Viewers slam ‘mumbling’ in BBC’s A Christmas Carol as one million switch off
THE ghost of “mumblegate” returned to haunt the BBC’s big festive drama A Christmas Carol as a million viewers switched off.
They complained they couldn’t hear what the cast were saying and slammed the version of Charles Dickens’ classic.
The Beeb adaptation peaked at 5.2million but sunk to 4.2m as viewers grew tired of the format.
Tony Shepherd said: “My volume button’s going up and down like a Victorian whore’s drawers.”
Allan Kellett said: “Whilst I’m no scholar on Dickens, I’ve read A Christmas Carol more than any other book, and so far this BBC adaptation hasn’t featured a single line of original dialog. They’re doing to it what they did to The War Of The Worlds.
And Ann Droyd said: “Who was arrogant enough to think they could tell a Charles Dickens story better than Charles Dickens? If Dickens had wanted Marley’s fears and Cratchit’s backchat he would have wrote it.”
The edgy remake has been championed by Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight.
Previously his drama Taboo was criticised for mumbling.
Aussie actor Guy Pearce plays Scrooge and has an alternative take on the Dickens’ book with swearing included.
The three-parter concludes tonight.
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