Sharpe's Rifles (TV programme)
Encyclopedia
Sharpe's Rifles is the first of the Sharpe
television dramas, based on the Bernard Cornwell
novel of the same name
. Shown on ITV
in 1993, the adaptation stars Sean Bean
, Daragh O'Malley
and Assumpta Serna
. It began a long series of successful and critically acclaimed television adaptations of the novels.
The drama tells the story of Richard Sharpe
, an ambitious and hardened soldier from Yorkshire. The story follows the exploits of Sharpe and his band of chosen men through Spain
after they survive an ambush by French cavalry.
Filming took place in the Crimea
, Portugal
and England
, during which Paul McGann
(the original casting for Sharpe) broke his leg playing football
and was replaced with Sean Bean
.
(David Troughton
), the commander of the British army fighting the French in Portugal, is saved from three pursuing French cavalrymen by Sergeant Richard Sharpe (Sean Bean). Wellesley rewards Sharpe with a field promotion to lieutenant and command of the "chosen men", a handful of sharpshooters previously led by Rifleman Patrick Harper (Daragh O'Malley). The two men take an instant dislike to each other.
Wellesley has no money to pay his men; however, he has arranged for a loan from the Rothschild family
. James Rothschild has set out from Vienna with a badly needed bank draft, but is overdue. Sharpe, his men, and a company under Major Dunnett (Julian Fellowes) are sent out to search for him. While Sharpe and his men are out scouting the terrain, the company is surprised and wiped out by enemy cavalry led by Colonel de L'Eclin (Malcolm Jamieson) and a mysterious man in black civilian clothes (Anthony Hyde), with only Perkins and a gravely wounded Captain Murray as survivors.
The band took refuge in a small cottage and Captain Murray succumbed to his wounds. Harper tells Sharpe that the men have decided that they want to go back; he and Sharpe end up fighting and are taken unawares by a band of Spanish guerrillas led by Commandante Teresa Moreno (Assumpta Serna
) and Major Blas Vivar (Simón Andreu). Sharpe declares Harper a mutineer and joins forces with the Spanish guerrillas for mutual protection, since they are headed in the same general direction. Sharpe begins to bond with his men and also with Teresa.
The guerrillas are protecting a chest and when Harper kills two French cavalrymen to protect it, Sharpe frees him and drops the mutiny charge. Along the way, they encounter the Parkers, a Methodist missionary couple and their niece, whom they take under their protection.
Major Hogan, Wellesley's chief of military intelligence, shows up and orders Sharpe to assist Vivar with his mission to rouse the people. The Spaniard has brought a thousand-year-old family heirloom with him - the Gonfalon
of Santiago or "Banner of Blood". Legend has it that Santiago (Saint James) himself will appear to defend Spain when the flag is raised over the chapel in the town of Torrecastro. Sharpe, Teresa, Vivar and their men attack and defeat the French garrison. Vivar crosses swords with the man in black, who turns out to be his own brother, the Count of Matamoros, and kills him. He then raises the flag. At the end of the battle, Colonel de L'Eclin is about to shoot an unarmed Sharpe, but is shot and killed by Rifleman Perkins. Sharpe rewards the young Perkins by making him a "chosen man".
Sharpe reports back to Wellesley. When the general expresses his disappointment that Sharpe did not find Rothschild, Sharpe reveals that "Mrs. Parker" is the banker in disguise, to Wellesley's delight. Afterwards, Sharpe and Teresa make love, before she leaves to continue fighting the French.
Sharpe (TV series)
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...
television dramas, based on the Bernard Cornwell
Bernard Cornwell
Bernard Cornwell OBE is an English author of historical novels. He is best known for his novels about Napoleonic Wars rifleman Richard Sharpe which were adapted into a series of Sharpe television films.-Biography:...
novel of the same name
Sharpe's Rifles (novel)
Sharpe's Rifles was the first prequel novel in the series written by Bernard Cornwell. It tells the story of Richard Sharpe and the French Invasion of Galicia, January 1809...
. Shown on ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
in 1993, the adaptation stars Sean Bean
Sean Bean
Shaun Mark "Sean" Bean is an English film and stage actor. Bean is best known for playing Boromir in The Lord of the Rings Trilogy and, previously, British Colonel Richard Sharpe in the ITV television series Sharpe...
, Daragh O'Malley
Daragh O'Malley
Daragh O'Malley is an Irish film, theatre and television actor, best known for his portrayal of the much loved and ever faithful but rather fearsome Patrick Harper in the legendary Sharpe TV series along side Sean Bean...
and Assumpta Serna
Assumpta Serna
Assumpta Serna is a Spanish actress. She is known for her roles in I, The Worst of All portraying famous Mexican religious scholar Sor Juana, Nostradamus, The Craft, and Wild Orchid, although she may be most remembered for her role as Peninsular War guerrilla commander Teresa Moreno in the first...
