Vinette Robinson Gives Life to Mary Cratchit in FX's 'A Christmas Carol'

Every holiday season, your favorite creators put out new and interesting versions of some of the classic holiday tales — and this year, there are some exciting twists on old classics. 

Steven Knight, who has worked on other impressive productions like Dirty Pretty Things, Eastern Promises, and Locke, brings a new and interesting take on A Christmas Carol to FX, bringing with it a cast of impressive characters, including actress Vinette Robinson.

Vinette's character, Mary Cratchit, is usually a minor character in most tellings of A Christmas Carol. In the original story, she's not even named — only mentioned as the wife of Bob Cratchit. 

Bob was a character who was overworked and underpaid by Scrooge and his business partner, Jacob Marley, while he worked for them. In the story, he's meant to represent the lower working class.

But while his wife is usually a two-dimensional character, not given much voice throughout the story, Steven modified that in his version, giving her a fuller character arc to follow.

"Steven has really created a brilliant three-dimensional character — a woman with real agency," Vinette said in an interview with HeyUGuys. "Seeing her perspective, which Dickens never elaborated on, it's really interesting seeing Steven's insight as to what she might be going through."

Mary is set to appear in all three episodes of the mini-series, according to the IMDB page for the show. Vinette will play alongside Joe Alwyn (aka, Taylor Swift's boyfriend) as Bob.

A Christmas Carol follows the story of the infamous Ebenezer Scrooge, an old miser who hates Christmas. After being visited by the ghost of his old business partner, Jacob, as well as the spirits of Christmas Past, Christmas Present, and Christmas Yet to Come, you see Scrooge change into a nicer, gentler man. 

This tale of Christmas spirit was originally written in the mid-1800s by Charles Dickens, in a commentary on Christmas traditions of the time.

The story has become a classic, and being redone over and over again, becoming a softer, more gentle telling over time.

But Steven Knight's version takes a darker twist on the tale, coming closer to the original roots of the story in FX's retelling of A Christmas Carol.

"Anything that you make, you're having a conversation with what's happening now, even if it's an old story and it's set in the past," Vinette said of the show. "Your perspective will always differ depending on the time it's told, so I think what Steven's done really brilliantly is sort of dig into the bones of that because it has parallels to what's happening today, sadly, in terms of the social aspect of it."

Vinette's list of credits is long and includes some notable roles and guest appearances in different British TV shows. She appeared as Sgt Sally Donovan in Sherlock, Nicola Daniels in The A Word, and Helen Hopewell in Waterloo Road. 

Vinette has also made a couple of guest appearances on the hit British fantasy show Doctor Who. 

In 2007, she appeared in the episode "42" as Abi Lerner. She then returned to the show 11 years later to portray Rosa Parks in the show's episode "Rosa" about the Civil Rights movement. 

Steven Knight's version of A Christmas Carol premieres on FX on Dec. 19.