Having played Charles Dickens now for a year, I get the distinct impression that he loved the sound of his own voice, either vocally or in text. I’m not sure why Phil chose me to play Dickens, but the chance to rant about the ills of the world, and to try and make the world a better place through my performance, was enough for my ego to say yes. 


Since doing this show I have been staggered at how similar Dickens' world is to ours now. In over 180 years very little has changed, and in some cases, things seem to have worsened. However, what I love about The Christmas Carol is its positive message that we can all change and learn, and that it is never too late to make amends in our lives. In fact, if we choose love over hate, and unity over division, all those ills of the world that Dickens wrote about so feverishly can be overcome. 


I hope it doesn’t take us another 181 years to realise this.

I was delighted to have been nominated as Best Actor in the Southern Counties Arts Festival this year. I was astounded to have won. I would like to thank my agent, but I don’t have one. 

I play several Dickens characters, not least the disreputable pirating publishers Lee and Haddock, bankrupted by their own stupidity.

Scrooge is greedy, selfish and unsociable, but also cunning and calculating.  So confronted with his own grim mortality, he relents.  A caricature we recognise, I love portraying this whinging obsessive.  Sadly, there are bits of Scrooge in many of us.  

His words "I don't make merry at Christmas" are echoed by the grave-digger Gabriel Grubb, a morose, surly man I see as less appealing, closer to the earth.  The goblins get him, though.

These colourful villains, created almost 200 years ago, are briefly sketched but still so familiar today.

How many roles can an actress be expected to play without completely losing the plot?  One?  Two?  Three at a push?  

Oh no, not nearly enough according to our director! Try ten: three ghosts, an estate agent, a lawyer, two unemployed down and out women, a publisher, a man called William Chappell and, to top it all, be part of the rhythm of a train.  

This though, is what I enjoy most . . . rapid, nerve-wracking changes from one voice to another, one costume to another, one set of mannerisms to another. The concentration required is enormous: ensuring that my characters are real is my dramatic reward.  

So far, I've got all the right characters . . . in the right order!