#134 | Oliver’s Orphanage of Opportunity!

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Listen to our Oliver! episode on:

Charles Dickens has had countless adaptations of his work brought to the big screen over the years, but few if any are as well-known and iconic as Carol Reed’s 1968 film version of the stage musical Oliver! Ambitious, extravagant and at times very, very dark, it’s a film that has become part of the cultural DNA for viewers of all ages – thanks to a brace of iconic performances and one of the most recognisable soundtracks in cinema history.

On this week’s podcast, Aussie Nerd Daniel Tickner joins us to share his own formative experiences of this film – which involve his father attempting to shield him from the second half darkness by pretending the interval was actually the end. We also reminisce about our favourite scenes, songs and characters – and it’s bad news across the board for Oliver himself.

Still, a fairly passive title hero is a small price to pay when you’ve got a supporting cast featuring Jack Wild’s indelible Artful Dodger, Shani Wallis’ tragic, morally complex Nancy and Oliver Reed’s disturbingly sexy Bill Sykes, not to mention incredible production numbers like Consider Yourself, Who Will Buy and Food Glorious Food. A deserved Best Picture winner at the 1968 Academy Awards, fifty years on, Oliver! remains the gold standard for stage-to-screen musical adaptations.

You can listen to our wide-ranging Oliver! review – complete with drinking games and fantasy sequel pitches – right now by following any of the links at the top of this blog post, or by searching for Beyond The Box Set on your preferred podcasting app. If you like the show, please hit subscribe to receive a new episode every Friday morning, and don’t forget to rate and review us.

Next week, we’ll be taking a timely look back at a classic piece of political satire from the creative brain behind Sideways and…um… Downsizing. Until then, happy listening, and remember – you’ve got to pick a pocket or two. Just not mine, ever. Seriously, I know kung fu.