WELL hark the herald angels sing and deck the halls with boughs of holly.

As Noddy Holder would say, it’s Chriiiiiiiistmas – and we’re not allowed to forget it.

No sooner has the final flush of fireworks lit up the sky, than it’s time to roll out the Christmas adverts, drag the Z-list stars in for the illuminations and get latenight shopping.

Given all that yuletide cheer, it makes some sort of strange sense to put that traditional festive favourite Scrooge on in mid- November.

And shows don’t come more Christmassy than a musical based on A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens.

Leslie Bricusse’s heart-warming tale sees the miserly Ebenezer Scrooge have a change of festive hearts after being visited by various spirits on Christmas Eve.

In the lead role, Tommy Steele, once dubbed Britain’s answer to Elvis, can still belt out a fine tune.

He has plenty of energy for upbeat songs like the Oscar-nominated Thank You Very Much as he nears his 77th birthday next month.

This version of Scrooge is largely similar to the last time it visited Southampton. Where it differs is in the illusions. Harry Potter movie ‘magician’ Paul Kieve, who was also responsible for the spectacular magic in the recent stage version of Ghost, has been brought on board to magic up ghosts, move inanimate objects and generally make the audience jump.

No matter how much of a Scrooge I normally am until at least this time next month, I couldn’t help myself but get into this infectious musical.

Even if you resist, it will leave you feeling festive.

Scrooge runs until Saturday.