'The Artful Dodger' Making Appointments for Season 2

It's been almost a year since the Australian series The Artful Dodger, starring Thomas Brodie-Sangster in the titular role, arrived on Disney+ and Hulu at the tail end of November 2023. At that time, neither Hulu nor parent company Disney had said one way or another if the show would return. An undermarketed all-at-once drop on Hulu here in the States, the series didn't get much traction outside of the Tumblr community at first; however, over the year-long wait, the series' fandom has grown, as more viewers discovered the oddball medical drama spinoff of Oliver Twist. That growth was enough, as Disney+ finally confirmed there will be a second season.

The Artful Dodger is not the first spinoff sequel to Oliver Twist centered on the popular supporting characters of Jack "Artful Dodger" Dawkins and mentor-in-crime Fagin. The original Charles Dickens novel tells us both were arrested at the end of their adventures with Twist, with the suggestion that Dawkins would be shipped to the Australian penal colonies, as was the norm in that era, and Fagin executed. However, more than a few follow-ups imagine Fagin escaping the gallows and heading to Australia as well, where he and Dodger have further adventures.

However, The Artful Dodger goes one better. It assumes Dawkins, an intelligent and precocious young man, thrives in the Australian colonies once provided with an education and structure. Due to his deft hands, he rises through one of the best medical schools and class ranks to become one of the fledgling nation's foremost young surgeons before Fagin reconnects with him. The result is a blend of period medical drama, crime thriller, clash of class differences, and romance, as Dawkins falls in love with the upper-class Lady Belle, who finds his day job and his side hustle far more interesting than she should.