“Please Sir, I want some more” is among the most famous lines in English literature, and its power is undiminished in this new recording of Oliver Twist featuring an all-star cast and produced by Sam Mendes. It begins as a baby is born in a workhouse to an unmarried woman who dies shortly after, leaving the orphaned child to be named by Mr Bumble (Adeel Akhtar).
Nine years later, and we find Oliver (Emilio Villa-Muhammad) being goaded by the other orphans to ask for a second helping of gruel on his birthday. His request is deemed so shocking that he is cast out and sent to live with a local undertaker, who makes him sleep among the coffins and gives him the dog’s leftovers for his supper. Oliver runs away, walking 70 miles to London, though when he arrives his problems continue as he falls in with a gang of thieves, led by the Artful Dodger (Elijah Wolf).
