Of all the upsides that come with the BBC having two dedicated children’s channels, there is one small loss. Unless you have children or grandchildren, you are unlikely to accidentally discover a brilliant new kids’ show like, say, hungover students discovered Teletubbies in the 1990s. The only way that might happen now is if someone makes a children’s show so fantastic that it gets passed all the way up to the main channels.
Dodger is that show. Created by Rhys Thomas (best known for creating the BBC mockumentary Brian Pern) and written with his wife, the actor Lucy Montgomery, Dodger is technically a prequel to Oliver. But it’s more than an origin story for the Artful Dodger. The show is loaded with acting talent – Christopher Eccleston plays Fagin, David Threlfall is the chief of police, with Julian Barratt, Alexei Sayle and Frances Barber popping up along the way. The whole thing clatters along breathlessly like an episodic version of The Goonies. Hence its promotion from CBBC to BBC One.
