On stage, Stewart was mesmerizing in every single role, however it is his experience with the character of Scrooge that serves this production best. Stewart may be the most fearsome and tragic of all cinematic Scrooges because he plays the character as a human being with a lot of emotional baggage, who lashes out at the world, instead of just being the stereotypical skinflint one finds in so many other productions of Dickens tale. With Patrick Stewart leading the charge, the acting is of course, first rate. Generally, the image is sharp and well defined, although some of the special effects place a slight fuzz on the picture. Film grain becomes noticeable from time to time, however since this is a television production with budget limitations, once can't expect theatrical level perfection.
Colors tend to be subdued, giving the outdoor scenes a stark, wintry quality.
Interiors have somewhat better saturation and the colors do become somewhat more vibrant towards the end of the program, as Scrooge is being transformed by his experiences. Blacks are solid and inky, plus the picture provides a good level of shadow detail and very even contrast. There are a couple of scenes where the special effects lighting threatens to blow out the image, but the transfer holds things together. Digital compression artifacts never make their presence known. The Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack decodes to surround and provides the production with a better than average television mix.