In conversation with Sir David Suchet, his thoughts on Charles Dickens, and his own Ghost of Christmas Past

What interested you in narrating Charles Dickens Ghost Stories?

I have to go back to about 1971 when I played Scrooge at the Liverpool Playhouse. That really was my first introduction to A Christmas Carol and embodying that extraordinary character, and being completely overtaken with admiration at that time. And then my telephone goes, and I get this offer to narrate the whole book – i.e. to be every different character, in a version that Dickens himself performed, plus doing six other ghost stories of his. How could I say no?

Can you tell us about the time you played Scrooge for the first time?

I was 25, I think. I’d finished my rep at Chester and I got this wonderful opportunity to be the leading actor in Christmas Carol at the Liverpool Playhouse. Outside of my rep, I'd never played a leading role before. So I got on a train. It's a Sunday, I'm due to go and be at the stage door at the Liverpool Repertory Theatre before 7.30pm, when the stage doorman closes up. But my train is very delayed. I don't get to the stage door until about 8.30. The door is locked and inside is the address of my digs. I didn’t have the telephone number of the stage doorman. I had no money. I couldn’t stay at a hotel. So what do I do? I went strolling about the streets until I found a police station, and handed myself in. I tried to explain who I was, but they thought I was homeless – so they offered me a cell for the night, which I gratefully accepted. They also gave me a shower with a disinfectant, in case I had lice! That was my first night in Liverpool before I started rehearsals the next day as Scrooge, in A Christmas Carol. A good way to begin that character.

This is not the first Dickens production you have been involved in, as you say. What do you think makes his stories still so popular today?

I think with Dickens and all great writers – Shakespeare, Agatha Christie – what makes them so enduring is that within their stories they encompass our human nature. Love, hate, jealousy, greed, poverty, riches, bad health, good health, all human conditions, entwined within the story. So you get Christmas Carol, with the moral story of hope, redemption, somebody going from dark to light. That's what makes it timeless.

Which Dickens story is your favourite?

A Christmas Carol.

Your previous narrating work includes an audio recording of the entire New International Version (NIV) of the Bible. Do you have any special techniques or methods to prepare for narrating long passages?

The way I approached the Bible, Dickens, and Shakespeare, is all to do with preparation. Failure to prepare; prepare to fail. That is my guiding principle for every job I do. It took me over 500 hours to prepare for the Bible. I spoke to at least 30 theologians, members of the Anglican Church, the Catholic Church, the Orthodox Church, biblical scholars at theological colleges. It was important work. Dickens said the Bible is the best book ever written in the world. So I had a responsibility to put it into its context, and what was being conveyed to the people who would read it or hear it. You will hear many prophets and many people saying, “hear the word of the Lord”. The Bible in its original state was read out loud. And so I joined a great tradition of reading the Bible out loud.

Which Dickens character are you most similar to, and why?

I don't think I have an affinity to any of his characters. I can only say that because of all the characters that I've portrayed from Dickens, they've been so different to me from me.

Dickens often performed his work in public. What are the differences between performing for a live audience and a distant one?

In a live performance, people are looking at you as well as hearing you. So what you wear and how you gesture and how you carry yourself and your posture and indeed how you hold your head will inform the public, so much more than just the voice. You don't have any of that doing something for radio or audio. So you have to find a way of using your voice to create characters that can stimulate the imagination of the listener.

What kind of books do you like to read and who are your favourite authors?

I don't read fiction. Since I've become an actor, my whole life is fiction, unless I'm doing a series about Sigmund Freud or people that lived. So the books I like to read are factual books. I love to read books on theology, ancient civilisations, and technical books about how to make my photography better. I get drawn into the world of reality as much as I can and learn.

You mentioned in a previous interview that you’ve “never had ambitions”. What keeps you motivated as an actor?

What keeps me motivated is the constant challenge to serve my writer, and to do well by him or her. That's my job. Otherwise, why write the drama? They might as well just write a novel. If I'm acting it and if I'm performing it on audio, then I have to lift it. That's what keeps me motivated.

Charles Dickens Ghost Stories series is launching around Christmas. What are your Christmas plans? Do you have any Christmas traditions?

Yes, I have a Christmas tradition – on Christmas Eve, from when the children were very young right up to the present day, I’ll read to them ‘Twas The Night Before Christmas, either in person or if I'm abroad by Zoom or FaceTime or by telephone. That's a real tradition. And this Christmas, I'll be celebrating it with my daughter and son-in-law and our two lovely grandchildren.

The first story in the series is A Christmas Carol. If your own Ghost of Christmas Past visited you, what would you want to tell your younger self?

Take every opportunity you can to be kind.

To hear Sir David's narration, starting with A Christmas Carol, listen to Charles Dickens Ghost Stories on BBC Sounds now.