Only a humbug could resist John Simm’s Scrooge

After very much enjoying the Windsor Theatre Royal’s production – done as an old-fashioned “radio” version, complete with sound effects, under Roy Marsden’s assured direction – the Old Vic has now unveiled its latest production.

It feels like a new Rolls-Royce coming off the assembly line – a familiar look with a whole range of new specifications – as this show, adapted by Jack Thorne and directed by Matthew Warchus, has been a part of London’s Christmas since 2017.

Each year they update the basic design and give it a different Scrooge – Rhys Ifans, Paterson Joseph, Stephen Mangan and Christopher Eccleston have all essayed the role in the past – and this time around it’s John Simm’s turn.

The Grace star is maybe not as dominating a stage presence as some of his predecessors, but the sheer scale and bravado of the production – the stage runs right down the middle of the theatre with a vast cast and some superb effects – makes it as ever irresistible.

I make the same point every year about how the basic message of Dickens’ story remains as relevant as ever – we still have people begging for money, just as they had to in Victorian times – but this year, if anything, Scrooge’s casual remark about how he wasn’t too bothered about the “surplus population being reduced” seems more chilling than ever.

A tried-and-tested show that, if you haven’t seen it before, will come as a particular treat.