The Artful Dodger: A Great Show You Probably Haven’t Watched

If you haven’t checked out Hulu/Disney+’s charming miniseries, The Artful Dodger, please find the nearest streaming device as soon as possible, because this one is a true gem, so good I’m giddy about finding converts to watch it.

Released in November of 2023, the story picks up fifteen years after the ending of Charles Dickens’ classic Oliver Twist and follows the adventures of Jack Dawkins, aka the Artful Dodger, that clever leader of the gang of thieving children who taught Oliver the tricks of the pickpocketing trade. Having escaped from prison where he landed at the end of the book, Jack was taken under the wing of a Royal Navy surgeon and learned the art of “medicine” (more often “butchery”). After becoming an officer in the Navy, he wound up in fictional Port Victory, Australia, where he managed to establish a respectable reputation for himself as one of three doctors in the local hospital. 

Unfortunately, in the mid-1800s surgeons were not paid beyond room and board, and Jack has had to rely on his wits and quick hands to win at cards in order to make enough scratch to survive. The story opens when the unscrupulous harbor master cheats Jack during a game, putting him on the hook for some 26 pounds, at the time an entire year’s salary. A failure to pay will cost Jack one of his hands. 

In addition to this trouble, the latest ship full of convicts has delivered someone from Jack’s past whom he’d hoped never to see again. Norbert Fagin was once a father figure, but when the self-interested criminal left Jack to rot in prison, he lost Jack’s trust and affection. Even so, Jack agrees to take on the elderly convict as his personal servant in order to keep Fagin off the chain gang. But while his young protégé has long abandoned his criminal past, Fagin has had no such change of heart, dragging a kicking and screaming Jack into his schemes.

And then there’s Belle Fox, the governor’s daughter who wants to be a surgeon even though society will never allow a woman of her station to do more than look pretty and marry well. She’s got the book smarts for the job and only needs someone to give her hands-on training and the chance to practice it on real people. When she gathers some blackmail material to use against him, she convinces the reluctant Jack to give her that chance.   

This show has it all. There are heists and criminal plots that twist and turn. There’s humor and site gags. There is name dropping and easter eggs from the classic story the show is inspired by. It addresses questions about redemption, honor, and what makes a family. The depictions of what was considered medicine back then are over-the-top, bloody (prepare to look through your fingers!) and horrifying in the sheer number of fatalities but still, somehow, funny. Throw in the slow burn, not precisely enemies-to-lovers but definitely snark-to-lovers romance and I was all in. 

The acting is phenomenal. David Thewlis (Harry Potter’s one and only Professor Remus Lupin) is hilarious as the scheming Fagin. Maia Mitchell, who reminds me so much of Emma Watson it’s scary, is perfectly cast as the feisty, ahead-of-her-time Belle. And my new TV boyfriend/crush has to be Thomas Brodie-Sangster, who plays Jack with just the right amount of rascally charm, utter bewilderment, and swaggering confidence. Honestly, has any actor ever managed to convey despair as well as this guy?

My only quibble: I want more but I don’t think I’m going to get it. The mini-series was conceived as a one-off, 8-episode deal, and from the looks of it, Hulu/Disney+ intends to stay that course. While all of the important plot lines are tied up in a satisfactory way, there are a couple of open ends just in case. If they do decide for a Season 2, I’m there.  

Seriously, if you want something fun, romantic, and different, The Artful Dodger is a delight.