''Nan's Christmas Carol'' is a spin-off of ''

The Catherine Tate Show ''The Catherine Tate Show'' is a British television sketch comedy written by Catherine Tate and Derren Litten. Tate also stars in all but one of the show's sketches, which feature a wide range of characters. ''The Catherine Tate Show'' airs on ...

''. The one-off special, based on

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian e ...

' 1843 novella '' A Christmas Carol'', is about Nan visited by three ghosts on Christmas night in her council flat.

Plot

The Beginning

Jamie comes to visit Nan in her council flat, only to find she's been sitting in the dark with the heating off to save money. She is visited by some carollers (played by Madness) who, she angrily orders to go away. Then, Nan’s old friend and neighbour, Gail, who she does the lottery with, visits. This doesn't please her, but she doesn't buy the lottery and she keeps it in a jar for herself to save. Nan's nephew, "Northern Bob", his wife Julie, two children and dog, Tiny Tim, are hoping to stay for the night and have Christmas dinner with Joanie. They give her an alternative Christmas present by making a donation in her name to the Mobile Library of Sudan. Annoyed with the present, she kicks them out. This infuriates Jamie, who subsequently leaves as well. In the night, the ghost of Jake Taylor (

Dominic Coleman Dominic Andrew Coleman (born 29 January 1970 in Solihull, Warwickshire) is a British actor. He went to secondary school at Tudor Grange Academy Solihull which then led him to train at Leeds University's Bretton Hall where he studied a BA (hons ...

), her deceased husband, comes through her closet to tell her she'll be visited by three more ghosts.

Christmas Past

The first ghost she is visited by is the

Ghost of Christmas Past The Ghost of Christmas Past is a fictional character in Charles Dickens' 1843 novella ''A Christmas Carol''. The Ghost is one of three spirits which appear to miser Ebenezer Scrooge to offer him a chance of redemption. Following a visit from ...

(

Ben Miller Bennet Evan Miller (born 24 February 1966) is an English actor, comedian, and author. He rose to fame as one half of the comedy duo Armstrong and Miller. Miller is also known for playing the lead role of DI Richard Poole in the first two serie ...

), who is really rubbish at his haunting tricks. He takes her to her house when she was a little girl. They see her mother putting her to bed to be ready for

Father Christmas Father Christmas is the traditional English name for the personification of Christmas. Although now known as a Christmas gift-bringer, and typically considered to be synonymous with Santa Claus, he was originally part of a much older and unrela ...

. She leaves him out a mince pie and a glass of milk. In the morning, Father Christmas left the younger Joanie a tangerine. She opens her mouth and "Nan" is born. Then he takes Joanie to the 1950s when she sees her and Jake failing to arrange a date together. Then he takes her to the 1970s, where Joanie and Jake are very unhappily married.

Christmas Present

The next ghost to appear is the

Ghost of Christmas Present The Ghost of Christmas Present is a fictional character in Charles Dickens' 1843 novella ''A Christmas Carol''. The Ghost is one of three spirits which appear to miser Ebenezer Scrooge to offer him a chance of redemption. Following a visit fr ...

(

David Tennant David John Tennant (''né'' McDonald; born 18 April 1971) is a Scottish actor. He rose to fame for his role as the tenth incarnation of the Doctor (2005–2010 and 2013) in the BBC science-fiction TV show ''Doctor Who'', reprising the rol ...

). He comes on with his mobile playing the " Ghostbusters Theme", which doesn't impress Nan. The Ghost first takes Nan to the flat of her neighbour and old friend, Gail. Gail is sitting with her and Nan’s old friends. They are watching television, hoping they will win the lottery. Unfortunately for them, they don’t. Nan makes fun of them for having hope. He then shows “Northern Bob” and his family on the streets, waiting for a bus which won’t come. They eat crisps for Christmas Lunch, which chokes Tiny Tim to death.

Christmas Future

The last ghost to visit her is the Ghost of Christmas Future (

Roger Lloyd-Pack Roger Anthony Lloyd-Pack (8 February 1944 – 16 January 2014) was an English actor. He is best known for playing Trigger in ''Only Fools and Horses'' from 1981 to 2003, and Owen Newitt in '' The Vicar of Dibley'' from 1994 to 2007. He later st ...

