Scrooges of the world beware – the BBC is bringing a new adaptation of A Christmas Carol to TV screens this Christmas and it’s set to go very, very, very wrong.


You might remember that the Beeb aired a little show called Peter Pan Goes Wrong (pictured above) last Christmas, documenting the fictional struggles faced by an amateur theatre group as they attempted to stage the JM Barrie classic.

Well, it seems as though the poorly executed pantomime (that’s a compliment, actually) was such a hit that they’ve drafted the creators of the stage play turned Christmas TV delight to pen a brand new story exclusively for television audiences.

The Olivier Award-winning Mischief Theatre Company, the brains behind the hugely successful The Play That Goes Wrong and The Comedy About A Bank Robbery in the West End, return to the small screen with their take on Dickens’ famous festive fable.

“Blacklisted by the BBC after ruining Peter Pan, the Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society are not taking their ban lying down and force themselves back on the BBC by hijacking the jewel of the Christmas schedule, a ‘live’ production of A Christmas Carol staged by a professional cast”, the official synopsis reads.

It’ll be a 60 minute production, during which the seemingly cursed ensemble discover they’re completely out of their depth and somehow manage to keep their professional cast from getting back into the studio.

We still don’t know who those professional guest stars will be, but with previous productions gaining support from the likes of JJ Abrams we’d wager that they won’t be scraping the bottom of any barrel to find them.

“This promises to be a viewing treat for all the family as the Dickens classic gets the full Mischief treatment. Expect chaos and a shambles from start to finish, a bit like most people’s experience of Christmas itself”, said BBC Controller of Comedy Shane Allen.

“It’s going to be terrible. I can’t wait to see it,” Chris Sussman, Head of Comedy at BBC Studios, added.

Mischief Theatre Artistic Director, Henry Lewis, said: “We’re absolutely thrilled to be back on the BBC this Christmas, but it is regrettable the BBC don’t know it yet”.


“I didn’t know we were doing this? Do you know when it is filming?”, Company Director, Jonathan Sayer, asked.