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Dickens adaptations arrive on TV with such frequency that viewers are seldom left hungry for more. The Australia-set Oliver Twist spin-off The Artful Dodger, however, is so far removed from the original that it may leave you wondering what happened to the source material.
Inconsistent but broadly enjoyable, the eight-part Hulu series is a hybrid of crime caper and period hospital drama that takes some famous intellectual property and inserts it into a story that could have easily worked without it. We follow Jack Dawkins (Thomas Brodie-Sangster), a formerly light-fingered London urchin who has grown up to become a steady-handed surgeon in 1850s Australia. Having left his past behind, Jack is perturbed to discover that it has come to find him in the form of inveterate crook Fagin (David Thewlis), his erstwhile guardian-cum-exploiter.
Their shared history, which is bluntly spelt out, provides the context for the power that Fagin holds over Jack. But the show doesn’t overplay the childhood trauma angle, opting instead for a blithe odd-couple dynamic as the duo rile the town’s elites with jewel-stealing, grave-robbing mischief.
The plot is not as nimble as its characters. Thewlis steals every scene with a delightfully sly turn that often leaves the viewer uncertain of Fagin’s intentions. And the eternally youthful Brodie-Sangster is well-cast as a young man caught between his innate impish spirit and efforts to be a responsible professional.
In the most obvious departure from the story’s origins, the series plays out in a hospital, where the governor’s daughter Belle (Maia Mitchell) — a theoretical physician prevented from practising medicine — shadows Jack and in turn introduces him to experimental treatments. As they lock eyes over a perforated bowel, you suspected it’s not long before romance will blossom.
But these medical scenes jar with the heart of the series. The Artful Dodger’s scenes of bone-sawing and limb-sewing are unsparingly and unnecessarily graphic. Even strong-stomached viewers will be put off their gruel.
★★★☆☆
On Disney+ in the UK and Hulu in the US now
