This show is almost too good to be confined to a small Staffordshire theatre. In truth it deserves to be seen by a wider audience and would not look out of place on the West End stage. That’s all credit to the in-house production team, under the leadership of the Garrick’s artistic director Adrian Jackson, whose foresight and imagination have resulted in a spectacular success.

Graham Cole (Ebenezer Scrooge) in A Christmas Carol at the Lichfield Garrick Photo: Paul Painter

From the tip-top costumes to the fabulous scenery, the production values are immense. The show has class written all over it and, happily, the performers do justice to their lavish surroundings.

While the show has its dramatic moments, director Ian Adams has opted for a generally lighter touch than is usually the case with Dickens. Scrooge is never too nasty and the storytelling never too dark. Rather, this is largely a fun all-singing, all-dancing affair with some truly magical moments.

Graham Cole, formerly of The Bill, has a fine singing voice and is ideal for this Ebenezer. The many scene changes glide as smoothly as do the dancers when they don their ice skates.

It’s a show with a real Christmas spirit, concluding in a foot-tapping medley of everyone’s favourite seasonal songs and an audience-covering snow storm to boot.