The screenwriter and dramatist on why we’re all Scrooge, writing a Covid care home drama and his brush with Star Wars
Jack Thorne, 42, was born in Bristol and studied at Cambridge University. He’s the Bafta, Olivier and Tony award-winning writer of TV dramas such as This Is England, Skins, National Treasure and The Virtues. His theatre credits include Let the Right One In and Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. His adaptation of Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials is currently airing on BBC One and his version of A Christmas Carol is the Old Vic’s livestreamed festive play.
Was A Christmas Carol a story you loved from childhood?
It was – mainly through The Muppet Christmas Carol, I must admit. When I reread the book, I was astonished by its beauty and power. Dickens wrote it in anger, and I love him for that.