An Excellent Version of a Great Christmas Classic This is an excellent version of A Christmas Carol, surpassing, I think, the 1984 version starring George C. Scott. The acting is excellent -- Patrick Stewart, Richard E. Grant, Saskia Reeves, and the unnamed (on IMDB) actors who played Marley's ghost and Fred Holywell, Scrooge's nephew, in particular. The supporting cast is wonderful. One of the most entertaining scenes is one that I never enjoyed in the 1951 Alistair Sim version or the Scott version -- the scene where the old women sell the dead Scrooge's scavenged possessions to the rag-and-bone man. Their acting is marvelous. Visually it is a wonderful visitation of mid-19th-century English life. Some of the effects are impressive, while others, notably the ghosts hovering over London streets, seemed amateurish to me. The music, too, seemed perfect. Some of the songs sounded like they might have come from a later era, but never mind -- it all seemed so AUTHENTIC! Overall, fantastic, moving, well-done. I plan to watch it every year, and get it on video as soon as it's available.