'The Artful Dodger' review
The art of Adaptation, FanFiction and how to deferentially 'Doff Your Cap' to the source-material
I am obsessed with The Artful Dodger - an Australian historical Oliver Twist FanFiction television series that began in 2023, just had a second season drop in February this year (with strong predictions of a third to be announced soon);
In 1850s Australia, the past of Jack Dawkins, a former pickpocket who has become a surgeon, resurfaces when an old acquaintance, Fagin, arrives and lures him back into a life of crime.
Oliver Twist Genesis
Jack Dawkins being ‘the Artful Dodger,’ - a young character in Charles Dickens’s 1838 novel Oliver Twist, who brings the little orphan to join elderly man Fagin’s merry band of pickpockets and juvenile delinquents.
At the end of the novel, Dodger is caught red-handed with a stolen snuffbox and sentenced to ‘transportation’ - the inference being banishment to Australia’s penal colonies (though ‘Australia’ or ‘Van Diemen’s Land’ as the British also called it, is never explicitly named in the novel).
We sadly don’t even get to see a final goodbye for Dodger in the book, rather it’s Fagin and others in his orbit who explain his fate which happens off the page;
(with thanks to Project Gutenberg for the excerpts);
“I’m doubtful about it,” replied Fagin, with a sigh. “If they don’t get any fresh evidence, it’ll only be a summary conviction, and we shall have him back again after six weeks or so; but, if they do, it’s a case of lagging. They know what a clever lad he is; he’ll be a lifer. They’ll make the Artful nothing less than a lifer.”
“What do you mean by lagging and a lifer?” demanded Mr. Bolter. “What’s the good of talking in that way to me; why don’t yer speak so as I can understand yer?”
Fagin was about to translate these mysterious expressions into the vulgar tongue; and, being interpreted, Mr. Bolter would have been informed that they represented that combination of words, “transportation for life,” when the dialogue was cut short by the entry of Master Bates, with his hands in his breeches-pockets, and his face twisted into a look of semi-comical woe.
“It’s all up, Fagin,” said Charley, when he and his new companion had been made known to each other.
“What do you mean?”
“They’ve found the gentleman as owns the box; two or three more’s a coming to ’dentify him; and the Artful’s booked for a passage out,” replied Master Bates. “I must have a full suit of mourning, Fagin, and a hatband, to wisit him in, afore he sets out upon his travels. To think of Jack Dawkins—lummy Jack—the Dodger—the Artful Dodger—going abroad for a common twopenny-halfpenny sneeze-box! I never thought he’d a done it under a gold watch, chain, and seals, at the lowest. Oh, why didn’t he rob some rich old gentleman of all his walables, and go out as a gentleman, and not like a common prig, without no honour nor glory!”
It’s a really lacklustre end for such a fascinating character in the novel - far more interesting is Dodger than the eponymous Oliver, even (or ‘wet lettuce,’ as the television FanFic series nicknames him).
No wonder then, that creators - James McNamara, David Maher, and David Taylor - have spun an entire series extending Dickens’ metaverse around his most interesting characters, wondering what exactly became of Jack ‘Dodger’ Dawkins when he landed in Australia … the answer is; he joined the navy briefly, studied (somewhat) under a ship’s surgeon and is tasked with becoming local doctor for the fictional colony town of Port Victory, located in Sydney.
The Artful Dodger
When the show begins it’s the 1850s - roughly 15-years after the events of the novel - and in episode one a new convict transport has docked, and Dawkins is confronted by his old father-figure Fagin, who has also managed to get transport to Australia and quickly becomes a pain in (now) Dr. Dawkin’s side, as he instantly begins scheming how he can work the colony to his advantage.
British actor Thomas Brodie-Sangster - best known as the lovestruck kid running through an airport in Love, Actually and ‘Newt’ in The Maze Runner franchise, leads the charge as Dodger. It’ll come as a shock to those of us who seasonally re-watch Love, Actually that the little kid is now a grown 35-years-old, and even more delightfully shocking; that he’s a charmingly adept and rather swoony leading-man, with some retro Hugh Grant-airs about him.
Now, I don’t think it’s only for the sake of that fabulous tagline - the Dodger will see you now - that they made Jack Dawkins into a doctor. I think the creators did a wonderful job of taking the rich character-study offered in Dickens’ novel, and imagining what a little cosplaying adult-toff child would grow into, if he had to come of age on a convict and navy ship.
