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  • BBC-1
  • Dec 18, 2007
  • BBC-1
  • Dec 18, 2007

Summary The BBC produced an adaptation of Charles Dicken's Oliver Twist for a new generation; the last BBC production was in 1985. This adaptation is by Sarah Phelps, one of the writers of the long-running UK serial EastEnders, and director Coky Giedroyc. The cast includes Tom Hardy as Bill Sikes, Sophie Okonedo as Nancy, and Timothy Spall as ...

  • BBC-1
  • Dec 18, 2007
  • BBC-1
  • Dec 18, 2007
Oliver Twist
Season 1
Season Premiere: Dec 18, 2007
Metascore Generally Favorable Based on 12 Critic Reviews
72
User Score Available after 4 ratings
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Summary The BBC produced an adaptation of Charles Dicken's Oliver Twist for a new generation; the last BBC production was in 1985. This adaptation is by Sarah Phelps, one of the writers of the long-running UK serial EastEnders, and director Coky Giedroyc. The cast includes Tom Hardy as Bill Sikes, Sophie Okonedo as Nancy, and Timothy Spall as ...

Season Episodes

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Episode 1 • Dec 18, 2007
Episode #1.1
Despite Corney and Bumble's attempts to extort money from him, Monks gets the upper hand.
Episode 2 • Dec 19, 2007
Episode #1.2
Oliver is welcomed into the colorful and seductive world of Fagin and his gang, and before long Dodger is teaching Oliver "the graft."
Episode 3 • Dec 20, 2007
Episode #1.3
Fagin is intrigued by Monks' hatred of Oliver and reasons that if Monks is prepared to pay to have him killed, someone else will pay to keep him safe.
Episode 4 • Dec 21, 2007
Episode #1.4
Sikes escapes back to London with a badly wounded Oliver. Nancy nurses him, determined to save his life.
Episode 5 • Dec 22, 2007
Episode #1.5
Oliver is regaining strength. Still terrified for him, Nancy promises that she will get him back to the safety of the Brownlows'.

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Critic Reviews

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Metascore
Generally Favorable Based on 12 Critic Reviews
72
67% Positive
8 Reviews
33% Mixed
4 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews

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Critic Reviews

 View All
Metascore
Generally Favorable Based on 12 Critic Reviews
72
67% Positive
8 Reviews
33% Mixed
4 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews

  • All Reviews
  • Positive Reviews
  • Mixed Reviews
  • Negative Reviews
100
From spot-on casting and one extraordinary performance after another, to a bold adaptation by Sarah Phelps, to Coky Giedroyc's energizing direction, to a toe-tapping musical score (that probably doesn't belong here, but fie on that - it's fun), this Oliver Twist is a thrill ride for anyone who still believes that TV can be entertaining.
FULL REVIEW
83
The humor is wilder, the penury sadder, and Sophie Okonedo a winsome Nancy. The only bad twist is the overwrought score.
By Alynda Wheat FULL REVIEW
80
The casting is effective. William Miller gives Oliver the requisite vulnerability and steeliness.
By Nancy DeWolf Smith FULL REVIEW
70
Director Coky Giedroyc's grittier, reality-based approach to Sarah Phelps' adaptation contrasts sharply the popular and nostalgic musical account "Oliver!" Nevertheless, this version does stay true to Dickens' original intent to call attention to social evils in harsh times.
By Laura Fries FULL REVIEW
70
Timothy Spall steps onto the screen as one of Dickens' most ambivalent villains in a largely unexceptional version adapted by Sarah Phelps.
By Ellen Gray FULL REVIEW
60
The two-part miniseries makes missteps aplenty, with tone and plot changes from the novel that will likely offend purists. But it nonetheless has a warm spirit and an original vision, which is more than I can say for Roman Polanski's rote 2005 version.
By Matthew Gilbert FULL REVIEW
40
Their response is a conventional condensation that sticks to the broad outlines of the book while scrambling characters and events in myriad small ways guaranteed to enrage Dickens purists.
FULL REVIEW

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