Disney’s runaway hit The Artful Dodger sees the characters of Oliver Twist reimagined in early settler Australia, The Dodger swapping pickpocketing for doctoring in what is described as ‘welcome revisionism of Dicken’s work’, ‘irreverent’ and ‘the best thing on TV.
Medical mayhem, run-ins with the law, star-crossed lovers thrust apart, class clashes, father-son dynamics, heists and schemes, battling sexism, revenge plots, family secrets, romantic rivals, catastrophic outbreaks, murderers on the loose: in its plotting and pace alike, The Artful Dodger surges forward frenetically…
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The Artful Dodger’s irreverent intentions are clearly marked by its substitution of the cheeky but lovable Dodger for the too-good Oliver, who’s summarily dismissed in the first episode as so much ‘wet lettuce’
The Conversation
Working alongside Gorilla Constructions and Carlo Crescini for Curio Pictures, this was a cracker of a job that has gone on to span three series. Notable mention of David Thewliss who – as Fagin – chews on and spits out lines as glorious as this:
“I’ve heard some guff in my time but that really puts the pickle in the biscuit jar.”