The boy who addressed this inquiry to the young wayfarer, was about his own age: but one of the queerest looking boys that Oliver had even seen. He was a snub-nosed, flat-browed, common-faced boy enough; and as dirty a juvenile as one would wish to see; but he had about him all the airs and manners of a man. He was short of his age: with rather bow-legs, and little, sharp, ugly eyes. His hat was stuck on the top of his head so lightly, that it threatened to fall off every moment—and would have done so, very often, if the wearer had not had a knack of every now and then giving his head a sudden twitch, which brought it back to its old place again. He wore a man’s coat, which reached nearly to his heels. He had turned the cuffs back, half-way up his arm, to get his hands out of the sleeves: apparently with the ultimate view of thrusting them into the pockets of his corduroy trousers; for there he kept them. He was, altogether, as roystering and swaggering a young gentleman as ever stood four feet six, or something less, in the bluchers.
The result is Thomas Brodie-Sangster playing Dodger with a deep hurt and canniness to him, but also a surety swagger that gives a compelling and competent bedside manner. There are also head-nods to his movie counterpart Jack Wild, who played Dodger in the 1968 movie musical Oliver! in both dress and a few Easter eggs to the set (according to IMDb; a sign outside the Cat & Bagpipes can be seen advertising Wild’s Celebrated Ales, after Jack Wild).
But where Brodie-Sangster and Dodger really shine is in the surprising switch-up to hear-throb leading-man (more on that in a moment).
Fagin
Second only to Dodger for fascinating characters in Oliver Twist is Fagin, who meets an untimely end, convicted and sentenced to death at the gallows … and though Oliver has a traumatising final visit with him in Newgate Prison, the creators of the TV series shrewdly know that we don’t actually witness Fagin’s death on the page … leaving the door wide open for a Lazarus uprising in the television show;
The door of the cell opened, and the attendants returned.
“Press on, press on,” cried Fagin. “Softly, but not so slow. Faster, faster!”
The men laid hands upon him, and disengaging Oliver from his grasp, held him back. He struggled with the power of desperation, for an instant; and then sent up cry upon cry that penetrated even those massive walls, and rang in their ears until they reached the open yard.
It was some time before they left the prison. Oliver nearly swooned after this frightful scene, and was so weak that for an hour or more, he had not the strength to walk.
Day was dawning when they again emerged. A great multitude had already assembled; the windows were filled with people, smoking and playing cards to beguile the time; the crowd were pushing, quarrelling, joking. Everything told of life and animation, but one dark cluster of objects in the centre of all—the black stage, the cross-beam, the rope, and all the hideous apparatus of death.
In The Artful Dodger, Fagin is played brilliantly and lovingly-sinisterly by British actor David Thewlis, best known as Remus Lupin in the Harry Potter movie franchise.
It works well here, that for a certain generation of TV-viewers we’re prone to seeing and trusting Thewlis as a mentor and assured father-figure, and much like his marks we may well fall for his stunts initially as Fagin - before realising he is deliciously and devilishly untrustworthy from top to bottom.
That Thewlis also looks like a fabulous stand-in for Ron Moody’s 1968 Fagin is just the cherry on top;
In Dicken’s book, Fagin reads very uncomfortable through a modern lens … he’s referred to throughout by both his name, and as ‘the Jew’ - and, yes, that is indeed a lot of antisemitism focused on one of the most famous Jewish characters in English literature (up there with Shakespeare’s Shylock from The Merchant of Venice) - that he is a crooked thief, murderer and fraudster who gets orphaned children to do his evil bidding, has not gone unnoticed by modern audiences;
Michael Getler in that PBS article even notes;
Dickens, himself, eventually had second thoughts and halted the printing of the book about halfway through so as to refer in later chapters to Fagin by name rather than the 257 times in the first 38 chapters where he is called “the Jew.” And Dickens later wrote what proved to be his final novel, “Our Mutual Friend,” in which a major character is Jewish “whose goodness is almost as complete as Fagin’s is evil,” as Vallely described it.
Maybe for better or worse, Fagin is pretty firmly atheist in The Artful Dodger - so much so that he’s even willing to rip off the Catholic Church in an elaborate plot - thus, his Jewishness is not remarked upon or mentioned in the series, and may well be intended non-existent in the show; and while that may be erasure, I think it was necassary for modern sensibilities.
Lady Belle
Rounding-out the cast top-billing is newly invented character (whose family especially, feel like an amalgamation of all the ‘toffs’ mentioned in Dickens’ novel) - Lady Belle Fox, the Governor’s daughter played by Australian actor Maia Mitchell.
In the early 00’s Mitchell was in the kid’s show Mortified, but got her big American break at the age of 20 when she scored a leading-role on five-seasons of family drama The Fosters, and then also co-leading its sexier spinoff series Good Trouble alongside co-star Cierra Ramirez. Mitchell seemed pretty settled in Hollywood, but during Covid and the pandemic she was cut-off from Australia and her family, and has since spoken openly about how that precipitated her leaving Good Trouble early, to return and settle home - thus paving the way for her to lead this Aussie historical drama;
Clearly with a name like Lady Belle, the character is a small head-nod to Belle from Beauty and the Beast - but unlike the 2017 remake with Emma Watson, that tried to further update the already outlier female bookish protagonist with head-scratching pseudo-feminism that fell flat, as Zoe Williams pointed out for The Guardian at the time;
I do, however, feel bound to point out that Belle’s invention is a washing machine, a contraption she rigs up to a horse, to do her domestic work while she teaches another, miniature feminist how to read. The underlying message baked into this pie is that laundry is women’s work, which the superbly clever woman will delegate to a horse while she spreads literacy. It would be better if she had used her considerable intellect to question why she had to wash anything at all, while her father did nothing more useful than mend clocks.
