| Sharpe | |
|---|---|
Series DVD artwork |
|
| Genre | Historical fiction |
| Directed by | Tom Clegg |
| Written by | Eoghan Harris Russell Lewis Colin MacDonald Charles Wood |
| Based on | Sharpe by Bernard Cornwell |
| Starring | Sean Bean Daragh O'Malley |
| Music by | Dominic Muldowney John Tams |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Original channel | ITV |
| Original run | 5 May 1993 – 2 November 2008 |
| Running time | 100 min. |
| No. of episodes | 16 |
Sharpe is a British series of television dramas starring Sean Bean about Richard Sharpe, a fictional British soldier in the Napoleonic Wars. Sharpe is the hero of a number of novels by Bernard Cornwell; most, though not all, of the episodes are based on the books. Produced by Central Independent Television for the ITV network, the series was shot mainly in Turkey and the Crimea, although some filming was also done in England, Spain and Portugal.
The series originally ran from 1993 to 1997. In 2004, as part of ITV's new set of drama, ITV announced that it intended to produce new episodes of Sharpe, in co-production with BBC America, loosely based on his time in India, with Sean Bean continuing his role as Sharpe. Sharpe's Challenge is a two-part adventure; part one premiered on ITV on 23 April 2006, with part two being shown the following night. More gory than earlier episodes, the show was broadcast by BBC America in September 2006.
At a book signing in Bath on 11 October 2006, Bernard Cornwell revealed that there were plans by ITV to film two more episodes. Filming was supposed to start in April, but was postponed due to the resignation of ITV's chief executive, at which point production was pushed back to September. However, Sean Bean was unavailable due to other commitments, so production was postponed once more. When asked about the stories, Cornwell said that he believed that they were producing two new stories specially for television. It was announced that filming Sharpe's Peril, produced by Celtic Film/Picture Palace, began on 3 March 2008 in India.[1][2] The first part was broadcast on ITV1 on 2 November 2008 with the second part shown a week later. Sharpe's Challenge and Sharpe's Peril were broadcast in the US in 2010 as part of PBS' Masterpiece Classic season.
Contents |
At the beginning of the series, Richard Sharpe (Sean Bean) is a sergeant in the 95th Rifles serving in Portugal in 1809. When he singlehandedly saves the life of General Sir Arthur Wellesley (David Troughton in the first two films, then Hugh Fraser for the following films) from a group of French cavalrymen, Wellesley gives Sharpe a battlefield commission, appointing him a lieutenant. Sharpe is placed in charge of a detachment of the 95th Rifles: the "chosen men", which is a contemporary term for a slightly elevated rank roughly equivalent to a modern lance corporal (marked by the same single white stripe). Rather than a formal rank, it reflected more a commanding officer's acknowledgment of performance and grant of a few small privileges (such as avoiding certain routine duties) and was a step on the path to non-commissioned officer rank. Sergeant Patrick Harper (Daragh O'Malley) eventually becomes his best friend and sergeant major.
Wellesley and his various spymasters, first Major Michael Hogan (Brian Cox), followed by Major Nairn (Michael Byrne), Major Mungo Monroe (Hugh Ross) and Major General Ross (James Laurenson), find Sharpe to be an extremely capable and cunning officer and give him progressively more important tasks. Despite their backing, he has to fight against the strong prejudice of aristocrats (who often owe their army positions to money and social connections rather than military skill) against a ragamuffin commoner raised from the ranks. He makes a number of dangerous enemies, such as French Major Pierre Ducos (Féodor Atkine) and Colonel Sir Henry Simmerson (Michael Cochrane), and encounters one from his prior service in India, Sergeant Obadiah Hakeswill (Pete Postlethwaite). However, Sharpe's successes gain him steady promotion. By the end of the Napoleonic Wars, at the Battle of Waterloo, he is Lieutenant-Colonel Sharpe.
Along the way, Sharpe has a number of romances. During the course of the series, he marries the Spanish guerrilla leader Teresa Moreno (Assumpta Serna), with whom he has a daughter. Teresa is killed by Hakeswill. Sharpe then marries Jane Gibbons (Abigail Cruttenden, Bean's real-life wife for less than three years), who deserts him, steals his hard-earned money, and takes a lover. He finally settles down with Lucille Castineau (Cécile Paoli), a Frenchwoman who passes away some time after Napoleon's final defeat, leaving Sharpe free once more. (However, according to the Starbuck Chronicles, another series of Cornwell books, she outlives Sharpe.)