) who appears in an advert on her TV, which again doesn't impress her. He takes her to the following year where she sees her lottery friends realising they have won the lottery. Since Nan was in charge of buying the lottery tickets, but didn’t bother to buy them, saving the money in a jar, Nan, Gail and their lottery friends haven’t won anything. Nan pretends to go into the corner shop to get the money, but she comes back out and gives them £1 each, claiming that there were thousands of winners but the women realise what Nan has done. The old ladies turn against Nan and chase her down the street. Jamie has a baby son, Ludvig Brian Taylor, by his German wife Stephanie, but doesn't invite Nan to the christening as he wants her to have nothing to do with the baby. She ends up living in a retirement home where nobody comes up to see her, and everyone in the retirement home hates her. At her funeral, nobody turns up except Jamie, Stephanie and their son, who don't pay any attention at all. The Ghost explains to Nan that if she doesn't change her ways, the visions that he has shown Nan will come true. Nan wakes up the following morning in her flat.

The End

She tells Jamie to get to the corner shop to buy her stuff for a Christmas banquet. She invites Bob and the family (and lets them stay for the night), and her Lottery friends. The carollers come back and sing "

Baggy Trousers "Baggy Trousers" is a song by English ska/pop band Madness from their 1980 album '' Absolutely''. It was written by lead singer Graham "Suggs" McPherson and guitarist Chris Foreman,Woodstra, Chris. Retrieved on 1 July 2007. and reminisces abou ...

". When everyone is in bed, she picks up a packet of crisps and calls for Tim and offers one to him, implying she hasn't changed at all.

Cast

Catherine Tate Catherine Jane Ford (born 5 December 1969), known professionally as Catherine Tate, is an English actress, comedian and writer. She has won numerous awards for her work on the BBC sketch comedy series '' The Catherine Tate Show'' (2004–2007) ...

as Nan Taylor *

Mathew Horne Mathew Frazer Horne (born 6 September 1978) is an English actor, comedian, television presenter and narrator. He is best known for appearing on several BBC sketch shows and sitcoms, most notably ''Gavin & Stacey'' (as Gavin Shipman), ''The C ...

as Jamie Taylor *

as the

Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come is a fictional character in Charles Dickens's 1843 novella ''A Christmas Carol''. The Ghost is one of three spirits which appear to miser Ebenezer Scrooge to offer him a chance of redemption. Following a vis ...

as Jake Taylor *Gabriel Maragh as baby Ludvig *

Deddie Davies Deddie Davies (born Gillian Nancy Davies, 2 March 1938 – 21 December 2016) was a Welsh character actress. Biography Davies was born in Bridgend, Wales. She trained at RADA and is most familiar to television viewers for comedy roles in a hos ...

as Gail * Madness as carolers *

Richard Lumsden Richard James Lumsden (born 24 June 1965) is an English actor, writer, composer and musician. He has made regular appearances on TV and film throughout his career. Notable series include Channel 4's Emmy-award winning ''Sugar Rush'', '' Is it ...

Bob Cratchit Bob Cratchit is a fictional character in the Charles Dickens 1843 novel ''A Christmas Carol''. The abused, underpaid clerk of Ebenezer Scrooge (and possibly Jacob Marley, when he was alive), Cratchit has come to symbolize the poor working condi ...

Rosie Cavaliero Rosalind Cecilia Cavaliero (born 27 November 1967) is a Brazilian-born English actress. She has appeared in numerous television roles. Filmography Theatre work * ''Dracula'' at the Everyman, Cheltenham – Florrie (February 1995) * ''Airswi ...

as Julie Cratchit *Alana Knowles as Young Joanie/Young Nan *Owen Salthouse as Ashley Cratchit *Lorna Brown as nursing home caregiver *Twist as Tiny Tim: The Dog

References

External links

''Nan's Christmas Carol''
on BBC Two
Episode Info
on the

British Comedy Guide British Comedy Guide or BCG (formerly the British Sitcom Guide or BSG) is a British website covering all forms of British comedy, across all media. At the time of writing, BCG has published guides to more than 7,000 individual British comedies ...

{{A Christmas Carol BBC television comedy Television shows based on A Christmas Carol