Disney+ shortens your wait for “Bridgerton”: this fantastic historical series will become your new obsession!

Yes, I admit it: whenever a new costume ham is announced for theaters or a new historical drama hits streaming, it immediately goes onto my watchlist. I love big emotions, lavish costumes, heartbreaking drama and ideally a happy ending. Then there is a good dose of humor like in the new Disney Plus series”The artistic dodgerPlus, the entertainment factor is actually perfect for me.

So while you wait for the third season of ‘Bridgerton,’ coming to Netflix in two parts in May and June 2024, don’t miss ‘The Artful Dodger’ now on Disney+. And maybe you’ll end up being like me and finding the series, which is very, very loosely inspired by “Oliver Twist,” even better than current flagship melodrama “Bridgerton” – more pace, more adventure, less soap opera. Just great fun!

That’s what ‘The Artful Dodger’ is about

Anyone who knows ‘Oliver Twist’ by Charles Dickens will of course know the title character Artful Dodger – the youngsters Dodger and Oliver belong to Fagin’s London gang of thieves. In the series ‘The Artful Dodger’, Jack Dawkins (‘Game Of Thrones’ star Thomas Brodie-Sangster) uses his dexterity many years later as a surgeon in the Australian colonies. His criminal past is just a dark shadow – until one day Fagin (David Thewlis, Remus Lupine from “Harry Potter”), presumed dead, stands before him.

What comes next is anything but a belated sequel to Dickens’ “Oliver Twist” story. The creative team of James McNamara, David Maher and David Taylor takes Dickens’ iconic characters in “The Artful Dodger” and sends them on their own, much more colorful and totally enjoyable adventure in sun-drenched Australia, far away from fog-shrouded London with a big heart for underdogs who sometimes encounter shades of gray on the thin line between black and white.

Because Jack Dawkins, who is celebrated as a rock star for his risky operations, has gambling debts, he allows Fagin to persuade him to do something crooked again. He meets the governor’s daughter, Belle (Maia Mitchell), who dreams of becoming the first female surgeon in the golden cage of her house. Jack has to help her – and at first the pieces fly around, but at some point sparks appear…

“The Artful Dodger”: Love in the Operating Room

The shared passion for surgery is not only an attractive enrichment of the love story of Jack and Belle, who get to do more in the story than just adore each other. No, she garnishes “The Artful Dodger” with an extra dash as in “Grey’s anatomy“or, even better for comparison: “Foreigner“. Because in the time travel series (Season 6 can be seen on Netflix from February 3!), surgeon Claire (Caitríona Balfe) takes out the scalpel in the historical setting, which leads to one or two bloody surgical scenes.

In “The Artful Dodger” things get very brutal at times, and people with a more sensitive nature might want to close their eyes for a moment at the carnage in the operating room. But even though Jack Dawkins claims he can perform leg amputations in just 28 seconds, what excites him even more than the thrill of surgery is the further development of the very limited medical capabilities of the 1850s. -read Belle an accessory that devours every issue of the trade journal The Lancet (which still exists!) as soon as it appears on the market.

Between arguments, technical discussions and flying sparks, the beautiful chemistry between Belle and Jack becomes more and more tangible and establishes itself as the beating heart of the series, which on a second level also tells the story of how Jack, despite all his efforts to live a righteous life, deep down in his soul still has an incredible amount of fun doing from crooks. But this ultimately threatens to be his undoing when the ruthless Commander Gaines (Damon Herriman), who wants to clean up crime in the colony, comes after him and Fagin – and Jack is threatened with the rope!

Is “The Artful Dodger” Season 2 Coming?

With speed, humor and supported by modern songs “The Artful Dodger” takes its audience on a wild ride for eight episodes, that scores with colorful costumes, charming secondary characters (keyword: Flashbang), heart-warming lightness and a lot of self-mockery (next keyword: Oliver Twist!) – and hopefully it’s not over yet!

The finale of “The Artful Dodger” leaves all doors open for a second season. This is actually not planned at all – because the series is conceived as a miniseries, that is, as a standalone story. We can only hope that the ratings on Disney+ are good enough for those responsible to perhaps change their minds and order a second season. If this doesn’t happen, fans won’t be left with an open cliffhanger. But the story of Jack and Belle is far from told!