The upcoming Disney+ Original The Artful Dodger will feature Australian actress Maia Mitchell and comedian Tim Minchin, who is based in Los Angeles.
According to Variety Australia, filming on the eight-part series, which is based on characters created by Charles Dickens, has already started in New South Wales.
The drama, a spin-off of the renowned author’s Oliver Twist, is set in 1850s Australia.
It picks up 15 years after the events of the Oliver Twist novel’s Jack Hawkins, a former teen burglar known as “The Artful Dodger.”
Now an adult, Jack works as a reputable doctor in New South Wales, a former penal colony. The “Dodger” discovers that he can’t entirely get away from his history.
The media conglomerate intends to produce a sizable number of million-dollar projects in Australia and New Zealand, including the Artful Dodger series.
Thomas Brodie-Sangster, who played the title character in Queen’s Gambit, will play the lead.
Meanwhile, David Thewlis, a well-known British favourite from the Netflix drama The Sandman, will portray Dickens’ well-known Fagin character.
When they were both in charge of a gang of thieves in the London slums, Fagin and The Artful Dogder were once pals.
Maia, 29, will portray Lady Belle Fox in the lead role. Maia is best known as the heroine of the Disney Channel’s Teen Beach Movies.
