IF you want to mix a moral tale with a great big dollop of feel-good Christmas nostalgia this festive season, then the combination of one of Britain's best loved entertainers, Tommy Steele, and a Dickens classic could be for you.

Veteran showman Steele is best known for his movies, including the memorable Half a Sixpence, usually playing likeable characters. But he manages to transform himself with great success into the miserly Scrooge.

There have been countless versions of A Christmas Carol, both on film and on stage over the years, and you would imagine every ounce of emotion had already been wrung out of the show.

But this Bill Kenwright production, a stage version of the film musical written by Leslie Bricusse, proves the spirit of Christmas is still alive and well.

Steel throws himself into the role with relish, suitably fierce with the cheery wellwishers who disturb his money counting, and contrite as the Spirits of Past, Present and Future give him glimpses of what his life has been and will become if he does not mend his ways.

But it is as the reformed Scrooge that Steele shines as he throws off the doom and gloom and merrily skips around the stage.

A vast selection of toe-tapping songs and some impressive special effects complete a memorable evening.