‘The Artful Dodger’ Boss Teases New Take on ‘Oliver Twist’ Characters in Hulu Series

Hulu‘s raucous drama series The Artful Dodger bursts in on the entertainingly messy adult life of the Artful Dodger, the cunning child pickpocket who led a gang of kiddie thieves in Charles Dickens’ novel Oliver Twist.

Turns out the cutpurse escaped prison and joined the navy, where he learned the brand-new surgery profession (nimble fingers help!). Now he’s remade himself as Dr. Jack Dawkins (Thomas Brodie-Sangster), working for room and board at a colonial Australian hospital.

“He’s a generally respectable surgeon but still has an itch to do crime,” co-creator and writer James McNamara says. Hence his gambling side hustle! If it’s discovered he’s a fugitive, he’ll face the noose. But Brodie-Sangster’s Jack “knows how to throw down,” McNamara adds, “and when he’s pushed to a certain point, he will do so.”

Dawkins’ life is upended when a prisoner transport from England brings a surprise: his former father figure and criminal mentor Norbert Fagin (David Thewlis), who left him to rot in jail. “Fagin wants redemption but also wants to make a lot of money, and he needs Dodger to do that,” McNamara says.

Thankfully, Lady Belle Fox (Maia Mitchell, The Fosters) gives the doctor a reason to stay good. He meets the brilliant governor’s daughter—who aspires to be a surgeon—while helping a boy who’s been hit by a carriage. “Together they form this wonder team,” notes McNamara. But the lifesaving pair’s own lives are at risk thanks to Fagin’s twisty criminal enterprise.

The Artful Dodger, Series Premiere, Wednesday, November 29, Hulu