Initially, Paul McGann was cast in the title role; however, two days into filming of the first episode, McGann injured his knee playing football and was forced to withdraw. By the time production was ready to start again, Sean Bean became available and took on the role.
Author Bernard Cornwell was so impressed by Sean Bean's performances that he dedicated one of the novels, Sharpe's Battle, "to Sean Bean".
Several actors have played different characters in the series. Peter-Hugo Daly portrayed first Sergeant Rodd in Sharpe's Gold and then Bickerstaff, another unruly sergeant who dislikes Sharpe. Julian Fellowes played Major Warren Dunnett in Sharpe's Rifles and also the Prince Regent in Sharpe's Regiment. Tony Haygarth was "Marshal" Pot-au-Feu in Sharpe's Enemy and Sir Willoughby Parfitt in Sharpe's Justice.
There are some differences between the series and the novels. For instance, in the books, Sharpe was born in Wapping in London and has dark hair. Sean Bean is blond and, being from Sheffield, he speaks with a pronounced Sheffield accent. Sharpe is revealed to have been born in Keighley to local woman, Lizzie Sharpe in Sharpe's Justice; this contradicts the books which often state his mother was a London "Cat Street whore" who died in the Gordon Riots. In novels written after the television series started airing, the issue of Sharpe's northern accent and roots is addressed by having him flee from London to Yorkshire when he is a teenager to avoid retribution for a murder of an employer over a woman.
While in the novels Sharpe commands a group of thirty riflemen, the series focuses on a much smaller group of "Chosen Men" (Lance-Corporals), some of whom were invented for the series. The series' creations Harris and Perkins are introduced in later novels, notably Sharpe's Battle which takes place between earlier novels. These novels also feature Cooper, despite the fact that the character had been killed off in the novel Sharpe's Rifles. Harris (the educated rifleman) and Perkins (the youngest rifleman) share characteristics with Cornwell's originals Tongue and Pendleton, and appear together with them in later novels.
In the first TV episode, Sharpe is a sergeant in the 95th Rifles in Portugal when he saves Wellesley's life. In the books, this occurs in India during the Battle of Assaye, while he is serving in the 33rd Foot. The television series also differs in the fact that Sharpe was already a commissioned officer by the time he was posted to Portugal in the novels.
Due to actor Brian Cox's illness, his character, Major Michael Hogan, was replaced with borrowed character namesakes from numerous novels to create three more exploring officers: Major Nairn, Major Monroe, and Major General Ross; this also removed the future death of Major Hogan by disease in later novels. Instead this was used in Sharpe's Siege, whereby Major General Ross catches malarial fever but recovers.
In one of the most recent episodes, Sharpe's Challenge, Sharpe states that his latest lover, Lucille, has died, something never mentioned in the books. It should also be noted that the characters of Sergeant Bickerstaff and General William Dodd are killed off in this programme. Sharpe's Challenge is a composite of the three prequels that are set in India, creating a number of inconsistencies, since the TV version is set after the events at Waterloo. Bickerstaff's counterpart in the books is Hakeswill, who is killed off in Sharpe's Enemy.
Harry Price is shot and apparently killed in Sharpe's Company, when in the book the character killed is Captain Knowles; however Price, played by a different actor, is alive and well in Sharpe's Waterloo.
