History Daily Episode 1267: Saturday Matinee – Charles Dickens Ghost Stories
Date: December 13, 2025
Host: Lindsay Graham for History Daily
Special Feature: First episode of Noiser's "Charles Dickens Ghost Stories" narrated by David Suchet – "A Christmas Carol, Part 1"
Episode Overview
This episode of History Daily departs from its usual “on this day in history” format to offer a special Saturday Matinee. The spotlight is on the enduring holiday classic A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens—presented as the first installment in the Noiser podcast series “Charles Dickens Ghost Stories,” performed by acclaimed narrator David Suchet.
The main theme explores how Dickens interwove ghost stories with Christmas celebrations, and why A Christmas Carol stands as one of the world’s great and surprisingly spectral holiday tales.
Key Discussion Points and Dramatic Highlights
Dickens’ Christmas: Not Just Cheer, But Chills
- [01:08] Host Lindsay Graham opens by noting that A Christmas Carol is both a Christmas tradition and “one of the most famous ghost stories of all time” – a fact often overlooked.
- [01:27] David Suchet emphasizes: “It is, though. There are lots of ghosts. At least four of them, in fact.”
Scene Setting: Victorian London, 1843
- [05:48] David Suchet transports listeners to Boxing Day 1843 at Dickens’ home, describing a lively party with new holiday traditions (Christmas cards, trees) and Dickens’ charisma as both writer and entertainer.
- Dickens, reflecting on his just-released novella, ponders: “Will these new things last? Time will show that Christmas cards and Christmas trees are here to stay. As is the new book that Dickens himself has just published. It’s a ghost story, but with this message of redemption and hope, it’s also a ghostly reflection of the human soul.” ([07:09])
The Abridged "Christmas Carol" – Dickens’ Own Version
- Suchet notes he is performing Dickens’s own abridged version, which the author brought to the stage “to rave reviews” in Britain and America. Suchet refers to it as “the original and best Christmas ghost story, as the author loved to tell it.” ([08:20])
Dramatic Reading Highlights: "A Christmas Carol, Part 1"
The Opening: Marley’s Death and Scrooge Introduced
- [11:19] The infamous opening:
- “Marley was dead to begin with. There’s no doubt whatever about that.”
- Scrooge described as “a squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous old sinner.” ([11:21])
- Dickens humor and tone zing through: “Old Molly was as dead as a doornail… Scrooge signed it, and Scrooge’s name was a good upon change for anything he chose to put his hand to.”
Scrooge’s Nephew Advocates for Christmas
- [14:31-18:21] Scrooge’s nephew argues for the spirit of Christmas:
- Nephew: “…Christmas time… a good, kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time… when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut up hearts freely…” ([15:37])
- Scrooge’s classic retort: “If I had my will, every idiot who goes about with Merry Christmas on his lips should be boiled with his own pudding…” ([14:54])
- Nephew leaves in sadness: “But I have made the trial in homage to Christmas and I’ll keep my Christmas humour to the last. So a Merry Christmas, Uncle.” ([18:12])
The Charity Collectors
- [18:21-20:37]
- Charity collector: “Many thousands are in want of common necessaries…”
- Scrooge’s chilling reply: “Are there no prisons?... I wish to be left alone. Since you ask me what I wish, gentlemen, that is my answer. I don't make merry myself at Christmas and I can’t afford to make idle people merry.”
- When told many would "rather die": “If they would rather die, they better do it and decrease the surplus population.” ([20:37])
Evening: Scrooge’s Haunted House
- [24:25-31:07]
- Scrooge retires to his solitary home, sees Marley’s face in the door knocker.
