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A Christmas Carol

A scene from A Christmas Carol

A Christmas Carol was a fantasy story written by Charles Dickens in the 19th century. It depicted the haunting of a miserly character named Ebenezer Scrooge by four spirits, who were determined to teach him the meaning of Christmas, so he might regain his holiday spirit. One of the four spirits was Jacob Marley.

Data employed a holonovel of the story in 2367 to study method acting. He attempted to discover emotions of his own by recreating them in performance through this technique. Data noted the way fear was used to motivate the evil Scrooge to redeem himself. (TNG: "Devil's Due")

In 2371, Tom Paris sarcastically told Harry Kim that the reason he confessed, lost his commission and was sent to prison was "the ghosts of those three dead officers came to me in the middle of the night and taught me the true meaning of Christmas". (VOY: "Caretaker")

In 2374, The Doctor recommended that Seven of Nine read the story, as it would have "educational value". (VOY: "The Omega Directive")

A Christmas Carol was published in 1843. (Star Trek Encyclopedia (4th ed., vol. 1, p. 141))
Patrick Stewart has portrayed Scrooge in various productions, including a 1999 TV movie version and a one-man theater show in 2005. Other Trek alumni also appeared in various adaptations of the Dickens story. William Shatner and James Cromwell co-starred in a 2003 modernized TV movie version, A Carol Christmas, while Vanessa Williams starred in another modernized TV adaptation, A Diva's Christmas Carol, in 2000. David Warner played Bob Cratchit in a 1984 TV movie version. The latest, a 2009 feature film adaptation, featured Fionnula Flanagan, while the 1988 comedy Scrooged featured John Glover, Michael J. Pollard, Alfre Woodard, and Logan Ramsey.
Strange New Worlds 2016 includes a TNG short story entitled "A Christmas Qarol".

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