DODGER was created, written and directed by Rhys Thomas and premiered on BBCiPlayer, CBBC before moving to BBC ONE. It's a 10 part comedy adventure series about the adventures of the Artful Dodger and Fagin before the events in Oliver Twist. 

Starring Christopher Eccleston, David Threlfall, Billy Jenkins, Lenny Rush, Javone Prince,  Ellie May Sheridan, James Fleet, Lucy Montgomery, Zahra Ahmadi, Saira Choudhry, Alex Kingston, Simon Day,  Catherine Shepherd, Julian Barrett, Colin McFarlane, John Thomson, Rhys Thomas, Tony Way, Lenny Rush and Jessica Knappett.

He directed all 10 episodes of Season One.  Wrote 9 of them. 

BAFTA: Best Children's Programme                    (WON)  

BAFTA: Best Writers                                               (NOMINATED)

BAFTA: Best Director                                             (NOMINATED) 

RTS AWARD: Best Children's Programme          (WON)

BROADCAST AWARDS: BEST DRAMA                (HIGHLY COMMENDED)

ROSE d'OR: BEST CHILDREN'S PROGRAMME  (NOMINATED)

★★★★★ “Scary, starry and totally irresistible TV … The whole thing clatters along breathlessly like an episodic version of The Goonies.” — The Guardian

★★★★★ “The cheeky and charming comedy drama is always a treat.” — TV Times

★★★★ “CBBC has a hit on its hands with this often very funny new drama about the Artful Dodger.” — The Mail

★★★★ “Dodger is cosy, conversation-provoking family fare. Please, BBC, can we have some more?” — The Telegraph

' In 1993, I played Mr Brownlow in a school production of Lionel Bart’s Oliver! Possibly the most boring part going. I couldn’t help noticing that Oliver was rather boring too. The characters everyone cared about, the ones who got the laughs and the biggest reaction on stage, were the Artful Dodger and Fagin.

That stayed with me. I thought it would be fun to make a prequel to Oliver Twist: a caper about Dodger, Fagin and his gang of pickpockets, with Nancy, Bill Sikes and the idiot policemen Duff and Blathers along for the ride.

Around 2010, I took the idea to Puffin. They liked it and asked me to write an outline, three sample chapters and ideas for several more books, with a series in mind. I squeezed the writing in around my acting and comedy work. Then Terry Pratchett published a book called Dodger. I was told his was different enough from mine, but I put my pen down after three chapters and left the idea there.

Ten years later, I had children of my own, aged eight and ten, and began to wonder whether Dodger might work as a television show for children and families. I pitched it to the BBC. The original chapters and outline became the pilot episode, “Runaways”, and helped form the basis of episode seven, “Nancy”, in which the gang rob Buckingham Palace disguised as chimney sweeps.

The BBC commissioned ten episodes, and the planned 30-minute slot grew to 45 minutes. Lucy Montgomery joined me as co-writer. Billy Jenkins played Dodger, with Christopher Eccleston as Fagin, David Threlfall as the chief of police and Ellie-May Sheridan as Polly Crackitt. Lucy played Fagin’s landlady, Minnie Bilge, while I played PC Duff, one half of the hopeless police duo Duff and Blathers. I was initially going to direct four episodes, but when another director had to pull out during filming because of COVID, I ended up directing all ten."

Dodger launched in 2022. The Guardian called it “scary, starry and totally irresistible TV”; The Telegraph described it as “a boisterous and amusing drama that will get the kids into Dickens”; and the Daily Mail called it “a fun take on Fagin and his gang” that would leave viewers “begging for more”.

It received three BAFTA nominations, for Best Children's Programme, Director and Writer, winning Best Programme. It was also nominated for a Rose d’Or and won both the RTS North West Award for Best School-Age Children’s Programme and the national RTS Award for Children’s Programme. Lucy and I won the Writers’ Guild Award for Best Children’s TV Episode for “Dosh”. At the Broadcast Digital Awards, Dodger was highly commended for Best Drama Programme.

See the whole series here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episodes/p0bh0ftr/dodger?seriesId=p0bh0ftr-structural-1-m001495n