Christopher Eccleston is back among the unquiet dead this festive season as he takes to the Old Vic stage in A Christmas Carol
Doctor Who star Christopher Eccleston is no stranger to Charles Dickens. In fact, his Ninth Doctor declared himself the Victorian writer’s “biggest fan,” when the two encountered ghosts together at Christmas in The Unquiet Dead. While lately the actor’s traded sonic screwdrivers for picking pockets as Fagin in CBBC’s Oliver Twist prequel series Dodger. But this winter fans can see him take on the ultimate Dickens role: Ebenezer Scrooge in A Christmas Carol. Eccleston is the latest high profile name to take on the role in the now traditional annual production of Jack Thorne’s adaptation of the festive classic.
Thorne’s version is back for its seventh year and famously brings the audience closer to the action than ever before. Get ready for Victorian streets sellers dispatching mince pies and satsumas! The public will also get involved with props and other ways of bringing Dickens’ Christmas magic to the Old Vic.
Eccleston has talked briefly about his excitement for taking on another iconic role. “As a child, I read and watched every and any version of A Christmas Carol because of a fascination with Scrooge’s psychology. As a young actor, I read everything I could about the legendary Old Vic. I’m a very lucky man to be part of this production and cannot wait to meet our audiences.”
A Christmas Carol opens on the 11th of November and runs, appropriately enough, until Twelfth Night: the 6th of January. You can learn more and get your tickets from the Old Vic site.
But Christopher Eccleston won’t be the only former Doctor Who playing Scrooge this year. As we previously reported, Sixth Doctor Colin Baker will also be treading the boards this December. He’ll be touring the UK as Dickens’ famous miser in a ‘live radio play’ style performance of A Christmas Carol.
