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Oliver Twist is a tale as old as time, that speaks to the underdog in everyone, and celebrates triumph over adversity in the most definitive terms. The Artful Dodger (Thomas Brodie-Sangster) and Fagin (David Thewlis) may only be fleeting figures in that landmark fiction, but this Disney+ approved follow-up, that takes these light-fingered reprobates from UK shores and deposits them in 1850s Australia is a revelation. Re-established in the colonial outback, Jack Dawkins has made his name as a surgeon alongside fellow doctor Rainsford Sneed (Nicholas Burton), amputating limbs, advancing medical science, and indulging a passion for playing cards with local ruffians including Darius Cracksworth (Tim Minchin).
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However, over the course of this limited series in which Brodie-Sangster gives an enigmatic performance, The Artful Dodger morphs into something other than a cleverly constructed costume drama with hat tips to Curse of Black Pearl. Taking nothing away from the savvy set-up fashioned by creators David Maher and James McNamara, this Disney+ original is soon trading on much more than past glories, as those slick comic asides and wry moments of wit give way to real drama. As power dynamics change between Fagin and Hawkins, so does the emotional landscape of this piece, since Lady Belle Fox (Maia Edwards) brings something else out in this reformed pickpocket.
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Beyond the philandering ways of Cracksworth, that reveal Minchin to be an acting revelation, Maia Edwards turns from a spirited governor’s daughter into Hawkins surgical assistant in less than 4 episodes, going toe to toe with Brodie-Sangster and Thewlis in the scene stealing stakes, not only pushing The Artful Dodger into new dramatic directions, but also helping to maintain the balancing act between savvy storytelling and narrative momentum.
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What that means for an audience translates into action, adventure, and a boatload of inspired performances from an epic ensemble cast. Beyond Minchin, Mitchell, Brodie-Sangster, and Thewlis there is also Lucy-Rose Leonard (Lady Fanny Fox), who sidetracks this series into the realms of Jane Austen with an obsessive need for wedlock, while Tom Budge proves to be a suitably insipid suitor to the sisters as Mortimer Smales. Making The Artful Dodger not only an incisive commentary on gender politics, cultural restrictions, and medicine in the 1850s, but finally giving Brodie-Sangster something approaching a leading role as Jack Dawkins.
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Remembered for Game of Thrones and his long running involvement with the Maze Runner franchise, a scene stealing turn as Benny Watts in The Queen’s Gambit made the biggest impact for Brodie-Sangster before now. However, opposite Thewlis and Mitchell this underrated character actor brings more to the table turning in a disarmingly charismatic performance, that makes The Artful Dodger an essential Oliver Twist sequel no one should miss.
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The Artful Dodger is available to stream exclusively on Disney+ now.