Thomas Brodie-Sangster is 'The Artful Dodger,' Dickens with a bloody twist
From dodger to doctor.
LOS ANGELES -- "The Artful Dodger" puts a twist on an old classic. Jack Dawkins, one of Charles Dickens' most famous characters from "Oliver Twist" is back, 15 years after the story left off.
In 1850s Australia, Jack finds himself stuck between a life of crime as a nimble pickpocket and a life of glory as a talented surgeon.
Thomas Brodie-Sangster, who plays the titular character said, "He finds a talent being a surgeon and it's kind of a struggle between running away from his past and trying to build a new life for himself."
Between the push and pull of the two worlds, one with Fagin (David Thewlis), the man he learned his skills from, and one with Lady Belle Fox (Maia Mitchell), a girl of high society who wants to become the first female surgeon, Jack must find where he belongs within the rigid class system.
"It's not a completely serious earnest period piece... There is a level of humor there," Damon Herriman explained to On The Red Carpet.
In that way, the dramedy is accessible to audiences of today, where some of the darker tones of Dickens are traded in for energetic spectacle.
All eight episodes of "The Artful Dodger" are streaming now on Hulu.
The Walt Disney Company is the parent company of Hulu and this ABC station.
