened in the first place, and it could also be argued that this one
isn’t strictly-speaking ‘lost’ either. It never ‘existed’ to be lost at all,
in a recorded sense, any more than a stage play does. It was performed live,
twice, and on neither occasion was any effort made to preserve it for posterity.
It simply went out into the either, seen only by those in Britain who had
television sets switched-on at the time, and was then gone forever.
And yes, it would have been seen by anybody who had a
television set switched on – because at this point the BBC was still the only British
television broadcaster. Their single channel was now being beamed out from two
transmitters, at Alexandra Palace serving London and the surrounding area, and
at Sutton Coldfield serving the English Midlands.
There were, however, now hundreds of thousands of
television viewers, with the number increasing all the time. Television was
still a way from being a mass medium at this point, but nor was it any longer the luxury
of a tiny few.
The live performance, pretty much universal for all British television drama of the time, meant that, yes, the entire cast and crew were there on Christmas Day.
It was also common for there to be a second performance, in this case just two
days later, put out this time in the 5pm children’s slot so that younger
viewers who had not had the chance to watch it first time around would be able
to see it.
 |
| Bransby Williams appearing on television in 1957 |
All, however, did not go entirely well for Williams in
this second performance. Having been forced to cancel his planned 1936
television debut at Scrooge due to illness, the second performance of this
full-cast version almost went the same way. On New Year’s Day, the
Daily
Herald reported how Williams had become ill early during the December 27
transmission, and that he was “in agony for one and a half hours before the
cameras.”
“I had hardly given my first bellow of rage before I was
gripped by the most awful abdominal pains,” he was quoted as having told the
paper. “My training prevented the viewers – in Children’s Hour – from knowing
anything was wrong. They just saw my face working more than usual. The play ran
according to script.” The
Herald further added that “the contortions of
his face through pain made Scrooge’s rage all the more frightening,” and that
Williams had “refused to abandon his part, because there was no understudy.”
Several of the newspaper previews and reviews of the
production mention how it took up the use of two television studios, rather
than simply being done in one as was more usual – although it was not unknown
for big productions to be spread across a pair. The
Birmingham Post, in
a preview on December 14, claimed that “Bransby Williams, in the part of
Scrooge, will be working on one set, while the rest of the cast will be
performing elsewhere, and the two pictures will be superimposed to give a
suitably ghostly effect.”
While this was true for certain scenes, it gives the
impression that Williams was alone in one studio and the rest of the cast in
the other, which was not the case. Only the scenes with the ghosts were done
separately in this manner, and not necessarily always in different studios, so
that the two could be cross-faded. However, it’s still impressive that Williams
and his co-stars were able to play effectively without having one another
nearby, whether they were in the same studio at the time or not.
“There are about fourteen scenes,” the
Huddersfield
Examiner reported on the 20
th. “And approximately half the
performance will be superimposed to give a suitably ghostly effect.” Producer
Eric Fawcett had commented on the difficulties this presented in
a preview in
the Christmas edition of the Radio Times. “We are trying to keep the
ghosts as ghostly as possible,” he told the magazine, “even though this entails
the actors playing scenes while standing yards apart. Two-studio production
will necessitate such careful work on the part of the cameramen, sound and
vision-mixers and engineers – to say nothing of those dyed-in-the-wool enthusiasts,
the studio staff.”
As to
which studios these were, I have no hard
evidence but I would say almost certainly the two original BBC Television
studios, Studios A and B at Alexandra Palace in North London. The BBC had in 1950 begun
using their newly-acquired facility at Lime Grove, a set of ex-film studios, with Studio D having launched at the children’s studio in May.
Studio G had been opened for television with a variety spectacular on the
Saturday before Christmas, but at this point drama production still seems to
have been based at the Palace so it seems almost certain that
A Christmas
Carol came from there.
 |
| Alexandra Palace in 1946, with the transmitter mast above the BBC-occupied wing |
Cast and Crew:
I wrote about Bransby Williams’s background playing
Scrooge in
my piece on the abandoned 1936 production, so there’s little need to
repeat that here. It is worth saying, however, that at the age of 80 he must
surely have been one of the earliest-born people ever to have starred in a
television drama.
