CHARLES Dickens, played by Alastair Strachan, works on his latest novel in the Great Hall at Edinburgh Castle.

The castle's programme includes a series of performances of A Dickens Christmas, which allows the audience to see how the author created the modern notion of Christmas.

Dickens, whose wife was born in Edinburgh, visited the city many times and is said to have found inspiration for Ebenezer Scrooge from one of those visits. Dickens became a freeman of the city in 1841.

Picture: Donald MacLeod