- Sinister atmosphere: “It was not angry or ferocious, but it looked as Scrooge as Marley used to look, with ghostly spectacles turned up upon its ghostly forehead…” ([25:19])
- The house fills with supernatural clangor: “A clanking noise deep down below… some person were dragging a heavy chain…”
First Ghostly Encounter: Marley’s Warning
- [31:07-37:23]
- Marley’s spirit materializes: “Marley’s ghost. The same face, the very same. Marley, in his pigtail, usual waistcoat, tights and boots. His body was transparent…” ([31:07])
- Eerie humor: Scrooge, still skeptical, says Marley might be “an undigested bit of beef, a blot of mustard, a crumb of cheese, a fragment of an underdone potato. There’s more of gravy than of grave about you…” ([33:03])
- Marley’s regret: “Mankind was my business… The common welfare was my business. Charity, mercy, forbearance, benevolence, were all my business…” ([36:09])
- Marley’s prophecy: “You will be haunted by three spirits.” ([37:10])
The Ghost of Christmas Past
- [42:57-45:19]
- Arrival of “a strange figure. Like a child, yet not so like a child as like an old man… its hair white as if with age, but its face without a wrinkle.”
- “I am the Ghost of Christmas Past… your past. The things you will see with me are shadows of the things that have been.” ([44:52])
Visiting Scrooge’s Memories
- [46:23-47:08]
- Scenes from Scrooge’s apprenticeship at Fezziwig’s joyous Christmas party.
- “Ay, it’s old Fezziwig. Oh, bless his heart, it’s Fezziwig alive again.” ([47:08])
- The warmth and happiness under Fezziwig’s roof stand in contrast to Scrooge’s own parsimony as an employer.
- Scrooge’s realization: “…he has the power to render us happy or unhappy, to make our service light or burdensome… The happiness he gives is quite as great as if it cost a fortune.” ([54:11])
Romance Lost: A Former Fiancée
- [55:14-57:17]
- Young Scrooge, once engaged, is released by his beloved.
- Fiancée: “Another idol has displaced me… a golden one. Oh, you fear the world too much… The master-passion, Gain, engrosses you.”
- Scrooge pleads: “Remove me from this place. I cannot bear it… Haunt me no longer.” ([57:17-57:39])
End of Part 1
- Scrooge, overwhelmed by memories and the ghost’s revelations, collapses into a heavy sleep, setting the stage for visits from more spirits in the next episode.
Notable Quotes and Memorable Moments
- On Christmas as a ghost story:
- Host: “A Christmas Carol might be one of the most famous ghost stories of all time, but we don’t really think of it as a ghost story, do we?” ([01:08])
- On charity and responsibility:
- Marley: “Mankind was my business. The common welfare was my business. Charity, mercy, forbearance, benevolence, were all my business.” ([36:09])
- On empathy and kindness (Scrooge’s nephew):
- “The only time… when men and women… open their shut up hearts freely, and to think of people below them as if they really were fellow travellers to the grave…” ([15:37])
- Dickensian humor (Scrooge):
- “If I had my will, every idiot who goes about with Merry Christmas on his lips should be boiled with his own pudding and buried with a stake of holly through his heart.” ([14:54])
- Scrooge’s late realization (Fezziwig memory):
- “He has the power to render us happy or unhappy… The happiness he gives is quite as great as if it cost a fortune.” ([54:11])
Important Segment Timestamps
- [01:08] – Framing A Christmas Carol as a ghost story
- [05:48] – Immersive 1843 Boxing Day introduction
- [11:19] – Scrooge’s characterization and first encounter with nephew
- [18:21] – Charity collectors and Scrooge’s infamy
- [24:25] – Evening at Scrooge’s home, Marley’s spectral visitation
- [31:07] – Marley’s ghost and his warning
- [42:57] – First visit from the Ghost of Christmas Past
- [47:08] – Fezziwig’s Christmas party and Scrooge’s reflection
- [55:14] – Scene of lost love
- [57:43] – Scrooge succumbs to exhaustion, ending Part 1
Tone and Language
The episode is imbued with Dickens’ characteristic wit, vivid description, and emotional resonance, expertly voiced by David Suchet. The language fluctuates between somber (Marley’s regret, Scrooge’s bitterness) and jovial (Fezziwig’s party, the nephew’s cheer), maintaining both the original’s Victorian cadence and a dramatic, engaging delivery.
Conclusion
This Saturday Matinee episode of History Daily offers a beautifully narrated, abridged version of A Christmas Carol, inviting listeners to experience the chilling and redemptive power of Dickens's storytelling as holiday ghost story and timeless moral fable. The episode sets the stage for Scrooge’s full transformation, to be continued in the next part of the Noiser series “Charles Dickens Ghost Stories.”