He did, however, have some level of assistance –
The
Stage the following month mentioned “
Ewart Wheeler, who doubled so
ingeniously for Bransby Williams in the recent televising of
A Christmas
Carol.” Wheeler is
credited in the Radio Times simply for ‘other
parts’, so you can imagine how he perhaps played Scrooge for certain shots seen
only from behind, while Williams was prepared for a following shot or scene.
Among the rest of the cast, one name which leaps out to
anyone familiar with the BBC’s 1950s television output is that of
Patricia Fryer as ‘Fanny’ – Fryer would later play Margaret Appleyard, youngest of the
Appleyard siblings in the BBC’s children’s soap opera-cum-sitcom
The
Appleyards, taking over the part for the second series in 1953 before
outgrowing it herself in 1955, and returning for the one-off
Christmas with
The Appleyards in 1960. There is no Fan listed in the cast, so ‘Fanny’ is
presumably a slightly-renamed version of Scrooge’s sister from the Christmas
Past scenes, which Fryer would have been the right age for.
As is not exactly common but also not unique, the three
performers playing the ghosts here double-up in other parts.
Arthur Hambling as
the Spirit of Christmas Past also appears as one of the stock exchange
gentlemen discussing Scrooge’s death in the Yet-to-Come scenes;
Julian d’Albie
as the Ghost of Christmas Present – yes, they were billed as a mix of ‘Spirit’
and ‘Ghost’ – is also credited as a ‘portly gentleman’, and
WE Holloway as the
Spirit of Christmas to Come (no ‘yet’ in the billing) also portrays Marley.
Whether this was for effect or for economy is debateable,
however it appears to have almost certainly been the former. ‘Young Scrooge’ actor
John Bentley also has a credit as a night watchman appearing early on in the
play, and similarly Old Joe actor
Leonard Sharp appears as a crossing
sweeper. Fryer too had a second role, credited as ‘Girl waif’ alongside
Michael Edmonds as ‘Boy waif’ – from their placing in the order-of-appearance cast
list, almost certainly these are Ignorance and Want from the end of the
‘Present’ section. This perhaps adds weight to the idea that the doubling-up
was a deliberate effect, with some of the figures Scrooge encounters through
the story having the faces of those who are familiar to him.
On the subject of familiar faces, several of the cast were old co-stars of
Williams’ – he remarked to the
Daily Herald after his illness during the
second performance that “there was always one of my old pals – Jimmy d’Albie,
Bill Holloway or Arthur Hambling – waiting to give me an arm. Once or twice
they half carried me.”
Kathleen Saintsbury, who played Mrs Cratchit, was also a
friend and regular co-star from the stage, who would appear on Williams’s
This
is Your Life in 1958.
 |
| Kathleen Saintsbury appears on Bransby Williams' episode of This is Your Life in 1958 |
Perhaps one of the most notable names in the cast is
Barbara Murray, as Belle – evidently not named here, as she’s only given as ‘fiancée’
in the cast list in the
Radio Times. Murray was already a recognisable
face from British films at this point, having co-starred in
Passport to
Pimlico the previous year, and would continue to be a notable screen presence
in British cinema for some years to come. So it’s quite impressive that they
were able to drag her away from her Christmas dinner to come and do this –
although it is possible that her scene could perhaps have been a film insert,
especially as Murray is not one of those who doubles up in another role. Such
inserts
were being used in television drama by this point, although only very
sparingly and more often than not for outdoor and action sequences rather than
dialogue scenes.
It was also the usual practice of BBC television drama at
the time for there to be a single person credited as ‘producer’ who performed
what might today be understood to be the functions of both producer and
director – overseeing the production both administratively and creatively. This
was the case here, with producer
Eric Fawcett also having written the
adaptation – although from an existing stage play version by
Dominic Roche,
rather than directly from the book. Fawcett had a long career with BBC Television,
beginning as a producer on the pre-war service from Alexandra Palace in the
1930s and continuing right through until the 1970s as a drama director.
