Spots 
Oliver Twist enters the world in a parish workhouse, where his mother dies immediately after giving him life. The surgeon and a pauper woman witness his arrival, leaving the infant destitute and nameless until the parish authorities claim him. He begins life with no legacy beyond the cold charity of the state.
Farmed out to Mrs. Mann's branch workhouse, Oliver starves alongside other orphans on meager rations. Upon reaching his ninth birthday, Mr. Bumble returns him to the main workhouse board. Driven by extreme hunger, Oliver draws the lot to ask for more gruel, outraging the board members who promptly offer five pounds to anyone taking him as an apprentice.
Gamfield the chimney sweep attempts to claim Oliver and the five-pound premium. The terrifying prospect of suffocating in flues terrifies Oliver into weeping before the magistrate. Noticing the boy's sheer horror, the magistrate refuses to sign the indentures, saving Oliver from Gamfield's lethal trade and returning him to the workhouse cell.
Mr. Sowerberry, the parish undertaker, takes Oliver into his shop to serve as a mute mourner at children's funerals. Mrs. Sowerberry treats the boy with immediate contempt, feeding him cold dog scraps in the dark shop. Oliver accepts his new servitude silently, sleeping among the coffins while learning the trade of mourning.
Noah Claypole, a senior charity lad at the shop, torments Oliver to assert his superiority. Oliver endures the insults quietly until Noah insults his dead mother. Overcome by fury, Oliver knocks the larger boy to the floor, provoking a violent retaliation from Noah, Mrs. Sowerberry, and Charlotte.
Mr. Bumble arrives to restore order and blames the outbreak on feeding Oliver real meat rather than gruel. Mr. Sowerberry flogs Oliver to appease his wife, locking the boy in the shop. In the dead of night, Oliver gathers his tiny bundle of belongings and flees toward London.
Passing through his old parish on foot, Oliver pauses at the workhouse gate to bid farewell to his dying friend Little Dick. Dick promises his love and predicts his own death, bestowing a blessing upon Oliver. Strengthened by this single act of pure affection, Oliver walks on along the dusty highway.
Exhausted and starving after seven days on the road, Oliver collapses in the market town of Barnet. Jack Dawkins, known as the Artful Dodger, offers him food and promises free lodging in London under the care of an elderly gentleman. Oliver gratefully accepts the offer, unaware of the criminal network he is joining.
The Dodger introduces Oliver to Fagin, who presides over a den of young pickpockets frying sausages. Fagin conceals a hidden box of stolen watches and jewels while teaching the boys a playful game of snatching handkerchiefs from his pockets. Oliver admires the old man's apparent benevolence, blind to the true nature of the school.
Oliver accompanies Charley Bates and the Artful Dodger into the streets for his first outing. At a bookstall, he watches in horror as the Dodger lifts a silk handkerchief from Mr. Brownlow's pocket. When the victim notices the theft, the crowd spots Oliver running in panic and pursues him as the thief.
Dragged before the tyrannical magistrate Mr. Fang, the feverish Oliver faints from sickness and terror. Fang prepares to sentence the boy to hard labor despite lack of evidence, until the bookstall keeper rushes in to declare Oliver innocent. Mr. Brownlow takes charge of the unconscious child, bringing him away in a carriage.
Oliver wakes in Mr. Brownlow's comfortable residence under the gentle care of Mrs. Bedwin. While recovering from his fever, he gazes in fascination at a portrait of a beautiful young woman on the wall. Mr. Brownlow notices a striking resemblance between the portrait and Oliver's own features.
Fagin reacts with panic upon learning that Oliver has been captured by the police and taken into a respectable household. Fearing the boy will betray their location, Fagin enlists the brutal burglar William Sikes to track him down. Nancy reluctantly agrees to disguise herself to scout the police station for news.
Restored to health, Oliver enjoys a brief taste of peace, education, and affection in Mr. Brownlow's home. To prove Oliver's honesty to the skeptical Mr. Grimwig, Brownlow sends him to return books and pay five pounds to a bookseller. Oliver sets off proudly on his errand, eager to prove his worth.
As Oliver walks through the streets carrying the books, Nancy intercepts him and claims he is her runaway brother. Bill Sikes emerges to seize the boy, tearing away his new clothes and Mr. Brownlow's money. Dragged back into the dirty alleys, Oliver finds himself trapped once more in Fagin's grip.
Fagin strips Oliver of his fine suit and restores his old workhouse rags, mocking his brief rise in status. When Fagin beats Oliver for trying to run, Nancy fiercely defends the child, cursing her own life of crime. Sikes's dog threatens Oliver while Fagin locks him alone in a dark room.
Mr. Bumble travels to London and sees Mr. Brownlow's newspaper advertisement offering five guineas for news of Oliver. Eager for money, Bumble visits Brownlow and paints Oliver as an incorrigible and malicious villain. Devastated by the news, Mr. Brownlow orders Oliver's name never to be mentioned in his house again.
Fagin isolates Oliver for days, slowly wearing down his spirit with stories of boys who hanged for refusing to cooperate. Charley Bates and the Dodger visit to lecture Oliver on the glory and profit of pickpocketing. Fagin subtly cultivates the boy's dependence, laying the ground for his complete corruption.
Sikes plans a burglary at a wealthy country house in Chertsey and demands a small boy to slip through a narrow window. Fagin selects Oliver for the job, calculating that committing a major crime will bind the boy permanently to their criminal gang. Nancy receives orders to deliver Oliver to Sikes.
Nancy leads a terrified Oliver through the dark streets to Sikes's residence, warning him that resistance means death. Sikes displays a loaded pistol and threatens to shoot Oliver through the head if he falters or cries out during the expedition. They set off before dawn into the heavy fog.
Sikes and Oliver trudge through suburbs and countryside, taking heavy drinks at roadside inns along the way. Joined by the housebreaker Toby Crackit at an isolated house, they prepare their tools in darkness. Oliver realizes at last that he is being forced to participate in a violent robbery.
Sikes forces Oliver through a small window of the Chertsey house, ordering him to unbolt the front door. Servants awaken and raise the alarm, firing a pistol through the dark hall. Hit by a bullet, Oliver collapses, and Sikes drags the wounded boy out through the window into the misty fields.
Away from London, Mr. Bumble woos Mrs. Corney, the matron of the workhouse, over tea and silver spoons. Their romantic negotiation is interrupted by an old pauper woman summoning the matron to the deathbed of Sally, who claims a secret regarding Oliver Twist's mother.
On her deathbed, the old pauper Sally confesses to Mrs. Corney that she robbed Oliver's mother as she lay dying years ago. Sally reveals she stole a gold locket containing a clue to the mother's identity, but dies before she can finish her full confession, leaving Mrs. Corney with the stolen token.
A journey through Victorian London's underworld, exposing parish cruelty, criminal networks, and the resilience of innocence.