Dodge & Twist

By: Tony Lee

Narrated by: Matt Lucas, Stephen Mangan, Michael Socha, Kara Tointon

Length: 4 hrs and 56 mins

Publisher's Summary

It’s rumoured that Dickens wanted to return to his classic novel Oliver Twist, to bring him back into a later book as an older character, but he never managed this before he died. However, if Oliver had returned, what would he have been like? Would the scars of his childhood affect the man he would become? And what of ‘Dodger’, sent to a land halfway around the world, his friend, mentor and master dead because of Oliver? 

Dodge & Twist is that story. The tale of two boys, 12 years later, returning into each other’s lives - for both good and bad.

This Audible Original production of Dodge & Twist is fully dramatised with an immersive SFX soundscape and is performed by a full cast including Stephen Mangan as Charles Dickens (Green Wing, Episodes, I'm Alan Partridge), Matt Lucas as Fagin (Little Britain, Me, Bridesmaids, Alice in Wonderland), Kara Tointon (Eastenders, Mr Selfridge, The Sound of Music Live) and Michael Socha (Being Human, This is England), and introducing Will Howard and James Joyce as Oliver and Dodger.

©2018 Audible, Ltd (P)2018 Audible, Ltd

Great fun. Love the dramatics.

Although it is not as long as a narrated book it kept me good for long enough to really enjoy.

lots of characters got a job, so expensive to produce. I hope they make money out of this, so there will be more!!

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Loved it!

Loved it!!!!! Fingers crossed for more!!!!! Need more like this type of story classical based please!!!!

And then I woke up and it was all a dream....

Started well but quickly deteriorated into a labyrinthine, unnecessarily complex heist story. At the end, so much was explained by dream or fever, and so many instances of 'How did I get here?' or 'Aha, but what you didn't know was...' Poorly plotted, Byzantine and dull. The bright spot is Matt Lucas' incredible acting.

Dramatised follow-on with 'twists' of its own

Dramatized format works wonderfully - psychologically dark, follows on nicely from Dickens.

A follow-on, in the approximate language of Dickens, that takes place years after the end of Oliver Twist. I believe it is based on Tony Lee's own graphic novel of 2011, but having not read this I cannot compare.

I can though, comment on this audio presentation. The story itself was suitably dark, with psychological elements, a few in-jokes (even a reference to the Carol Reed musical?!), with familiar characters meeting new ones that wouldn't have been out of place in a Dickens' novel.

Oliver returns to London a decade after leaving it with his guardian, his circumstances requiring him to return. He runs into Dodger of course, also back in London after being transported for his crimes, and the two form an uneasy alliance as Oliver is persuaded to help his old friend commit a crime in exchange for financial assistance.

This worked so well as an audiobook, with the whole story dramatised, no narrator slowing down the action, the characters speak their thoughts to us, converse openly, and with sound effects in the scenes, the scenes came alive. Some great voices as well, a few famous voices were recognisable and the young men playing the lead characters did sound like older versions of Oliver and Dodger, those you might imagine if familiar with either the book or the musical.

With Fagin making an unexpected but sinister reappearance as well, as well as other characters from the novel, it feels like a continuation in many respects, and a story that Dickens might well have approved of. There's a Nancy substitute who manages to feel fairly contemporary as well, and Oliver and Dodger both changed a few times in my estimation and how I wanted their stories to conclude. Some nices 'twists'.

I really enjoyed the story, the idea of it and its execution. Loved hearing this, a great production of sound and voice.

With thanks to Nudge Books for the sample Audible copy.