One of the most memorable characters from all of Charles Dickens’ work is getting his own follow up series for Disney+ and Hulu. The Artful Dodger picks up the life of the title character in adulthood as a doctor in Australia with his past coming back to haunt him. The series stars Thomas Brodie-Sangster (Queen’s Gambit), David Thewlis (Harry Potter) and Maia Mitchell (The Fosters) in the lead roles as Jack Dawkins/Dodger, Fagin and Lady Belle Fox. Watch the trailer revealed by Deadline below…
The Artful Dodger was a pickpocket and friend to Oliver Twist who grew up in Fagin’s gang of street thieves and was Fagin’s best pickpocket and right-hand. At the end of Dickens’ classic novel, he was caught and sentenced to prison for theft with the implication he would serve his time in an Australian penal colony.
The Artful Dodger will pick up years after Oliver Twist as Dodger has remade himself and become a successful surgeon. The synopsis reads:
Billed as an irreverent follow-up to Charles Dickens’ Oliver Twist exploring the adult double life of the famous prince of thieves, the series is set in 1850s Australia where Jack Dawkins, aka young rogue The Artful Dodger (Brodie-Sangster), is now all grown up and has transferred his skills as a pickpocket to the nimble fingers of a surgeon. His past returns to haunt him with the arrival of Fagin (Thewlis), luring him back into a world of crime, while the local governor’s daughter (Mitchell), who is determined to become the colony’s first female surgeon, appears to be a greater threat, at least to his heart.
The Artful Dodger was created by James McNamara, David Maher and David Taylor as a co-production with Sony Pictures Television’s Curio Pictures and Beach Road Pictures. McNamara wrote the episodes with Andrew Knight, Vivienne Walshe and Dan Knight while Tapsell also served as a story consultant along with acting in the series. Directing the series is Corrie Chen (New Gold Mountain) and Gracie Otto (Heartbreak High).
The Artful Dodger will premiere all eight of its episodes on November 29th on Hulu in the US and Disney+ in Australia and other markets.
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