Airdate: The Artful Dodger

New Australian series The Artful Dodger will premiere in November on Disney+.

The Artful Dodger is an irreverent follow-up to Charles Dickens’ “Oliver Twist” exploring the adult double life of the famous prince of thieves. Set in 1850s Australia, in the lively colony of Port Victory, Jack Dawkins aka The Artful Dodger, has transferred his fast fingers as a pickpocket to the nimble skilled fingers of a surgeon. Dodger’s past returns to haunt him with the arrival of Fagin, luring him back into a world of crime. A greater threat – to Dodger’s heart – is Lady Belle, the Governor’s daughter, determined to become the colony’s first female surgeon.

From heists and life-and-death surgeries to the harsh realities of the criminal world mingling with the middle ground and gentry, this eight-part series is a tale of reinvention, betrayal, redemption, and love with a twist.

The eight part series features Thomas Brodie-Sangster (Pistol, The Queen’s Gambit), David Thewlis (Landscapers, Fargo) and  Maia Mitchell (Good Trouble, The Fosters).

Also featuring are Damon Herriman (Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Judy and Punch), Miranda Tapsell (Top End Wedding, The Sapphires), Tim Minchin (Upright, Californication), Susie Porter (Wentworth, Gold), Kym Gyngell (Love Me, Black Snow), Damien Garvey (Nautilus, Jack Irish), Jessica De Gouw (The Secrets She Keeps, The Drover’s Wife), Andrea Demetriades (The End, Seven Types of Ambiguity), Luke Carroll (Upright, Preppers) and  Huw Higginson (Total Control, Janet King).

Rising talents are Lucy-Rose Leonard, Nicholas Burton, Jude Hyland, Finn Treacy and Albert Latailakepa.

“The Artful Dodger” is a co-production with Sony Pictures Television (SPT) and produced by Beach Road Pictures and SPT’s Curio Pictures. The series is Co-Created and Executive Produced by Beach Road Pictures’ David Maher & David Taylor. Jo Porter represents Curio Pictures as Executive Producer. James McNamara (Co-Creator and Co-Executive Producer), Andrew Knight (Co-Executive Producer and Writer), Jeffrey Walker (Co-Executive Producer and Director) and Ross Allsop (Producer) complete the producing team.

Jeffrey Walker (Young Rock, The Commons, Modern Family) serves as set up director and Co- Executive Producer, with Directors Corrie Chen (New Gold Mountain, Bad Behaviour) and Gracie Otto (Heartbreak High, The Clearing) and the series is written by James McNamara, Andrew Knight, Vivienne Walshe and Dan Knight, with Miranda Tapsell.

The series will be filmed in New South Wales, Australia, with financial support provided by the State Government through Screen NSW’s Made In NSW fund.

Wednesday November 29 on Disney+.