Sharpe's Rifles (TV programme)

Sharpe's Rifles is the first of the Sharpe television dramas, based on Bernard Cornwell's 1988 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.

Sharpe's Rifles
Written byEoghan Harris
Directed byTom Clegg
StarringSean Bean
Brian Cox
Daragh O'Malley
Assumpta Serna
David Troughton
Theme music composerDominic Muldowney
John Tams
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
Production
Running time100 minutes
Release
Original networkITV
Original release5 May 1993 (1993-05-05)
Chronology
Followed bySharpe's Eagle

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,[1] Portugal and England, during which Paul McGann who was the original actor cast for the role of Richard Sharpe, broke his leg and was quickly replaced with Sean Bean.[2]

Plot summary

In 1809, Sir Arthur Wellesley (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) of the 95th Rifles. Wellesley rewards Sharpe with a field commission to Lieutenant.

Wellesley has no money to pay his men's wages; 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 has gone missing in the Spanish mountains. A company of the 95th under Major Dunnett (Julian Fellowes) is being sent to search for him, and Sharpe's first assignment is to command the Chosen Men, a handful of sharpshooters attached to the company. Sharpe, still uncomfortable in his new rank, does not make a good impression on his men, particularly their unofficial leader, Irishman Patrick Harper (Daragh O'Malley).

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 man in dark civilian clothes (Anthony Hyde), with only the young Rifleman Perkins (Lyndon Davies) and a gravely wounded Captain Murray (Tim Bentinck) surviving.

The band takes refuge in a small cottage and Captain Murray succumbs to his wounds after gifting Sharpe his sword. Harper tells Sharpe that the men have decided that they want to return to the army, threatening to kill Sharpe if he refuses to let them go. To assert his authority, Sharpe engages Harper in a brutal fistfight, but the men 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; when Harper kills two French cavalrymen to save 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.

Vivar claims the chest contains important government documents, but Sharpe opens it himself and finds 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. Major Hogan, Wellesley's chief of military intelligence, shows up and orders Sharpe to assist Vivar with his mission. On the eve of the attack, Sharpe promotes Harper to Sergeant.

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, 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, though Hogan advises Perkins to decline the favour.

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

See also

References
  1. Programme end credits
  2. Ferrier, Morwenna (15 March 2009). "Paul McGann, actor, 49". My body & soul. The Guardian. Retrieved 24 February 2019.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.