Dickensblog

TCM alert

A Tale of Two Cities (1935) airs on the channel at 6 a.m. Eastern tomorrow.

'Oliver Twist' in the news

Today we have a few different Oliver-related items of interest:

• The Daily Mail has some photos from the set of the new "Dodger" series, featuring Christopher Eccleston (Fagin) and Saira Choudhry (Nancy).
• The Guardian has a nice article about the Charles Dickens Museum's new Oliver Twist-themed walking tour.
• Finally, i news has an article about a couple of letters that the Museum is displaying in its new exhibit on Oliver Twist, which opened yesterday. The letters -- one written by Dickens himself, and one by his doctor -- show the toll that Dickens's public readings of the "Sikes and Nancy" episode took on his physical and emotional health.

'Dodger' casting news

CBBC, the BBC's children's channel, is going ahead with its Oliver Twist prequel series, with Christopher Eccleston starring as Fagin, Billy Jenkins as the titular Dodger, Saira Choudhry as Nancy, and David Threlfall as the chief of police. More information, including a photo of Jenkins as Dodger, is here and here. 

TCM alert

Oliver! is on again today at 1 p.m. Eastern.

TCM alert

A Tale of Two Cities (1935) will air this afternoon at 1:30 p.m. Eastern, as a part of "31 Days of Oscar."

R.I.P, Helen McCrory

The British actress portrayed Kate Dickens in the 2002 docudrama Dickens. She passed away on Friday at the age of 52.

TCM alert

Oliver! airs tomorrow at 8 p.m. Eastern, as part of the channel's "31 Days of Oscar" lineup.

TCM alert

Sorry I'm getting this alert up super late, but Great Expectations (1946) airs at 2 p.m. Eastern, as part of the channel's birthday tribute to director David Lean!

TCM alert

Oliver! will air tonight on the channel at 8 p.m. Eastern. 

'Twist' released in the U.K.

The new Oliver Twist update has been released via British movie channel Sky Cinema, and the early reviews are . . . not great. Take a look here. If you're in the U.K. and have seen Twist, let us know whether you agree with the critics, or enjoyed it!