… instead we have Lady Belle in Artful Dodger who feels like a truly feminist and fresh take in historical fiction, much more in keeping with modern-day sensibilities - anachronistic, maybe, but far more fascinating. She is a young woman who dreams of becoming a doctor, and is teaching herself with every book and study she can get her hands on. Yes, there are personal ulterior motives to her ambitions - but Mitchell plays her with charming capriciousness and capability. She’s not bossy, she’s the boss energy - and we love to see it.
Rounding out the Fox family is the bumbling but loveable Governor played by Damien Garvey, Susie Porter as his formidable Governess wife (who is really running the show) and Belle’s quirky sister Fanny, played by Lucy-Rose Leonard.
Fan-edits don’t lie
I recently had it explained to my geriatric Millennial self, that the way to know if a piece of pop-culture is piping hot is to judge it by the fan-edits on TikTok. And indeed, I first watched Dodger in 2024 the same year that I joined TikTok - it had been on air since November 2023 by that point and I swear, “fan-edits” (fan-videos spliced together over trending music, but with fantastic edit skills especially - picking out all the juiciest and especially the most romantic tidbits from the show) were everywhere, and compelling. So much so, they pushed me to watch.
For example;
And yes, undoubtedly, aside from intrigue about what exactly did happen to Dodger after the events of Oliver Twist - the promise of a forbidden romance with ‘Uptown Girl’ underlying sensibilities (She’s been living in her uptown world / I bet she’s never had a backstreet guy) is what really compelled me and then hooked me on the show.
Maia Mitchell and Thomas Brodie-Sangster do not disappoint when it comes to the yearning and romance between Jack and Belle - it ignites from episode one and continues to burn throughout Season 1, with delightful sparks in Season 2 and the cliffhanger promise of more if there is going to be a Season 3 (and I swear on all that is Holy and Dolly Parton that if there’s no Season 3 I will riot!)
They are really what has made the show turn into a bonfire over on TikTok - with people even favourably comparing Dodger to Benedict Bridgerton in the latest season of that Netflix show, and even deciding that Jack Dawkins is the more romantic of the two (ahem - agreed!)
But what I think really elevates this romance is the underlying discussions of class, colonialism and patriarchy throughout - it especially hit me as I finished watching Season 2 of The Artful Dodger around the same time as I masochistically subjected myself to Emerald Fennell’s “Wuthering Heights” that bumbles around the Moors looking for anything to say - let alone anything interesting - on the topic of classism.
Meanwhile, Artful Dodger is adeptly discussing social-class in every episode, as;
Dawkins tries to overcome his London slum background to be seen as a respectable doctor in this penal colony
Patients are often trying to be seen as human within an inhumane medical and colonial system
Lady Belle constantly realises the limitations of her wealth and privilege that end at her gender when it comes to trying to fulfil her medical ambitions, and;
Peppered through the show are modern-day reminders of colonialism, and on whose land Port Victory stands.
A strong Australian show
Artful Dodger has a wonderful mix of characters from various backgrounds, that both add to the sense that this is an up-and-coming trading hub and evolving colony, but doesn’t forget that so-called “Australia” has the World’s Oldest Continuous Living Culture. From a modern-day standpoint too, it’s refreshing to see an Aussie show that - historical it may be - leans into the melting-pot of cultures that we should always celebrate and represent on our screens.
Vivienne Awosoga plays nurse Hetty in Dawkins’ hospital - she has a British father of Nigerian descent, and an Australian mother. Albert Latailakepa is of Samoan (Luatuanu’u) and Tongan (Ma’ufanga) descent, and plays henchman-for-hire, Aputi. Aljin Abella, also known as Alin Abella, is an Australian actor of Filipino descent who plays Fagin’s dynamite expert Bayani ‘Flashbang’ Rivera. Irish-Zimbabwean actor Brigid Zengeni plays Rosemary ‘Rotty’ Falkirk who runs the local tavern, and in Season 2 becomes deeply embroiled in Fagin’s various ploys.
Then there’s Luke Carroll - an Aboriginal man of the Wiradjuri and Ngunnawal peoples, who plays medical-equipment inventor Tim Billiberllary. In Season 2 especially, Billiberllary is the voice of sense and objection to various of Fagin’s schemes that revolve around fake land-rights … that are not his to give, or take.
