Sharpe's Rifles

Portugal, 1809. Sergeant Richard Sharpe saves Sir Arthur Wellesley from a French cavalry attack and is made a lieutenant on the spot. The reward comes with a catch: commanding a squad of 95th riflemen who won't take an officer raised from the ranks, Irishman Patrick Harper among them. Major Hogan sends Sharpe after a banker lost behind enemy lines, and on the way he meets Spanish major Blas Vivar and partisan Teresa Moreno. Hogan maneuvers Sharpe into helping Vivar on a mission that could rouse Spain against the French. Sharpe and Harper trade punches before they become allies, and in the end French colonel D'Eclin is shot by young Perkins. The riflemen now follow Sharpe.

1. Behind the scenesPaul McGann was cast first

   The first Sharpe was Paul McGann. Two weeks into the shoot in Ukraine he hurt his knee playing soccer and had to drop out. Sean Bean stepped in a month later, on very short notice.

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2. Behind the scenesSpain was really Crimea

   Most of the series was shot in Crimea, with some scenes in Turkey, England, Portugal and Spain. Crimea's dry hills stood in for the Iberian Peninsula.

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3. ReferenceTeresa shows up early

   In the books, partisan Teresa Moreno first appears in Sharpe's Gold. TV brought her into the very first film and invented riflemen Harris and Perkins, who aren't in the novel.

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