In a modern twist on the classic Dickens tale, Sky Original Christmas Carole has been written with sustainability at the heart of its narrative.
Carole Mackay (played by Suranne Jones) is an unashamedly outspoken entrepreneur who imports cheap tat that she sells at a huge mark-up.
Despite her wealth, success hasn’t made Carole a better human being. In fact, it’s made her worse. The truth is that Carole is a monumentally mean person. And, just like Ebeneezer Scrooge, she doesn’t love Christmas at all.
Anil Gupta, Creative Director for Sky Studios Comedy said “In the original, the polemical aspect was Dickens highlighting the plight of the poor and the indifference of the rich in Victorian society. We played around with lots of different ideas for our version (sadly the original is still relevant today!). We wanted to do a new take on it and the climate crisis felt like the biggest challenge to society now and, given the consumption that we are all conditioned to around Christmas, it felt like a perfect fit. One of the lessons that our character learns is that the pursuit of money at all costs, particularly to the environment, isn’t such a great thing.
When producing ideas and scripts for Sky Comedies, we always consider how we could tie in storylines or ideas that champion the environment in a way that feels natural and authentic to the piece. Christmas Carole is a great example of how doing so has added to the overall story and character development.”