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Watched this for the first time on freeview and enjoyed it watching to the end. Doesn't usually happen with "A Christmas Carol" as the story is so familiar yet it kept me engaged.

There is a stellar cast - barely a role is not filled with serious 'name' in acting with long experience in the profession. George C Scott makes a very good Ebenezer Scrooge. You feel dislike for him at the beginning, sorrow toward the end as the uselessness of his life is revealed and warmth as he bursts forth to engage with the world and life again to make the most of his final years.

The film was shot around Shrewsbury and there are good scenes of the town and buildings.

Truthfully, I discovered this on terrestrial TV by accident when it was first broadcast and hadn't laughed so much at a mainstream TV comedy in years. Clearly a couple of reviewers (one seemingly a Tom Cruise fan - maybe a fellow scientologist????) were not amused by I was and so were many others.

Watch the outlandish portrayals of Paul McCartney, Jennifer Aniston, Bono, Heather Mills (McCartney), David Beckham, The Spice Girls, Elton John, Bob Geldof, Wham and many others all by a core cast of talented impressionists and actors to scripts with just enough reality to make your sides split.

Sails close to the wind most of the time (the revelation of Gary Glitter's unfortunate taste in female companionship and subsequent legal difficulties provide one set of jokes to give you an idea) and if a celebrity character turns up in an episode it won't be so they can be fawned. Each episode focuses on high profile celebrities of the time and references real events and news articles which might be why it was so funny.

Many of the cast have done sterling work afterwards plus the lovely Daisy Beaumont, Laura Patch, Dolly Wells and Thaila Zucchi feature in nearly every episode.

Watched this when it was first on and thought it was great. It was a mystery to me why it only got one series as the writing, acting and plot lines were fantastic. There's a good cast too; either experienced actors or new faces who went on to stay the course. Gwen Taylor as widowed mother trying to run a debt collection business and keep her daughter in private school whilst fighting off a ruthless competitor from her business. James Cosmos as her assistant 'heavy', Philip Martin Brown as 'the competition' and Gaynor Faye as her secretary. It opens you eyes to the debt collection business and the games people play, the situations they end up in and the twists and turns of the law which can leave the individual stuck right at the bottom of the pile as the big companies wriggle around it with their solicitors. Maybe that's why only one series got made? It wasn't repeated either. If you can find a copy - watch it.