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What changed on screen
What changed on screen, title by title: 69 in total. Tap a cover to open it. Titles you haven't marked as read stay locked so nothing gets spoiled.
- Referencenod to comics or other movies
- Cameoa familiar face shows up
- Setupplanted now, pays off later
- Behind the scenesproduction trivia
- ChangeThe fake powder went to TV
The fake-powder loyalty test, where Sharpe's musket won't fire, ended up in Sharpe's Challenge, along with the Frenchman Gudin.
source ↗ - Behind the scenesThe start, written late
It's the first book in story order, but Cornwell didn't write it until 1997, 16 years after Sharpe's Eagle.
source ↗ - ReferenceSharpe learns to read
Locked up together, Lieutenant Lawford teaches Sharpe to read and write. Sharpe also fires a rifled gun for the first time here.
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- ChangeDodd gets an extra decade
The fort massacre, with Sharpe playing dead, opens Sharpe's Challenge as a flashback to 1803. On TV, the showdown with Dodd is pushed to 1817.
source ↗ - Behind the scenesOne letter short
Colonel McCandless smudges the arrest warrant so it reads 'Sharp' instead of 'Sharpe,' which lets him refuse it.
source ↗ - ReferencePaid in emeralds
Sharpe pays for McCandless's horse with one of the emeralds he took from Tipu Sultan's body in the previous book.
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- ChangeDodd's end on TV
Dodd's death in Sharpe's Challenge comes from this book, but TV moves it to 1817 and to a different fortress.
source ↗ - ChangeBickerstaff for Hakeswill
On TV, the man who goes over to the enemy is Sergeant Bickerstaff, built from this book's Hakeswill.
source ↗ - Behind the scenesTV tie-in cover
The book closes the India trilogy. In April 2006, the month of Sharpe's Challenge, it got a TV tie-in edition.
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- ReferenceEnter the seven-barrel gun
The book introduces the Nock seven-barrel gun, which becomes the favorite weapon of a future friend of Sharpe's.
source ↗ - Behind the scenesTrafalgar to Waterloo
In his historical note, Cornwell says Spaniard Miguel de Álava is the only real man he knows of who fought at both Trafalgar and Waterloo.
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- CameoA big Irishman
Patrick Harper, who becomes central to the series, makes a brief first appearance here in story order.
source ↗ - ReferenceSettling a childhood score
Before leaving for Denmark, Sharpe takes revenge on Jem Hocking, who tormented him as a boy at the Wapping foundling home.
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- ChangeSaving Wellesley early
On TV, Sharpe saves Wellesley in the opening and gets his commission there. In the book he's already an officer when the story starts.
source ↗ - ChangeNo Corunna, plus a banker
The film drops the retreat to Corunna and sends Sharpe after a banker. Major Dunnett, only captured in the book, dies in the opening ambush.
source ↗ - ChangeTeresa instead of Louisa
In the book, Englishwoman Louisa Parker has a big role and marries Vivar. On TV she nearly vanishes, and Teresa Moreno, who comes later in the books, steps in.
source ↗ - ChangeFive riflemen
TV swaps the book's company for five riflemen: Hagman, Cooper and Tongue come from the novel, Harris and Perkins were invented. D'Eclin dies from Perkins' shot.
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- Behind the scenesA Frenchman who looks like Sharpe
French major Dulong was real but barely recorded. Cornwell gave him the looks Sharpe had in the early books.
source ↗ - SetupSoult's cook
Keep an eye on Sergeant Deron, Marshal Soult's cook. He's back later in the series, in another role.
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- ChangeLennox got promoted
The book's Captain Lennox, who dies asking Sharpe for an eagle, became a major in the film.
source ↗ - ChangeTeresa joins the story
The film's cast includes Teresa Moreno, played by Assumpta Serna, who isn't in this book. Wikipedia notes the TV plot differs considerably.
source ↗ - Behind the scenesWhy an eagle
Cornwell wanted to open with the siege of Badajoz but felt it was too ambitious for a debut. He chose capturing an eagle, a comparable challenge.
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- ChangeOnly the title survived
The 1995 film barely resembles the book. The Spanish gold of Almeida becomes Aztec treasure, and the whole story changes.
source ↗ - ChangeThree years apart
The book is set in August 1810. TV made Gold after Honour and moved the story to 1813.
source ↗ - ChangeTeresa's debut
Teresa Moreno debuts in this book as El Católico's fiancée. On TV she'd already appeared in the first film.
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- ReferenceA nod to Forester
Rifleman Matthew Dodd is a tribute to C. S. Forester's Death to the French, also known as Rifleman Dodd.
source ↗ - Behind the scenesFerragus the giant
The thug Ferragus is named for his size and strength. It's 10th in story order but came out as the series' 23rd book.
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- Behind the scenesThe real eagle
The French 8th Regiment's eagle captured at Barrosa was real: the first one the British took in the war.
source ↗ - ReferenceWellington's brother
Ambassador Henry Wellesley, whose love letters drive the blackmail, is the future Duke of Wellington's younger brother.
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- ChangeNo Ducos, no Sarsfield
Spy Ducos and Father Sarsfield, key to the book's plot, don't appear on TV. Major Munro takes Hogan's role.
source ↗ - ChangeKiely's death
In the book, Lord Kiely kills himself after his disgrace. On TV he has a wife and is killed by Loup.
source ↗ - ChangePerkins doesn't make it
Young Perkins survives the book but dies in the film.
source ↗ - ChangeNo Fuentes de Oñoro
The film ends with the destruction of Loup's brigade and skips the Battle of Fuentes de Oñoro, the book's climax.
