Acclaimed actor Sean Bean (Lord Of The Rings, Goldeneye) stars in these feature length movies set during the Napoleonic wars of 19th century Spain.
Fast-moving, hard-hitting action adventures based on Bernard Cornwell’s best-selling novels bring to the screen all the danger and romance of one of the bloodiest periods of warfare.
In the first episode (Sharpe’s Rifles) Sharpe saves the life of a general and is subsequently promoted to lieutenant and given his own group of riflemen. One of them is Sergeant Patrick Harper (played by Daragh O’Malley) who starts off as Sharpe's enemy but goes on to become his trusted sidekick and a permanent fixture in the series. The men then make their way from one Napoleonic battle to the next, making friends and a fair few enemies along the way.
Sharpe himself is something of a loose cannon, described by the author as “brilliant but wayward”. That said, he is a hugely charismatic leader of men, a master battlefield tactician and a hit with the ladies.
Sharpe Trivia
First aired: May 1993
Little-known fact: Sean Bean only became Sharpe at the eleventh hour. Paul McGann was all set for the title role, but two days into filming he was injured while playing football and had to withdraw. Writer Bernard Cornwell was originally said to be against the casting, having originally conceived the character as a Londoner with dark hair.
Little-known fact (No.2): Paul Bettany has appeared twice in the series but as different characters - firstly as a common soldier and then again in Sharpe's Waterloo as the Prince Of Orange
Little-known fact (No3): Sharpe's arch-nemesis Ducos shows up alive and well in 1996's Sharpe's Siege, despite having been killed two years earlier in Sharpe's Honour
Notable stars: Sean Bean, Daragh O’Malley, Hugh Fraser, James Purefoy, Abigail Cruttenden, Paul Bettany, Jason Salkey, Brian Cox
