Adrian Edmondson is to play Ebenezer Scrooge in a new production of A Christmas Carol for the Royal Shakespeare Company.

The production is described as a “socially conscious” adaptation of the Dickens classic.

It will be on stage at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford from 26th October to 1st January.

Speaking about the role, Edmondson said: “A Christmas Carol in an extraordinary book. It’s been in print continuously since 1843. So it must be saying something very important that catches our imagination.

“A lot of people think it’s about Scrooge and ghosts, which of course it is, but at the heart of it, it’s about poverty and our individual reaction to it. So it couldn’t be more relevant today than it has been in the past 30-40 years. Not since rationing really. Actual poverty in our streets. People at food banks. That’s the driving force of it for Dickens”

He added: “I’m really looking forward to playing Scrooge. Why, you might ask, would you watch a show about a really horrible person? You watch it because you’re cheering him on, urging him to become a better person. You’re on his side, you want him to turn. I think that makes him one of the most fundamentally interesting characters in literature, and a great part to play.”