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Charles Dickens’ third Christmas tale – the story of a (singular) mysterious visitor…

Following on from The Chimes a few years back (the first story of course is A Christmas Carol, but I’m quite sure every reader of SFB knew that anyway!), Jonathan Morris’ Average Romp productions has returned with adaptations of two of the remaining three Christmas books, with Cricket scripted by Eddie Robson, and directed by Lisa Bowerman.

There’s a certain level of comfort that comes with the best Dickensian versions, and this is like warming yourself up after a long cold journey by a log fire that’s crackling in the hearth (cricket possibly not included for every listener). I don’t want to spoil too much of this – it’s definitely one of the lesser known Dickens works – but you know going in that class differences are going to play a major part in the plot, and that no matter what Graham Fellows’ John Peerybingle may think, there’s no chance that his wife Dot is being unfaithful… Geoff Leesley’s Tackleton is the factory owner with a rather inflated idea of the importance of his own wedding that’s at the heart of the story – a character that could easily become either comic or tragic, but, thanks to finessed scripting and direction, combines the two with just the right amount of pathos.

There’s a slight supernatural element to it in the form of the titular cricket (an earlier version of the talking cricket that turns up in Pinocchio and its adaptations) and a very definite feel that all’s right with the world as all the threads tie up.

Verdict: A thoroughly enjoyable hour. 9/10

Paul Simpson

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