David Thewlis: Blackpool actor's new show 'The Artful Dodger' featuring Thomas Brodie-Sangster premieres in UK

Who is David Thewlis?

60-year-old David is an actor from Blackpool who is perhaps best known for playing Remus Lupin in the Harry Potter series of films.

Throughout his three decade long career, the former Highfield High School pupil has also appeared in films such as Black Beauty, The Omen, War Horse, The Theory of Everything, Wonder Woman and Enola Holmes 2.

Most recently, David, who has a daughter with actress Anna Friel, is filming a 2023 film called Littlemouth and a Netlfix series called Kaos, whilst he is set to star in Avatar 3 (2025) and Avatar 4 (2029).

What is the show?

David is playing 'Fagan' in a new show called 'The Artful Dodger'; it is a sequel to the Charles Dickens novel Oliver Twist which airs exclusively on Disney Plus.

Set in 1850s Australia the series centres around one-time teen thief Jack Dawkins, also known as 'The Artful Dodger', 15 years after the Charles Dickens story ended.

Dodger, now living a semi-respectable life a doctor in an Australian penal colony, reunites with his former criminal conspirator Fagin, who has been shipped Down Under in chains.

Dawkins takes on Fagin as an assistant, to save him from the gallows, but is soon tempted back into a life of crime. Meanwhile, he falls in love with the governor’s daughter, Belle, who herself dreams of becoming a doctor, and secretly helps Dawkins in surgery, and together they make massive strides in treating patients.

All the while Captain Lucien Gaines, a commander of the colony's soldiers, has his eye on Dawkins and Fagin and attempts to arrest them at every turn, hoping to see their pair hung for their lawbreaking ways.

Who else is in the show?

Thomas Brodie-Sangster of Love Actually and Queen's Gambit fame plays Dr Jack Dawkins (Dodger) and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood actor Damon Herriman plays Captain Lucien Gaines.

The Foster’s star Maia Mitchell is Lady Belle Fox, her parents, Governor Edmund Fox and Lady Jane Fox, are played by Australian actor Damien Garvey and Wentworth star Susie Porter, whilst Australian actress Lucy-Rose Leonard plays her younger sister Lady Fanny Fox.

English actor Huw Higginson is then Father Cruikshanks, Dracula’s Jessica De Gouw plays Peggy Gaines and Wentworth's Vivienne Awosoga is Hetty Baggett, whilst Australian comedians Tim Minchin and Kym Gyngell play Darius Cracksworth and Professor Alistair McGregor respectively. The cast also features Miranda Tapsell as Frances 'Red' Scrubbs, Luke Carroll as Tim Billiberllary, Nicholas Burton as Dr Rainsford Sneed, Albert Latailakepa as Aputi Savea, Brigid Zengeni as Rosemary 'Rotty' Falkirk, Aljin Abella as Bayani 'Flashbang' Rivera, , Tom Budge as Hon. Mortimer Smales, and Hal Cumpston as Oliver Twist.

How can you watch it?

The Artful Dodger premiered on Disney Plus in the UK at 8:00am on Wednesday, January 17 and the whole eight part series is now available to view.

How has The Artful Dodger been received so far?

Although the show has only just come out in the UK, it did premier on Disney + in Australia and the United States on November 29.

The Artful Dodger currently holds a 94 per cent approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes and 7.9/10 raring on IMDb.

In the UK press, both the Guardian and the Times gave it 4 stars, iNews gave it 3 stars and the Telegraph only gave it 2 stars.