The episodes are listed by first airing date.
| Date Aired | Episode Name | Setting | Date Set |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1993 | Sharpe's Rifles | Retreat to Coruña | 1809 |
| 1993 | Sharpe's Eagle | Battle of Talavera | 1809 |
| 1994 | Sharpe's Company | Siege of Badajoz | 1812 |
| 1994 | Sharpe's Enemy | Defence of Portugal | 1812 |
| 1994 | Sharpe's Honour | Battle of Vitoria | 1813 |
| 1995 | Sharpe's Gold | ||
| 1995 | Sharpe's Battle | Franco-Spanish Border | 1813 |
| 1995 | Sharpe's Sword | Franco-Spanish Border | 1813 |
| 1996 | Sharpe's Regiment | England | 1813 |
| 1996 | Sharpe's Siege | Bordeaux | 1813 |
| 1996 | Sharpe's Mission | France | 1810 & 1813 |
| 1997 | Sharpe's Revenge | 1814 | |
| 1997 | Sharpe's Justice | Peace of 1814 | 1814 |
| 1997 | Sharpe's Waterloo | Battle of Waterloo | 1815 |
| 2006 | Sharpe's Challenge | India | 1803 & 1817 |
| 2008 | Sharpe's Peril | India | 1817 |
| Actor | Character | Years |
|---|---|---|
| Sean Bean | Colonel Richard Sharpe | 1993–1997, 2006, 2008 |
| Daragh O'Malley | Regimental Sergeant Major Patrick Harper | 1993–1997, 2006, 2008 |
| Michael Mears | Rifleman Francis Cooper | 1993–1995 |
| John Tams | Sergeant Daniel Hagman | 1993–1997 |
| Jason Salkey | Sergeant Harris | 1993–1997 |
| Paul Trussell | Rifleman Isaiah Tongue | 1993 |
| Lyndon Davies | Rifleman Ben Perkins | 1993–1995 |
| Actor | Character | Years |
|---|---|---|
| David Troughton | Sir Arthur Wellesley | 1993 |
| Hugh Fraser | Sir Arthur Wellesley, Lord Wellington | 1994–1997, 2006 |
| Malcolm Jamieson | Colonel de L'Eclin | 1993 |
| Brian Cox | Major Michael Hogan | 1993 |
| Kerry Shale | James Rothschild | 1993 |
| Simón Andreu | Major Blas Vivar | 1993 |
| Tim Bentinck | Captain Murray | 1993 |
| Daniel Craig | Lieutenant Berry | 1993 |
| David Ashton | Major Lennox | 1993 |
| Neil Dudgeon | Lieutenant Gibbons | 1993 |
| James Purefoy | Captain Jack Spears | 1995 |
| Gavan O'Herlihy | Captain Thomas Leroy | 1993 |
| Martin Jacobs | Colonel William Lawford | 1993 |
| Benedict Taylor | William Lawford | 1996 |
| Assumpta Serna | Comandante Teresa Moreno | 1993–1994 |
| Mark Strong | Colonel Brand | 1996 |
| Michael Cochrane | Colonel/General Sir Henry Simmerson | 1993, 1995, 1996, 2006, 2008 |
| Christopher Villiers | Colonel Horace Bampfylde | 1996 |
| Philip Whitchurch | Captain William Frederickson | 1994, 1996, 1997 |
| Michael Byrne | Major Nairn | 1994 |
| Pete Postlethwaite | Sergent Obadiah Hakeswill | 1994 |
| Féodor Atkine | Major Pierre Ducos | 1994, 1996, 1997 |
| Elizabeth Hurley | Lady Isabella Farthingdale | 1994 |
| Diana Perez | Ramona (Gonzalez) Harper | 1994–1996, 2006 |
| Alice Krige | La Marquesa de Casares el Grande y Melida Sadaba | 1994 |
| Emily Mortimer | Lass | 1995 |
| Hugh Ross | Major Mungo Munro | 1995 |
| Julian Fellowes | Major Dunnet; HRH the Prince Regent | 1993, 1996 |
| Olivier Pierre | General Jean-Baptiste Calvet | 1996 |
| John Benfield | General Jean-Baptiste Calvet | 1997 |
| James Laurenson | Major General Hector Ross | 1996–1997 |
| Caroline Langrishe | Lady Anne Camoynes | 1996, 1997 |
| Abigail Cruttenden | Jane Gibbons | 1996–1997 |
| Alexander Armstrong | Lord John Rossendale | 1996 |
| Alexis Denisof | Lord John Rossendale | 1997 |
| Cécile Paoli | Lucille Castineau, Madame la Vicomtessa de Seleglise | 1997 |
| Paul Bettany | Prince William of Orange | 1997 |
| Toby Stephens | William Dodd | 2006 |
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