CBBC pockets Eccleston for Dodger

UK pubcaster the BBC has commissioned Dodger, a prequel to Charles Dickens’ Oliver Twist starring Christopher Eccleston (Doctor Who, The A Word), for its CBBC kids network and iPlayer.

Christopher Eccleston

Dodger (10×45’) will feature Eccleston as Fagin while Billy Jenkins plays the eponymous Artful Dodger, with Saira Choudhry as Nancy.

BBC commissioning editor Amy Buscombe has ordered the family drama from NBCUniversal International Studios (NBCUIS), part of Universal Studio Group.

Mark Freeland is exec producing for NBCUIS, making the show his first project since joining the London-based prodco last year.

Also executive producing are husband-and-wife writers Lucy Montgomery and Rhys Thomas, with Francis Gilson on board as producer. NBCUniversal Global Distribution is handling global sales.

This is the second CBBC show announced this year to be adapted from UK literary classic, after the channel ordered 26 episodes of Enid Blyton’s Malory Towers from Canada’s WildBrain in March.