There have been many adaptations of A Christmas Carol, among them stage plays, movies, and my favorite: radio dramas. Not to mention all of the various audiobooks, many of them performed as audio dramas. In fact, with so many options, it can be difficult to choose a way to consume this quintessential Christmas story. The first stage production, A Christmas Carol: Or, the Miser’s Warning!, opened in February 1844, about two months after the novella was published. Dickens frequently gave public readings, beginning in 1853 with a reading of A Christmas Carol; over time, he adapted his own novella to best suit the format, and he continued to read from it until his death. To be certain, audiences in the 19th century didn’t have the option to watch a movie, but even today I find listening to the story pleasant and a good way to spend a December evening, with the yule log burning on my TV (I live in SoCal, a real fireplace would be too warm) and Chex Mix and cookies to snack on. I have done the leg work to help you decide. I’ve listened to dozens of radio dramas, audiobooks, and other adaptations, and narrowed it down to the best of the best.
The Best Audiobook Adaptations of A Christmas Carol
The Best Radio Drama Adaptations of A Christmas Carol
The majority of these are available on various audio services such as Spotify, and are also on YouTube; I have linked to videos when available (most have no visual component). There’s the 2001 animated feature, with the voices of Simon Callow, Nicolas Cage, and Kate Winslet. If you prefer a modernization there’s Scrooged (1988), assuming you can stand Bill Murray (some can, some can’t), or Rod Serling’s 1954 United Nations special A Carol for Another Christmas, starring Sterling Hayden. Like musicals? There’s Scrooge (1970), starring Albert Finney. Ralph Richardson starred in a 1951 episode of Fireside Theater, while Alastair Sim starred in a theatrical feature the same year. Guy Pearce took the lead in a 2019 version that leans all the way into the gothic horror of the tale. Perhaps the strangest version is the 1978 TV movie starring Rich Little in every role, doing an impression of a different actor in each (he plays Scrooge as W.C. Fields and the Ghost of Christmas Past as Humphrey Bogart). For an alternate one-man version, BBC Films adapted Simon Callow’s stage play, which was based on Dickens’s readings, in 2018.
Further Reading
Prefer books? How about these A Christmas Carol retellings? Or perhaps you’d rather revisit the original! Check out these quotes from A Christmas Carol, explore the names in the novel, or take a deep dive into the complexities of Tiny Tim. Want to branch out to other Christmas stories? How about the best Christmas adaptations?
You’ll have to watch this one on YouTube. Green Space had previously featured F. Murray Abraham (2011), Brian Cox (2012), Tony Roberts (2013) and Mark-Linn Baker (2014) as Scrooge.
