Year end rambings, Sir Nigel Hawthorne, A Christmas Carol
good as Paul Eddington and Derek Fowlds were it was Hawthorne's Sir Humphrey stole every scene he was in. Hawthorne was far more than merely a gifted comic actor though. I was stunned by his powerful performance on Broadway in Shadowlands and delighted when he received critical acclaim for the lead role in The Madness of King George. This fine actor will be sorely missed.
(yet another) A Christmas Carol
While BBC America showed the bare minimum of holiday fare
(unless you count reruns of Cracker and Jonathan Creek as Yuletide
classics - I thought not) one of my local PBS stations (WLIW)
managed to show the best of what BBC America was offering plus
a few tasty extras from the likes of Keeping Up Appearances
and French Fields. They also aired an updated version of
the old classic "A Christmas Carol" with a modern
urban setting that made it seem more like Lock Stock and Three
Visiting Spirits. Actually more like a cross between Dickens'
masterpiece and the Bill Murray vehicle Groundhog Day
this take on the story stars Ross Kemp ( EastEnders' Grant
Mitchell ) as nasty loan shark Scrooge who's suspected of having
a hand in the killing of his partner Marley. Despite a game appearance
by Warren Mitchell as Scooge's dad and ghost of Christmas
Past this telefilm never gets off the ground - the quality is
what one might expect from a seasonal episode of The Bill or
sommit and the script looks as if it was dashed off using only
one or two of Christmas's twelve days.
As mediocre as "A Christmas Carol"was it was still awfully nice of the programmers at WLIW to take the time to bring something fresh to the Yuletide telly.
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