Oliver Twist Episode Rating Graph

The moment where Oliver Twist asks for more gruel is right up there with Hamlet's "To be, or not to be" line. You know it's coming, you wait, you get ready because it's on its way and then, bam! it's arrived: "Please sir, I want some more". Newcomer William Miller, as Oliver, wisely plays it straight as he holds out his bowl and blinks his sweet saucer eyes at wicked workhouse boss Mr Bumble (Gregor Fisher) in Sarah Phelps's roistering dramatisation of the Dickens story.

Oliver (William Miller) has seen his one chance of happiness snatched after he's abducted from his comfortable new home by wicked Bill Sikes (a creepily malevolent turn from Tom Hardy). But it's not just the ragged underworld that has it in for Oliver - the well-dressed and charming Monks (Julian Rhind-Tutt) also has his reasons for wishing the boy harm. We can only hope that Oliver's only friend, Nancy (Sophie Okonedo), will help him in his hour of need.

Sikes escapes back to London with a badly wounded Oliver, and Nancy nurses him, determined to save his life. Mr Bumble declares his love for Mrs Corney. Rose continues to search for Oliver, but is discovered by Monks, who tells Brownlow of her secret mission

Despite Corney and Bumble's attempts to extort money from him, Monks quickly gets the upper hand and leaves with the necklace, letter and a page of the register recording Oliver's birth. Nancy cares for Oliver, promising that she will get him back to the safety of the Brownlows. Dodger, however, is aware of Nancy's betrayal, putting her in grave danger.

At the moment, wicked Bill Sikes (Tom Hardy) has the boy in his clutches, but nasty Monks (a slyly charming Julian Rhind-Tutt) is also on his trail. Of course, as this is a well-loved and well-read piece of English literature, there's not much mystery as to the outcome. But the pace keeps up nicely and there is still some tension as poor, ill-used little Oliver (William Miller) is bundled from one set of grubby hands to another, while his benefactor Mr Brownlow (Edward Fox) tries to rescue him from a life of crime and penury. There are some unpleasant bits that might alarm younger children, but they can rest assured that all will turn out for the best.