The Artful Dodger (2023)

Watchseries; I haven't seen too many stuff from the victorian era based in Australia so this caught my eye. It's a reimagining of Oliver Twist and fellow characters, with the story leading us to colonial Australia. But to be honest with all I know of Oliver Twist is the song by D'banj that ravaged probably every party in Africa in the early 2010s. One of the things that stood out to me in this was there's notably a lot of amputations going on, the medical field has really come far.

Typical stuff though for any show/movie based in that time, with a the arranged marriages and smart girl who doesn't want any of her suitors so her younger sibling can't get married either. The high class, privileged daughter and the thieving bandit and many more elements that lead back to these being stories that have been done before.

In terms of the characters and how they all connect, it's pretty predictable and you can tell how it's gonna go, who's gonna end up with who and all that. And they're personalities too, which makes try them even more predictable as you can guess what they'd do next. The casting was good, I remember Thomas Brodie-Sangster from "Love, Actually". I liked that the characters were almost entirely convicts, as was Australia at the time, yet the story manages to string up a villain in captain Gaines.

However it is pretty quick paced and keeps itself on its toes, so if you can ignore all the formulaic stuff and act like it's the first show you've ever seen, it's pretty fun. It had good writing, good pacing, and characters you can get invested in. I love how they're portrayed, the good and the bad; but mostly I love how they're no annoying characters. If you haven't watched any Victorian era tv series in a while like I have, this feels pretty fresh and fun.

I haven't seen too many stuff from the victorian era based in Australia so this caught my eye. It's a reimagining of Oliver Twist and fellow characters, with the story leading us to colonial Australia. But to be honest with all I know of Oliver Twist is the song by D'banj that ravaged probably every party in Africa in the early 2010s. One of the things that stood out to me in this was there's notably a lot of amputations going on, the medical field has really come far.

Typical stuff though for any show/movie based in that time, with a the arranged marriages and smart girl who doesn't want any of her suitors so her younger sibling can't get married either. The high class, privileged daughter and the thieving bandit and many more elements that lead back to these being stories that have been done before.

In terms of the characters and how they all connect, it's pretty predictable and you can tell how it's gonna go, who's gonna end up with who and all that. And they're personalities too, which makes try them even more predictable as you can guess what they'd do next. The casting was good, I remember Thomas Brodie-Sangster from "Love, Actually". I liked that the characters were almost entirely convicts, as was Australia at the time, yet the story manages to string up a villain in captain Gaines.

However it is pretty quick paced and keeps itself on its toes, so if you can ignore all the formulaic stuff and act like it's the first show you've ever seen, it's pretty fun. It had good writing, good pacing, and characters you can get invested in. I love how they're portrayed, the good and the bad; but mostly I love how they're no annoying characters. If you haven't watched any Victorian era tv series in a while like I have, this feels pretty fresh and fun.

The Artful Dodger watchseries. I'm so glad to have found this series, I wish there were more like this one. I enjoyed it so much I binged watched it in two days but now I miss it and am wishing for more. I hope that it continues because you don't find series as delightfully lightweight as this one yet it covers all the things one would hope to find in a good series. The characters are wonderful, the scenery, costumes, the intrigue, romance, even the violence are all well balanced. Just my cup of tea. The music is really good as well. It's fun but still manages to stir up feelings of all sorts. I'll be waiting for the next round.

This clever twist on the eponymous Dodger is all I wanted and more. The casting is a dream; Thewlis was born to play Fagin and Thomas Brodie Sangster as Jack Dawkins is the perfect leading man: charming, clever, boyishly handsome and ever so artful. The characters play off each other with delightful banter and the chemistry is pure perfection. The story's structure continuously ups the stakes without ever giving emotional fatigue while the simmering love story will leave you breathless. By the series end, everything pays off with catharsis and satisfies the entire emotional range in a blend rarely seen nowadays.

If you like a bit of snark with your play on a period piece, for my money this is somewhere between Our Flag Means Death, Sherlock, and Becoming Jane.

I absolutely LOVED it! Sometimes it takes a couple of episodes to get into a series but this one set up the plot in the first five minutes which I thoroughly enjoyed. While a lot did happen (especially in the first episode) I thought the pacing was perfect and kept interest levels piqued from the very beginning. The acting, the characterisation, and the chemistry between the characters - especially Sangster's Dodger and Thewlis' Fagin - were brilliant. The writing flowed effortlessly and was witty and humourous when needed but also compelling in the more serious parts. What I love most is that The Artful Dodger doesn't take itself too seriously and is a completely original take on Dickens' characters. The soundtrack, which included a number of rock 'n' roll bangers, was a welcome addition that only added to the overall feeling and aesthetic of the series. Would definitely recommend it.

Haven't watched this book before. It's a new theme, and I already got bored watching modern medical series, but this one is eye-catching to me, so I finished it in a day. Good chemistry when Dawkins works with Belle. Hope they have more loveline in season two and see their growth because it's not enough to see them how to attract each other and the last few episodes were a little bit fast to end. It tells how rare the medical resources were back then and how they discovered sorts of things to save lives. Have to say that the costume and art team perfectly recreated the scene at that time, and their costumes depict contemporary social status, which is incredible.

Medical gore, heists, intrigue, humour, and romance - this show has it all! Brodie-Sangster and Thewlis were absolutely brilliant in their roles as Jack Dawkins and Fagin! Their scenes together could make me laugh or cry in turn. Hold loosely any special love you have for the original Oliver Twist story, but even if it's not a seamless sequal for these characters it's much more fun rooting for them! The series is set in 'the colonies' 15 years later where (somewhat reformed) Jack 'Dodger' Dawkins, hiding in plain sight, is an exceptional but down on his luck surgeon who is thrust back alongside the criminally-oriented Fagin.

9/10 - Great acting with a gritty, fun (yet poignant occasionally) fast paced story. It was mostly the modern rock music that lost that last point. While it did help it feel modern and irreverent, I'd have liked something less jarring.