“My performances are a tad vulgar and ramshackle – non-negotiables with Dickens! – but they’re always unmistakably alive,” says York storyteller James Swanton as his York Medical Society season beckons. Picture: Jtu Photography
HURRY, hurry or it will be Bah Humbug time! “I’m now rapidly getting to the point where all my Christmas Dickens shows at the end of the month are going to sell out!” forewarns York storyteller and actor James Swanton ahead of his return to York Medical Society, Stonegate, York, from November 23 to November 29.
As of November 9, only 37 tickets were left out of 400 seats for the eight performances that will complement five renditions of festive favourite A Christmas Carol with three of The Haunted Man, a neglected Gothic gem.
“Their words unlock a world teeming with chain-rattling spectres, with dark and shadowy doubles, with Ghosts of Christmases Past and Present and Yet To Come,” says James. “These tales chill the marrow and tickle the funny bone, but always they enchant, as only the works of a master storyteller can. These ghost stories are the very spirit of Christmas: enchanting, exuberant and ultimately redemptive.”
Only last week, James enjoyed a fully booked return to York Medical Society with Dickens’s most frightening ghost story, The Signal-Man, back on track in Halloween’s afterglow from November 2 to 9 in a delightfully macabre double bill with the supernatural terrors of The Trial For Murder.
Here James discusses his annual word-spinning challenge of Charles Dickens’s Ghost Stories with CharlesHutchPress.
Take a seat: James Swanton is ready to tell Charles Dickens’s ghost stories once more
What draws you back to A Christmas Carol each winter, James?
“Typically, A Christmas Carol reminds me why I became an actor in the first place – and with the acting world (and the real world) in its current wretched state, I’ve this year needed that reminder more than ever.
“Now that AI’s constantly threatening to replace us all on screen, these live shows of mine feel like the most useful contribution I can make. My performances are a tad vulgar and ramshackle – non-negotiables with Dickens! – but they’re always unmistakably alive. That’s the real gift of the Carol, for Scrooge, and for an audience, and certainly for this clapped-out actor: to bring us all back to life.”
What makes you pick The Haunted Man as the companion piece?
“As Dickens’s fifth and final Christmas Book, The Haunted Man provides the most extreme twist on the Christmas Carol formula. It’s peculiarly right for our times, a portrait of a man stricken with depression, and it’s unstintingly dark, offering no easy answers.
“Some people say they can’t stand A Christmas Carol because it’s too damn jolly. They’ll get none of that in The Haunted Man; it moves with the deathly solemnity of a Victorian funeral procession, seasoned with approximately two-and-a-half jokes.”
James Swanton as Claude Frollo, “easily the most reprehensible human being I’ve ever played”, in Quasimodo’s Keeper, filmed in York churches this year
Johnny Depp’s Scrooge in Ti West’s gothic dark fantasy comedy Ebenezer arrives in cinemas today. What makes an actor suited to playing Scooge?
“Innocence. There are other elements, but let’s never forget how easily Dickens’s Scrooge cries; the instant he enters Christmas Past, this seeming monster is in tears. The reason that Scrooge is so irresistibly funny is because we know, deep down, that he’s only playing at being the villain, relishing the theatrical role.
“It’s for that reason that I don’t like it when Scrooges turn abusive. Remember all that business in the Steven Knight version where Scrooge emotionally and physically abuses poor Mrs Cratchit? That may have worked for some people, but I thought it out of drawing.”
What are the merits of a storytelling theatrical performance as opposed to a megabucks movie?
“In the one-man form, you maintain Dickens’s glorious narration, which I’d argue is responsible for more than half the story’s impact. The Dickensian narrator is an expert stage manager throughout, as Gonzo proves to our satisfaction in the Muppet masterwork. You also get me in the theatrical version, which is certain to enormously please two or three people.”
“Places are in very short supply, but I can guarantee that everyone who does attend will have a good view,” promises James Swanton
Will you be using the bigger or smaller room at York Medical Society?