Season 1 also sees a secondary storyline spin around Frances ‘Red’ Scrubbs, an increasingly notorious highway bush-woman played thrillingly and ferociously by Larrakia Aboriginal actor Miranda Tapsell, who has also written for the TV show behind-the-scenes.
It is quite clear that there’s a diverse screenwriter’s room at play in The Artful Dodger, for all the interwoven discussions of class and colonialism so mired in the colony and deliciously picked over in every episode.
Finally, rounding out the Aussie cast are the various ‘villains’ (and red-herrings) of the two seasons; Damon Herriman does an absolutely masterful turn as Captain Lucien Gaines in Season 1. Tim Minchin - who I am forever lukewarm on - plays Darius Cracksworth, a big-wick crook across the two seasons. And Luke Bracey has been a most interesting new addition to Season 2, playing Inspector Henry Boxer - a complicated and enticing new policeman in town, whose inner-turmoil and dark past could see him go down many different paths in the future …
Australian talent on show
Produced by Curio Pictures, Beach Road Pictures and Sony Pictures Television for Disney+ (streaming in America on Hulu, via its Disney+ partnership) - The Artful Dodger has done an incredible job of blending new and old faces on our small screens, and showing what Australian productions can do.
Curio Pictures are on a bit of a winning streak - having produced the brilliant and brutal adaptation of Richard Flanagan’s Booker-prize winning The Narrow Road to the Deep North, with hot-right-now star Jacob Elordi in the lead, they are making a name for themselves particularly in this historical-fiction television landscape which I find so interesting and refreshing.
The show also has various directors, but Gracie Otto has helmed five so far (and her social-media is always good for behind-the-scenes sneak-peeks!) and she’s likewise been on a real winning-streak, directing everything from Heartbreak High to Ladies in Black.
It’s no small feat to see so many incredible Aussie creatives behind and on our screens. And as I write this, we’ve had devastating News in the industry about the shut-down of Matchbox Pictures;
Why Australia’s Matchbox Pictures is being shut down - Matchbox was closed by its parent company, Universal International Studios, and the closure has resulted in the loss of 30 full-time equivalent positions.
Why one of Australia’s most successful TV production companies is being shut down
Australian screen industry crushed as Universal shutters Matchbox Pictures, with 30 jobs lost - Peak screenwriting body says the closure is a reminder industry cannot rely on ‘whims of international studios to keep us afloat’
Streaming has decimated a lot of our industry (as has poor decisions by Government that has variously gutted and under-funded the industry for far too long);
New streaming quotas are being floated but data shows Australian kids’ TV has already been decimated
So it feels really thrilling to see this little Aussie historical drama going toe-to-toe with the likes of Bridgerton for Fan-Edits and audience love on an international stage;
That it’s historical especially, means our talented artists really get a chance to shine in the spotlight for costume and set-design;
From Redcoats To Rococo Madness—Costuming ‘The Artful Dodger’ - Marion Boyce, the costume designer behind the fabulous Phryne Fisher, on joining the series’ second season and creating gorgeous costumes for mad character capers.
All of this matters … as the Arts in Australia is currently staring down decimation (again; Government gutting, under-funding and interference) it’s vitally important that we can all see the best of us on display to keep our art and culture alive and even thriving;
Shrinking casts, diminished reach, less ambition: the arts in Australia needs more than just tax reform - The real goal of arts policy shouldn’t be to keep organisations solvent – it needs to keep each artform alive for the next generation, writes Belvoir St theatre’s artistic director
The desertification of Australian culture - How the diminishing government support for the arts is taking its toll.
The love and support for a show like The Artful Dodger goes far beyond just joining the JackxBelle ship - it’s a relief and a wonder to feel such elation and support for a thoroughly Aussie show, that has taken a piece of great and popular English literature, and treated it with care and curiosity to tell a decidedly Australian tale at a time when we’re seeing less and less of ourselves on-screen.
As Australian Writers Guild chief executive, Claire Pullen said at the closure of Matchbox;
“Its closure is a sad reminder that our industry can’t rely on the whims of international studios to keep us afloat, and that we must be looking at solutions to maintain a robust and distinctly Australian screen sector … We have the talent within Australia to create internationally renowned drama, so it’s vital we nurture that at home.”
If you haven’t yet watched The Artful Dodger, may I humbly implore you to do so?! It’s a great one for teens and families alike, a wonderfully binge-able and clever series that has a beating-heart romance at its centre and fantastically rich characters extended beyond their fates on the pages of Charles Dicken’s famous novel.
Speaking of the original creator; I think he would have been tickled with this reimagining of Dodger and Fagin, since he himself was somewhat fascinated with the prospect of Australia … you have to wonder if he was doing Jack a favour by sending him here (it has certainly worked out well for us, the audience);
OMG there's a season 2!!