Christmas Carole: air date, cast, plot, trailer, interview

Christmas Carole on Sky Max sees Suranne Jones' mean character taught a lesson by the ghosts of Morecambe & Wise. (Image credit: Sky)

Christmas Carole sees top British star Suranne Jones putting another unusual spin on Charles Dickens' classic novel A Christmas Carol for this new festive movie on Sky Max. Suranne plays Carole Mackay, the darling of the British business world who's made a fortune selling festive gifts online. Nicknamed 'Christmas Carole' by everyone, she's never really discovered the true meaning of Christmas, as she's not a kind, considerate or particularly nice person. That's all about to change one Christmas Eve. In a unique twist on the Dickens novel, Carole is visited spirits of Christmas past, present and future are represented by major personalities from British television, who hope to show her the true spirit of the season. Look out for Morecambe and Wise, Jo Brand and Nish Kumar!

Here's everything we know so far about the Sky Original comedy Christmas Carole coming to Sky Max in December 2022...

In Christmas Carole on Sky Max, Suranne Jones will play the Scrooge-like businesswoman who needs to mend her ways. — Suranne Jones plays the Scrooge-like businesswoman Christmas Carole who needs to mend her ways. (Image credit: Sky)

Christmas Carole release date

Christmas Carole launches on Christmas Eve at 8pm on Sky Max, as well as on NOW that same day Saturday December 24 2022. We will update you when we hear the film's US and international air dates plus the channel.

Is there a Christmas Carole trailer?

Yes there's now an official trailer for Christmas Carole released by Sky, and also a teaser trailer released as 'An Alternative Christmas Advert' which pokes fun at the many big TV advertisers who sell their goods over the festive season... This time Christmas Carole's wares are on offer. Take a look at both the official trailer and spoof advert below...

Christmas Carole plot

Christmas Carole follows the hectic life of Carole Mackay (Suranna Jones), a wealthy businesswoman who is very outspoken and dislikable. She has an online business selling festive goods which has propelled her into earning a fortune, and given her the nickname ‘Christmas Carole’. But success hasn't made Carole a pleasant person. In fact, it’s made her worse. Carole has become a monumentally mean person, even to her father (played by Mark Benton). She's very Scrooge-like, and just like Ebeneezer, she doesn’t love Christmas at all, even though it's made her a fortune. On Christmas Eve, however, Carole’s past, present and future collide as she's visited by some familiar Christmas spirits who are various TV national treasures. They will try to help her discover the true spirit of Christmas. So there's a spooky Morecambe and Wise representing the past, Jo Brand as spirit of the the present and Nish Kumar as a spirit for the future!

Morecambe & Wise are ghosts of TV past ready to give Christmas Carole a lesson in kindness. (Image credit: Sky)

Christmas Carole cast — Suranne Jones on playing Carole Mackay

Suranne Jones revealed plenty to us about Christmas Carole. "I was filming Gentleman Jack and told myself that the next thing I wanted to do was a Christmas film. It's a big thing actors want to tick off their to-do list. So my agent was talking to Sky and they came up with the Christmas Carole script. So I'm the Scrooge character, there's the ghosts and everything that A Christmas Carol has. There's also a Tiny Tim of sorts! And our ghosts are like TV National Treasures of the past, present and future. It's funny and it's going to be brilliant fun to do."

"I'm playing Carole who hates Christmas. She's a grumpy sod, so very much like the Scrooge character! She'll have great hair and make-up, plus costumes! We're filming over the sunny, even though it's Christmas, so that's going to be odd!"

Why were you so keen to do a Christmas film?
Suranne says: "I love Christmas and I’ll literally watch any Christmas film, whether it’s a blockbuster, an old classic or low budget. But I’ve never done one before and I’ve always wanted to tick that off as an actor, so it was a bit of a no brainer. Also I wanted to make something for my six-year old. It’s going to be fun to sit down and watch it with him!"

There have been so many adaptations of A Christmas Carol, how is this one is different?
Suranne says: "I think by modernising the story with a female Scrooge really takes a fun and unexpected twist on the story. It has a core message of family, like the original, but some of the themes are contemporary. My character Carole has made her wealth selling disposable single-use Christmas decorations and doesn’t care that she’s making a profit from tat. There’s always so much waste at Christmas so there’s also an important message about sustainability."

How would you describe Carole when we first meet her?
Suranne says: "She’s the true spirit of Scrooge! She’s greedy, she lacks emotion and is estranged from her family. She’s basically a very driven businesswoman who wants to sell, sell, sell and doesn’t care about anything else. She’s a mean old bag!"

You’ve got three very unusual ghosts in your tale, haven’t you?
Suranne says: "Yeah, I love this film, there’s something really warm about it… and odd! But I think it’s fantastic and such a nice twist to have comedians play the ghosts. So we have Morecambe and Wise as the ghosts of Christmas past [played by acclaimed impersonators Jonty Stephens and Ian Ashpitel] – and people are going to think Morecambe and Wise have come back again because they’re that good! I even join them for an Angela-Rippon-style dance scene, which is an iconic piece of television so that was a privilege to do."

What are you hoping for under the tree this year?
Suranne says: "I love pyjamas. I have pyjamas for every single occasion, posh pyjamas, comfy pyjamas, pyjamas for the summer. My husband’s always telling me I don’t need another pair but you can never have enough pyjamas, so if you want to please me with a gift, then pyjamas is the way to go! We also do matching pyjamas at Christmas, which my husband used to hate, but I think he loves more than me now!"

Apart from pyjamas, do you have any other Christmas traditions?
Suranne says: "Our Christmas tree has baubles from all over the world. Wherever we go, we try to pick up a Christmas decoration, so our tree has a New York taxi, some beautiful baubles I picked up in Africa, and some Mexican chilies. It’s pretty eclectic!"

When it comes to Christmas TV, what do you most look forward to?
Suranne says: "It tends to revolve around our son at the moment, so the Julia Donaldson animations are always a hit in our house and Elf and Home Alone are a big success! When you have a little one in your house, it gives you a reason to experience things through the eyes of a child, and you have to get on board with that because it won’t last forever!"

* Suranne Jones first made her name playing Karen McDonald in Coronation Street before starring in a number of top British dramas including Vigil and Gentleman Jack. Christmas Carole is her first festive drama.

Suranne Jone as Carole with Taj Atwal. (Image credit: Sky)

Suranne Jones as Anne Lister in Gentleman Jack standing on a terrace in a dark blue dress with a feather in her hair. — Suranne Jones as Anne Lister in Gentleman Jack. (Image credit: BBC/Lookout Point/HBO/Aimee Spinks)

Suranne Jones as DCI Amy Silva in Vigil. (Image credit: BBC)

Who else is starring in Christmas Carole?

While Suranne Jones takes the lead role in Christmas Carole, she's joined by Mark Benton as her father, plus Jo Brand and Nish Kumar as TV-themed ghosts of the present and future,. Meanwhile, acclaimed impersonators Jonty Stephens and Ian Ashpitel, known by their stage name Eric and Little Ern, are playing the spirits of TV comedy legends Morecambe and Wise. Taj Atwal also stars as one of Carole employees.

Jo Brand recently spoke to Chris Evans on his radio show to discuss her role in Christmas Carole: “It's obviously a version of the original by Charles Dickens, which really is genuinely one of my favourite books. I’ve always loved it.

“Carole Mackay is very Scroogey, very much so, in the sense that she’s cynical and it doesn’t really matter if you take people’s money off them and sell them rubbish and that sort of thing. But obviously, the ghosts all come and visit her and go, ‘Mmm-mmm, look what might happen to you’.”