. It began a long series of successful and critically acclaimed television adaptations of the novels.
The drama tells the story of Richard Sharpe
Richard Sharpe (fictional character)
Sharpe is a series of historical fiction stories by Bernard Cornwell centred on the character of Richard Sharpe. The stories formed the basis for an ITV television series wherein the eponymous character was played by Sean Bean....
, an ambitious and hardened soldier from Yorkshire. The story follows the exploits of Sharpe and his band of chosen men through Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
after they survive an ambush by French cavalry.
Filming took place in the Crimea
Crimea
Crimea , or the Autonomous Republic of Crimea , is a sub-national unit, an autonomous republic, of Ukraine. It is located on the northern coast of the Black Sea, occupying a peninsula of the same name...
, Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
and England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, during which Paul McGann
Paul McGann
Paul McGann is an English actor who made his name on the BBC serial The Monocled Mutineer, in which he played the lead role...
(the original casting for Sharpe) broke his leg playing football
Football (soccer)
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...
and was replaced with Sean Bean
Sean Bean
Shaun Mark "Sean" Bean is an English film and stage actor. Bean is best known for playing Boromir in The Lord of the Rings Trilogy and, previously, British Colonel Richard Sharpe in the ITV television series Sharpe...
.
Plot summary
In 1809, Sir Arthur WellesleyArthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington
Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, KG, GCB, GCH, PC, FRS , was an Irish-born British soldier and statesman, and one of the leading military and political figures of the 19th century...
(David Troughton
David Troughton
David Troughton is an English actor, best known for his Shakespearean roles on the British stage.- Biography :David Troughton was born in Hampstead, North London. He comes from a theatrical family: he is the son of Doctor Who actor Patrick Troughton, elder brother of Michael Troughton, and father...
), the commander of the British army fighting the French in Portugal, is saved from three pursuing French cavalrymen by Sergeant Richard Sharpe (Sean Bean). Wellesley rewards Sharpe with a field promotion to lieutenant and command of the "chosen men", a handful of sharpshooters previously led by Rifleman Patrick Harper (Daragh O'Malley). The two men take an instant dislike to each other.
Wellesley has no money to pay his men; however, he has arranged for a loan from the Rothschild family
Rothschild family
The Rothschild family , known as The House of Rothschild, or more simply as the Rothschilds, is a Jewish-German family that established European banking and finance houses starting in the late 18th century...
. James Rothschild has set out from Vienna with a badly needed bank draft, but is overdue. Sharpe, his men, and a company under Major Dunnett (Julian Fellowes) are sent out to search for him. While Sharpe and his men are out scouting the terrain, the company is surprised and wiped out by enemy cavalry led by Colonel de L'Eclin (Malcolm Jamieson) and a mysterious man in black civilian clothes (Anthony Hyde), with only Perkins and a gravely wounded Captain Murray as survivors.
The band took refuge in a small cottage and Captain Murray succumbed to his wounds. Harper tells Sharpe that the men have decided that they want to go back; he and Sharpe end up fighting and are taken unawares by a band of Spanish guerrillas led by Commandante Teresa Moreno (Assumpta Serna
Assumpta Serna
Assumpta Serna is a Spanish actress. She is known for her roles in I, The Worst of All portraying famous Mexican religious scholar Sor Juana, Nostradamus, The Craft, and Wild Orchid, although she may be most remembered for her role as Peninsular War guerrilla commander Teresa Moreno in the first...
) and Major Blas Vivar (Simón Andreu). Sharpe declares Harper a mutineer and joins forces with the Spanish guerrillas for mutual protection, since they are headed in the same general direction. Sharpe begins to bond with his men and also with Teresa.
The guerrillas are protecting a chest and when Harper kills two French cavalrymen to protect it, Sharpe frees him and drops the mutiny charge. Along the way, they encounter the Parkers, a Methodist missionary couple and their niece, whom they take under their protection.
Major Hogan, Wellesley's chief of military intelligence, shows up and orders Sharpe to assist Vivar with his mission to rouse the people. The Spaniard has brought a thousand-year-old family heirloom with him - the Gonfalon
Gonfalone
The gonfalon or gonfalone , is a type of heraldic flag or banner, often pointed, swallow-tailed, or with several streamers, and suspended from a crossbar...
of Santiago or "Banner of Blood". Legend has it that Santiago (Saint James) himself will appear to defend Spain when the flag is raised over the chapel in the town of Torrecastro. Sharpe, Teresa, Vivar and their men attack and defeat the French garrison. Vivar crosses swords with the man in black, who turns out to be his own brother, the Count of Matamoros, and kills him. He then raises the flag. At the end of the battle, Colonel de L'Eclin is about to shoot an unarmed Sharpe, but is shot and killed by Rifleman Perkins. Sharpe rewards the young Perkins by making him a "chosen man".
