ARTFUL TEAM BEHIND ‘ARTFUL DODGER’

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Filmed in Australia, The Artful Dodger is a sequel to Dickens’ classic Oliver Twist. Set in the 1850s, horses naturally feature throughout – both under saddle and in front of carriages.

THE ARTFUL DODGER (2024)
Australian Star Original Series streaming on Disney+

Starring Thomas Brodie-Sangster as Jack Hawkins, aka The Artful Dodger (Sangster is still remembered as the kid in Love Actually even though that was 20 years ago and the British actor is now in his mid-30!), much of the action of this series takes place in a former insane asylum.

Set in the colony of Port Victory in the 1850s, the film’s production team was faced with the challenges of scouting for and securing appropriate sites. According to location manager Mary Barltop, five major ones were selected comprising Elizabeth Farm in Parramatta; a replica of James Cook’s Endeavour; Rookwood Cemetery; Cape Banks, a clifftop near Botany Bay; and Kirkbride, the Callan Park complex that was a former psychiatric hospital in Sydney’s inner-west.

When working on a period drama there are many obstacles to overcome. “The primary challenge is the 21st century,” says Mary. “Telegraph poles, ceiling fans, air-conditioning units, electrical wiring, wheelchair ramps, flyscreens, modern signage etc – all must be hidden or removed. Heritage locations need to be treated with kid gloves so the bump-ins and bump-outs must be planned and executed with extreme care.

'The Artful Dodger' stars Thomas Brodie-Sangster. Image supplied.

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“In Callan Park the construction department augmented the existing sandstone buildings with standing sets, effectively creating a 19th century backlot. Finally, we had to ensure we always provided parking for horses and carriages!”

Cue Grahame Ware Jnr of Performance Livestock. He’s been supplying horses and other animals to the entertainment industry for over 20 years, and never stops working.

For this series he supplied six saddle and 24 harness horses, plus the carriages. “During pre-production I was given the backgrounds of the characters who’d be in the carriages and I went through my collection to find the appropriate ones to suit the different families. One we used was a C-spring town coach, another belonged to the Archbishop of Melbourne, Thomas Carr, in the 1800s then passed to Archbishop Daniel Mannix – a vehicle steeped in Australian history like so many we’ve accumulated over the years.”

“He’s been supplying horses
to the entertainment
industry for over 20 years…”

TRIVIA:

British actor David Thewlis, who plays Fagin, is anxiously awaiting news that The Artful Dodger 2 is in the pipeline. “I’ve just put a down payment on a house!” In the series he had nothing to do with horses but he did drive one back in the 1994 version of Black Beauty. His memory of this is vague.

During filming his horses all stayed at Callan Park in a locked compound. They had access to bedding and grass and wranglers took turns to night watch. Far preferable to trucking the animals for two hours back to the Ware stables each evening, then loading them up again at five the next morning to return to the location.

Filming at Callan Park. Image supplied.

“Two Australians in the
series knew what they
were doing in the saddle…”

Grahame, in costume, worked in some of the scenes but much of the carriage driving was done by a team he calls “the old boys”. “They’re blokes from about 60 to 75 who’ve done so much over the years all I have to do is say, ‘there’s your horse, there’s the harness’ and they know exactly what to do even if they’ve never seen that particular piece of gear before. “And I’m only as good as they are.”

The heavy horses were mainly bays and there were Grahame’s two Friesians which have frequently been used in recent Australian productions.

In past months Grahame had been working non-stop around the nation on Kingdom of Planet of the Apes, Furiosa, Shang-Chi, Nautilus (a 10-part British TV series) and, just before Dodger, he’d been on Desert King in the Northern Territory. “It’s an Australian-style Yellowstone,” he explains, admitting he wouldn’t know what he was doing next without his wife, Renee. “She’s the horse coordinator, deals directly with the production companies rescheduling, works on budgeting, liaises with art directors and wrangles on set when I need a hand.”

He enjoyed working on Dodger. “The designer, Matt Putland, had an incredible eye for detail,” he says, adding that everything usually goes like clockwork when you don’t have to deal with actors who say they can ride but have no idea.

Two Australians in the series knew what they were doing in the saddle. “Years ago on Home and Away I’d met Martin Sheasby who plays Sergeant Bramhall. For a couple of years he’d paid to have riding lessons at my place,” recalls Grahame. “And the other one was Damon Herriman who I’d worked with on The Water Diviner; he looks fine on a horse.”

Herriman had been in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood as Charles Manson, reprieving the delusional cult leader in the Mindhunter TV series. In Dodger he was Captain Lucien Gaines, another unpleasant character playing the cruel commander of the colony’s soldiers.

A pair of heavy horses. Image supplied.

Overseeing any animal welfare on the Dodger sets was a certified animal safety rep from the American Humane Association. His name was Andy and he’d come from Wales. “He spent each and every day with us and the horses,” says Grahame. “I always welcome these AHA monitors when the film company has them come on set – it’s a good thing.”

TRIVIA:

American Humane Association monitors animals in filmed media and holds the exclusive right to award its ‘No Animals Were Harmed’® end-credit certification to productions that meet its rigorous standard of care for animal actors.

As well as driving coaches Grahame and his wranglers did some high-speed saddle work firing guns while chasing a wagon. “It was being driven by my father and I instructed him to go as fast as possible, and to stop when we galloped in front of him – which he did.”

The late Grahame Ware Snr on set at Callan Park. Image supplied.

Grahame will always remember these scenes; his father had died in February. “The first day Dad was on a film set he was 14; his last day, at the age of 79, he was on the Dodger.

“Ware’s Livery Stables has been in our family since the 1930s and we’ll continue to preserve the legacy my great grandfather Leslie, Grandfather Lionel and my father Grahame Ware Snr maintained for so many years.”

Leslie Ware had passed on his knowledge and horsemanship to Lionel who established the livery stables originally in Sydney’s inner city expanding the business when television was introduced to Australia. He supplied horses and vehicles for the first TV series Whiplash and for the movie The Sundowners. Grahame Snr had left school at 15 to work with his father on Whiplash, taking over the business after his father died several years later.

A unique and innovative family.

TRIVIA:

In 2017 Grahame Ware Snr and Grahame Ware Jnr received the APDG (Australian Production Design Guild) Artisan award for lifetime achievement for screen. Both Grahames have spent their working lives in the Australian film and television industry.

The Artful Dodger has received excellent reviews and, according to the cast and crew, it was fun to make. To quote the location manager: “It was an absolute pleasure to go to work every day and see these stunning locations filled with horses, carriages and exquisitely costumed cast bringing the 1800s to life.”

'The Artful Dodger' location manager, Mary Barltop. Image supplied.

It even has a great soundtrack, as Rolling Stone magazine noted. “It’s a new twist on a classic and it’s gripping from the opening strains of Wolfmother’s Joker and the Thief. The show features a modern Australian rock soundtrack that perfectly matches the whip-fast drama onscreen,” wrote Hannah Blackiston. “From classic rock anthems to indie bangers, the soundtrack acts as a character, lending an extra layer of authenticity and emotional depth to the narrative.”

The series can be viewed on Disney+ EQ

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