As a
Doctor Who fan and someone
with a great interest in the creation of that programme, I cannot resist noting the presence
of
James Bould as the designer. Thirteen years later, Bould would be the BBC’s
Design Department Manager and one of those who was not keen about
Doctor Who
going ahead as he didn’t think his department had the time, manpower and
resources to provide for its needs. He was presumably having a happier time here with a different story which went through the barriers of time.
Underdone Potato:
Without having had access to the script, it’s obviously
very difficult to say anything much for certain about the specific elements of
this version. However, with the cast listed in order of appearance in the
Radio
Times, we do know that Julian d’Albie, Leonard Sharp and John Bentley,
later to appear as the Ghost of Christmas Present, Old Joe and Young Scrooge
respectively, all appear early on, after only Williams as Scrooge,
John Ruddock
as Bob Cratchit and
Robert Cawdron as Fred, so there seems to have been a
deliberate level of foreshadowing there.
I have been able to read the BBC’s audience research
report on the production, which notes how “There was praise… for the way the
atmosphere of mid-Victorian London was suggested, especially in the opening
scenes ‘which set the mood for the whole play’.”
Past:
The credits for
Sean Lynch as ‘Boy Scrooge’ and John
Bentley as ‘Young Scrooge’, as well as Patricia Fryer as ‘Fanny’ and Barbara
Murray as ‘Fiancée’, indicate that we get the usual scenes of Scrooge as an
unhappy schoolboy, and later breaking his engagement – or rather, having it
broken.
There is, however, no credit for anyone playing Fezziwig,
which suggests that the party scene was either omitted or scaled-down. There is
a production credit for “Dances arranged by John Armstrong”, which would surely
have been mostly likely to have been for a Fezziwig scene. Perhaps it was only
briefly shown using extras.
Present:
Again, we can mostly only try and guess at what was shown
from the cast list – but we certainly have the scene with the Cratchits, as
there are credits for Mrs Cratchit, Martha, Peter, Tim and unnamed ‘boy’ and
‘girl’ Cratchits. Fred was already credited for his earlier appearance at
Scrooge’s office, so it’s uncertain whether there was a scene at his Christmas
lunch. I am inclined to think not, as there is a credit for ‘Ann Wriggs’ – seemingly an error, and meant to be
Ann Wrigg without the ‘s’ – as ‘Mrs
Fred’ but not until the very end – suggesting she is not seen until Scrooge
visits after his redemption to go and make amends.
Yet to Come:
There are credits for the gentlemen who discuss Scrooge’s
death, and for Joe and Mrs Dilber discussing the sale of his things, but with
the Cratchits having been credited earlier it’s impossible to know whether
their future scene was included here – but I suspect it probably was.
The unnamed reviewer, credited only as ‘Cathode’, in the
Wokingham
& Bracknell Times gives us an impression of how the Spirit was realised
for this section, and they were not particularly impressed. Having praised the
production generally, ‘Cathode’ felt that “the Ghost of Xmas Yet to Come looked
too much like a member of the Ku-Klux-Klan.”
What’s To-Day:
Again, because most characters who would normally
re-appear here have already been credited, it’s very difficult by this stage to
be able to determine too many specifics without the script. However, we can say
that there was
Tony Lyons as ‘Boy with the goose’, and as mentioned above there
does appear to have been a scene of Scrooge going to dine with his nephew as
Mrs Fred is the final new character credited as appearing. We do
know that Scrooge lifted up Tiny Tim at the end of the Christmas Day performance
– because the
Daily Herald noted Williams was unable to do so on the second
performance due to his illness.
Review:
Obviously I cannot review the production myself as I have
not seen it, and nor sadly will I ever be able to, and I have not currently
been able to read a copy of the script. However, fortunately unlike for some
lost versions of the
Carol we can get at least some impression of what
it was like, from contemporary reviews – both professional, and from ordinary
viewers.
