Bleasdale on Sikes: "Everyone is frightened of Bill Sikes, even Fagin, and I wanted to hold onto that presence in the dramatization. He is undeniably brutal, but it's the manner in which the society was. He does have some redeeming features, for instance at the robbery in the countryside, Sikes could have left Oliver for dead, but he picks him up and runs with him as far as he can. It's not me that's written that; it's Dickens. Bill is more than just an aimless, mindless, violent thug and I wanted to give him colors. He knows his best years have gone and that he's living on borrowed time. When he murders Nancy, he wakes up in the morning and is horrified and in despair. He knows then that it's the end."

Andy Serkis plays the menacing Bill Sikes, who strikes terror in every one he meets.