Sharpe reports back to Wellesley. When the general expresses his disappointment that Sharpe did not find Rothschild, Sharpe reveals that "Mrs. Parker" is the banker in disguise, to Wellesley's delight. Afterwards, Sharpe and Teresa make love, before she leaves to continue fighting the French.
Cast
| Actor | Character |
|---|---|
| Sean Bean Sean Bean Shaun Mark "Sean" Bean is an English film and stage actor. Bean is best known for playing Boromir in The Lord of the Rings Trilogy and, previously, British Colonel Richard Sharpe in the ITV television series Sharpe... |
Lieutenant Richard Sharpe Richard Sharpe (fictional character) Sharpe is a series of historical fiction stories by Bernard Cornwell centred on the character of Richard Sharpe. The stories formed the basis for an ITV television series wherein the eponymous character was played by Sean Bean.... |
| Daragh O'Malley Daragh O'Malley Daragh O'Malley is an Irish film, theatre and television actor, best known for his portrayal of the much loved and ever faithful but rather fearsome Patrick Harper in the legendary Sharpe TV series along side Sean Bean... |
Sergeant Patrick Harper |
| Assumpta Serna Assumpta Serna Assumpta Serna is a Spanish actress. She is known for her roles in I, The Worst of All portraying famous Mexican religious scholar Sor Juana, Nostradamus, The Craft, and Wild Orchid, although she may be most remembered for her role as Peninsular War guerrilla commander Teresa Moreno in the first... |
Comandante Teresa Moreno |
| Brian Cox | Major Michael Hogan |
| David Troughton David Troughton David Troughton is an English actor, best known for his Shakespearean roles on the British stage.- Biography :David Troughton was born in Hampstead, North London. He comes from a theatrical family: he is the son of Doctor Who actor Patrick Troughton, elder brother of Michael Troughton, and father... |
Sir Arthur Wellesley Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, KG, GCB, GCH, PC, FRS , was an Irish-born British soldier and statesman, and one of the leading military and political figures of the 19th century... |
| Simón Andreu Simón Andreu Simón Andreu is a Spanish actor. He has appeared in over 135 films since 1961.-Selected filmography:* The Good Love * Bad Man's River * The Blood Spattered Bride * El sacerdote... |
Major Blas Vivar |
| Anthony Hyde | Count of Matamoros |
| Malcolm Jamieson | Colonel de L'Eclin |
| Michael Mears | Rifleman Francis Cooper |
| John Tams John Tams John Tams is an English actor, singer, songwriter, composer and musician.- Folk musician :John Tams was a member of Derbyshire folk group Muckram Wakes in the 1970s, then worked with Ashley Hutchings as singer and melodeon-player on albums including Son of Morris On, and as a member of the... |
Rifleman Daniel Hagman |
| Jason Salkey Jason Salkey Jason Salkey is an English actor. He played Rifleman Harris in Sharpe, and Paul Lang in The Bill. He has also been in Bergerac, Boon, Wycliffe, About a Boy, and In America.... |
Rifleman Harris |
| Lyndon Davies | Rifleman Ben Perkins |
| Paul Trussell Paul Trussell Paul Trussell is an English actor.Born in Wimbledon, he has appeared in many plays, television series and films. He has worked closely with the director, Mike Leigh, on the stage play It's a Great Big Shame, and the films Life is Sweet and the Oscar-nominated Secrets & Lies, .He is known to TV... |
Rifleman Isaiah Tongue |
| Julian Fellowes Julian Fellowes Julian Alexander Kitchener-Fellowes, Baron Fellowes of West Stafford, DL , known as Julian Fellowes, is an English actor, novelist, film director and screenwriter, as well as a Conservative peer.-Early life:... |
Major Dunnett |
| Tim Bentinck | Captain Murray |
| Kerry Shale Kerry Shale Kerry Shale is a UK-based actor, writer and voice-over artist. He is married to Suzanne Shale, a former Oxford University law don, now a specialist in the field of medical ethics.-Theatre:... |
James Rothschild |
See also
- 95th Regiment of Foot
- Over the Hills and Far Away (traditional)Over the Hills and Far Away (traditional)"Over the Hills and Far Away" is a traditional English song, dating back to at least the late 17th century. One version was published in Thomas D'Urfey's Wit and Mirth, or Pills to Purge Melancholy; a very different one appeared in George Farquhar's 1706 play The Recruiting Officer...
- Sharpe's Rifles (novel)Sharpe's Rifles (novel)Sharpe's Rifles was the first prequel novel in the series written by Bernard Cornwell. It tells the story of Richard Sharpe and the French Invasion of Galicia, January 1809...