The BBC at the time did not yet compile viewing figure as
such. They did, however, have a panel of several hundred families selected as
being a representative cross-section of the audience, who recorded their
reactions to the various programmes. From their responses, the BBC calculated
that some 59% of television sets had been switched on for
A Christmas Carol
on Christmas Day, with 23% for the repeat in
For the Children two days
later.
The first performance had an average of 4.35 people
watching per set in use, and the second performance 3.19. Both received very
good ‘Reaction Index’ figures – the indication of how much those in the sample
group who watched a programme had enjoyed it. The first performance had a score
of 74, and the second 73. This was, as the audience research report noted,
“well above the current average (63) for studio performances of plays.”
The report does also note, however, that “The audience
for this programme, though large by normal standards, was by no means
outstanding compared with others during the Xmas holiday period, large numbers
of ‘guest viewers’ leading to high ‘viewers per sets-in-use’ figures for nearly
all programmes.”
In terms of qualitative rather than quantitative feedback,
it’s fascinating that the audience research report records an almost reverent
attitude towards the
Carol. Noting that 94% of the 272 who completed
questionnaires related to the programme indicated that the story had already
been familiar to them, the report suggests that “because this story now ranks
as a Christmas tradition most viewers felt it to be beyond criticism.”
Not all, however. “A few admitted a slight feeling of
aversion for its ‘outdated’ sentimentality and insistence on a moral ‘which now
seems to have lost much of its original point’.” While there was “little
comment on individual points,” some viewers felt that “the length of the novel
made it a difficult subject for television and that some cutting, especially in
the scenes depicting Scrooge’s earlier life, would have done no harm.” Which
seems a strange thing to say given it’s quite a short book, and a 90-minute
slot ought to enable it to be done fairly well.
Williams’s performance as Scrooge was “widely regarded as
little short of perfect,” with some who had seen him play the part on stage in
the past “delighted to find he could still play it ‘with all the old zest’.”
John Ruddock as Cratchit, Thomas Moore as Tim and Robert Cawdron as Fred we
also “singled out as especially memorable.”
The production techniques seem to have gone down well,
also, with report stating that viewers “thought very well of the production and
settings, particularly of the camera-work and sets in the spirit scenes. As
several said, here the resources of television came into their own, enabling
the viewer to
see things which were quite impossible to manage on the
stage.”
Among the professional reviewers, George Campey in the
Evening
Standard admitted that “the attention of some of my guests wandered during
the first hour.” However, he himself “sat enthralled by the encounters between
Scrooge (played with veteran knowledge by Bransby Williams) and the assorted
spectres in a production which fully evoked the Dickensian spirit. This play
must have been a producer’s nightmare. Eric Fawcett, at the helm, handled the
tricks and the action with consummate skill.”
AE Jebbett in the
Evening Despatch liked
Williams’s “smooth melodrama” as Scrooge, but felt overall that the production
was too long. Cyril Butcher in
The Sketch’s round-up of Christmas
viewing had no such qualms, praising Eric Fawcett for having “turned in one of
the best jobs of work in his career. The story, with its ghosts and spirits,
obviously lends itself to a full use of camera superimposition – a dangerous
trick used by inexpert hands. But Mr Fawcett’s are just about as experienced as
one will find. Nor did he, in this welter of technicalities, forget that he was
dealing with a lovely and moving tale which needs most delicate handling. Thank
you, Mr Fawcett.”
‘Cathode’ in the
Wokingham & Bracknell Times
“had that queer feeling that one gets when one visits an entirely strange place
and feels ‘I have been here before.’ For everything in the play was just as I
had imagined it. The brilliant Scrooge by that Grand Old Man of the stage,
Bransby Williams, really made old Ebenezer live, and
Dorothy Summers gave an
excellent portrayal of Mrs Dilber.”
Apart from the aforementioned reservation about the
costume of the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come, the only criticism ‘Cathode’
made was that “the Ghost of Xmas Past was not nearly as awesome as it might
have been.”
In a Nutshell:
An important milestone in the
Carol’s television
history, it’s a shame we can’t see this today – but that’s nobody’s fault, it’s
simply the way things were. You may as well blame a stage play for ‘not
existing’.
Links:
IMDbRadio Times
