Big Finish presents an Average Romp production of The Chimes by Charles Dickens.
Toby Veck is a man who worries that he has become a burden on society and that his family would be better off without him. He's troubled by a newspaper report about a young mother who recently killed herself by jumping off London Bridge. He's been told that the poor don't deserve sympathy and that some people are just born bad. And he's starting to believe it...
But on New Year’s Eve, the Chimes set out to prove him wrong.
**This production contains references to suicidal ideation, suicide and domestic violence**
Producer Jonathan Morris said: “Every Christmas, there are dozens of new adaptations of A Christmas Carol – but nobody ever does the story that Dickens wrote the following year as a thematic sequel. While A Christmas Carol is about a rich man learning to love, The Chimes is about a poor man, driven to despair, learning that his life has meaning and that he is needed and loved. In many ways, it pre-empts Frank Capra’s It’s A Wonderful Life.
“And, like It’s A Wonderful Life, The Chimes ultimately has a positive message, reminding us that everyone is needed, everyone is valued, and that everyone deserves the chance of a better future. Which is why it is so relevant. It’s Dickens writing about people being forced into poverty during a cost of living crisis. It may be Dickensian, but it’s a story that remains relevant today.”
Jason Haigh-Ellery added: “Growing up in the '70s and '80s I was first introduced to Charles Dickens through the BBC’s Sunday afternoon adaptations, which I avidly watched. In due course, I also read a number of the books and was delighted when Jonathan Morris contacted me and offered The Chimes to Big Finish, as this was not a Dickens story I had read or seen before.
“I was blown away by Jonathan’s adaption and the direction from Lisa Bowerman, as well as the wonderful score by Howard Carter. I was very keen to release this lesser-known gem of a Dickens story. I hope you all enjoy it as much as I did!”