“The bigger room, which is the lecture hall, although I’ve placed a cap on the number of tickets on sale to ensure there’s still a degree of intimacy. As a result, places are in very short supply, but I can guarantee that everyone who does attend will have a good view.”
Where else will you be taking your Dickensian Ghost Stories this season?
“Following my eight shows in York, I’ll be straight off to the Charles Dickens Museum, the author’s only surviving London home, where I’m giving 40 performances from December 1 to 23 (and 30 of those are A Christmas Carol, Lord help me). This punishing southern schedule is why I’m now serially unable to perform in York in December!”
What have been your creative pursuits in 2026?
“The usual eccentric mixture. I returned to Big Finish to play a showy villain in one of their Doctor Who audio dramas, this time opposite Colin Baker and Bonnie Langford. I’ve also carried on working for the rejuvenated Hammer, which has meant starring in a new Hammer film, Victim Of His Imagination, about Bram Stoker and my great hero Henry Irving. That one’s available on the Blu-ray box set for their beautifully restored Dracula.
“Last month, I appeared as Count Dracula at the restoration’s West End premiere, which involved hours of prosthetics from the Oscar-winning Dave Elsey to turn me into a plausible Christopher Lee.
James Swanton appearing as Christopher Lee’s Dracula at the West End premiere of the 4K restoration of Terence Fisher’s 1958 film, Dracula, in October. Picture: Dave Elsey
“This year, I’ve also been making Quasimodo’s Keeper, a one-man film of The Hunchback Of Notre Dame, with various York churches serving as key filming locations. My character there is Claude Frollo, who’s easily the most reprehensible human being I’ve ever played.
“On top of that, I’ve been memorising plenty of Gothic poetry, which I suspect will become an ongoing project. For the opening of Horrifically Good Books last month in Goodramgate, I performed two little-known titles alongside The Raven by Poe, and that went down very well.”
What’s in your diary for upcoming commitments?
“I have to finish off Quasimodo’s Keeper early next year. I still haven’t been cast as Richard III, despite my love of the macabre and my terribly wonky spine, so Victor Hugo’s hunchback will have to do for now. Other than that, it’s back to probable retirement. Who’d be an actor, eh?”
James Swanton presents Charles Dickens’s Ghost Stories, York Medical Society, Stonegate, York, November 23 to 29. Performances: The Haunted Man, November 23 & 26, 7pm; A Christmas Carol, November 24 & 27, 7pm, November 28, 2pm & 6pm and November 29, 2pm; The Haunted Man, November 29, 6pm. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Please note: Tickets cannot be bought on the door and must be booked in advance. The nature of the performance demands a No Latecomers policy. Doors will close promptly at the start time stated.
James Swanton, right, in the poster for The Fairy Moon, now available online
James Swanton: back story
JAMES has played the title roles in two BBC chillers, The Curse Of The Ninth in Inside No. 9 and Lot No. 249, Mark Gatiss’s annual ghost story, for which the Telegraph called James “the scariest man on TV this Christmas”.
His work with Dickens includes his one-man play Sikes & Nancy at the West End’s Trafalgar Studios, praised by fellow Dickens devotee Simon Callow as “fantastical…remarkable…startling and enthralling”, and sell-out seasons of the Christmas Books at the Charles Dickens Museum, in London. “Extraordinary…superb…it couldn’t have been more vivid,” enthused fellow regular Dickens performer Miriam Margolyes.
In 2025, James made the “alarming” short film The Fairy Moon. “Only recently has it been made available online,” he says. ” In fact, the director, Craig Williams, moved to York last year.” View it at: The Fairy Moon | Videos & Movies on Vime.
NEWSFLASH, 13/11/2026, 6.23pm
JAMES Swanton’s rendition of Charles Dickens’s Ghost Stories has been picked by The Times as one of the 30 best shows to see this Christmas for its upcoming return to the Charles Dickens Museum.
“If you’re looking for an extra touch of authenticity, James Swanton is reprising his much-admired solo performance in the intimate surroundings of Charles Dickens’s former home,” the recommendation reads.
