Charles Dickens‘ Oliver Twist has proved fertile ground for adaptations in the almost two centuries since its publication. It has seen its principal characters become a singing, dancing, ensemble of ragged street orphans in Oliver!, modern-day criminals in Twist, and even animated cats and dogs in Oliver and Company.
One of the most notable modern adaptations is the Hulu series The Artful Dodger. The series follows the title character, the most skilled of Fagin’s child thieves, after his arrest and transportation to Australia, as seen in the end of the novel. Decades on, he’s become a respected Australian surgeon, Jack Dawkins (Thomas Brodie-Sangster), and has kept his criminal past a secret. This becomes even more challenging when his old mentor, Fagin (David Thewlis), turns up. After premiering in 2023, the series got a second season, which ended on a cliffhanger. But will we ever see it resolved?
The Artful Dodger has dodged cancellation one last time. Deadline reports that the series will return for a third and final season on Hulu. Brodie-Sangster and Thewlis are set to return, as will Maia Mitchell, who plays Hawkins’ love interest, Lady Belle Fox. The series is expected to kick off filming in Sydney, Australia in the next few months.
What Happened on Season 2 of ‘The Artful Dodger’?
It was an eventful season for the residents of 1850s Australia. Dickie Fox (Jeremy Sims), Belle’s ne’er-do-well uncle, came to town and got into trouble with Fagin…and also turned out to be Belle’s real father. Meanwhile, residents were terrorized both by a brutal serial killer, who turned out to be Professor Alistair McGregor (Kym Gyngell), Jack’s longtime boss, plus a devastating outbreak of cholera. It all ended well for Jack, however, who quelled the outbreak and won Belle’s hand, with the approval of her mother, Lady Jane (Susie Porter). However, Fagin was left in an extremely precarious position. He had Jack inject him with a chemical that made him appear dead, letting him escape his latest scam; however, it worked a little too well, and by the time it wore off, Fagin had been buried alive.
The Artful Dodger will return for a third and final season on Hulu; no release date has yet been announced.
via Collider