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- Behind the scenesCornwell's favorite
Cornwell counts this among his favorite books and calls the TV version the best of all the Sharpe films.
source ↗ - Behind the scenesWhere the series was born
Reading about Badajoz was when Cornwell first thought of a series about a rifleman in the Napoleonic Wars.
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- ReferenceLieutenant Cupid
The artillery officer riding with Sharpe is named Love, so of course his nickname is Cupid.
source ↗ - Behind the scenesWritten in 2023, set in 1812
It came out in 2023, more than 40 years after the first book, and slots in right after the siege of Badajoz.
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- ChangeA year later
The book is set in 1812, in the Salamanca campaign. The 1995 film moves the story to 1813 and changes several things.
source ↗ - Behind the scenesReal people
Father Curtis, the spy Colquhoun Grant and Marshal Marmont were real. Cornwell used all three with some license.
source ↗ - ReferenceFourth one out
It was the fourth book published, in 1983, but it's 15th in story order.
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- ChangeIsabella instead of Josefina
In the book, the fake Lady Farthingdale is Josefina, Sharpe's former lover. On TV the hostage is Isabella, played by Elizabeth Hurley, another ex.
source ↗ - ChangeTeresa dies sooner
On TV, Hakeswill kills Teresa right after the convent falls. In the book it happens during the final battle.
source ↗ - ChangeWho fires last
In the book, Sharpe fires the final shot into Hakeswill himself. On TV an unnamed officer finishes the execution while Sharpe watches from afar.
source ↗ - ChangeThe rockets shrink
The final battle, with Congreve rockets fired at point-blank range, shrinks on TV to a single repulsed French charge.
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- ChangeHarper instead of Angel
In the book, the boy partisan Angel rides with Sharpe on the search. On TV it's Harper.
source ↗ - ChangeNo Hogan, no Leroy
Hogan and Leroy are cut, and General Nairn takes over both roles.
source ↗ - ChangeThe priest and El Matarife
In the book, Father Hacha survives and Sharpe cuts El Matarife's throat. On TV, Ducos has Hacha killed and Major Mendoza shoots El Matarife.
source ↗ - ChangeNapoleon on screen
The film adds an opening with Ducos laying out his plan to Napoleon, which isn't in the book.
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- ChangeRoss instead of Nairn
The book's General Nairn becomes Major-General Ross on TV, a character created for the series and played by James Laurenson.
source ↗ - ChangeFewer faces
D'Alembord and Price, officers in the book's company, don't appear in the film.
source ↗ - ChangeHyde Park trimmed
Much of what follows the Hyde Park scene was cut. Overall, the film is faithful to the book.
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- Behind the scenesThe coward was real
According to Cornwell's historical note, Colonel Peacock was a real officer who behaved this way and was cashiered.
source ↗ - ReferenceJoel Chase is back
Rear Admiral Joel Chase is the same captain who carried Sharpe from India to Trafalgar in Sharpe's Trafalgar.
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- ChangeNo sea, no privateer
TV drops the naval plot and American privateer Killick. Bampfylde goes from navy captain to the regiment's commander.
source ↗ - ChangeAn extra sister
The film creates Catherine, the Comte de Maquerre's sister, who stays at the fort and catches Sharpe's eye.
source ↗ - ChangeA real fever
In the book, Jane only has a cold, and it's Hogan who dies of fever. On TV, Ross replaces Hogan, Jane really falls ill and quinine becomes a subplot.
source ↗ - ChangeMaquerre's end
In the book, Sharpe kills Maquerre. On TV, Maquerre stays with the French and Hagman picks him off from a distance.
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- ChangeMaillot, not Lassan
On TV, Lucille's brother is Maillot, not Lassan, and their mother is left out.
source ↗ - ChangeA different duel
The opening duel is with Bampfylde in the book and with Colonel Wigram on TV. Wigram later presides over Sharpe's court-martial.
source ↗ - ChangeNo pregnancy
In the book, Lucille becomes pregnant by Sharpe. TV cuts the pregnancy.
source ↗ - ChangeDucos' end
In the book, Ducos faces a firing squad after the raid on the Naples villa. On TV he's shot from a distance as he flees.
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- ChangeA missing son
Since TV cut Lucille's pregnancy, her son with Sharpe, Patrick-Henri, isn't in the film.
source ↗ - ChangeBlame the prince
In the film, Hagman and Harris die because of an order from the Prince of Orange. In the book, Hagman falls in the main battle, and Harris doesn't exist.
source ↗ - ChangeA cleaner death
In the book, a wounded, delirious Rossendale is killed at night by a woman looter. On TV he dies on French bayonets.
source ↗ - ChangeFord doesn't survive
Lieutenant Colonel Ford survives the book but is killed by artillery near the end of the film.
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- Behind the scenesBack after 15 years
It was the first Sharpe novel in about 15 years, since 2006's Sharpe's Fury.
source ↗ - ReferenceA scar from India
Major Morris, now commanding Sharpe's battalion, is the officer tied to Sharpe's flogging in Sharpe's Tiger.
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- Behind the scenesLast in the timeline
It came out in 1992 as the 12th book, but it's the last in story order. Every book written since goes back in time.
source ↗ - ReferenceHarper the tavern keeper
Here Harper lives in Dublin, runs a tavern and has grown very fat drinking his own stock.
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