Oliver Twist

Charles Dickens’ best-loved novel Oliver Twist is bought to the screen in a spectacular drama serial by acclaimed writer Alan Bleasdale.

With an all-star cast of popular names in film and television, the adaptation features the likes of Robert Lindsay, Julie Walters, Michael Kitchen, Roger Lloyd Pack, Andy Serkis, Isla Fisher, Marc Warren and Keira Knightley, and introduces nine-year-old Sam Smith as the luckless orphan Oliver.

Set in the slums and back streets of Victorian London, Oliver Twist is the epic story of a poor young orphan boy who grows up in the most extreme conditions. This lonely yet fine young boy is passed from pillar to post, and is exposed to heart-breaking cruelty and unrelenting hardship.

Along the way, Oliver encounters the colourful array of extraordinary and vibrant characters that have captured the popular imagination for over 150 years: the mesmerising magician Fagin, the beautiful yet tragic Nancy, the crafty young pickpocket the Artful Dodger, and perhaps one of the greatest villains of all times - the terrifying Bill Sikes.

Written when Charles Dickens was only 25 in 1837, Oliver Twist was a huge success in its own time. The enduring novel about childhood tackles themes of timeless relevance - poverty, homelessness, drunkenness and violence. All perfect territory for Bleasdale, the Merseyside writer of hard-hitting dramas.

Filmed in character Dorset, Cumbria, London and Prague, this 1999 dramatisation is directed by Renny Rye (Family Money, Big Women) and produced by Keith Thompson (Melissa, Jake’s Progress).

Cast List:

Oliver Sam Smith
Fagin Robert Lindsay
Mrs. Mann Julie Walters
Mr. Brownlow Michael Kitchen
Captain Fleming Alun Armstrong
Elizabeth Leeford Lindsay Duncan
Mr. Bumble David Ross
Bill Sykes Andy Serkis
Edwin Leeford Tim Dutton
Monks Marc Warren
Mrs. Bedwin Annette Crosbie
Nancy Emily Woof
Bet Isla Fisher
Mr. Sowerberry Roger Lloyd Pack
Agnes Fleming Sophia Myles
Rose Maylie Keira Knightley