Line #16 Trivia/Sharpe


1	* AbilityOverAppearance:
2	** Sharpe is played by 5'9" blond Yorkshireman Creator/SeanBean whereas in the novels he's described as over six feet tall, dark haired and a Londoner. However Bean owned the role so thoroughly that Creator/BernardCornwell retconned the character as having spent a large part of his teenage years in Yorkshire to explain his accent. Creator/PaulMcGann (who was originally cast as Sharpe) bears a closer physical resemblance to the character, although he's even shorter at 5'8".
3	** Likewise, Harper of the books is described as mid-twenties, blonde and blue-eyed. Harper of the TV show is played by black-haired, mid-30's Daragh O'Malley. Though unlike Sharpe, the height is very accurate, with O'Malley being only an inch shorter than the books listed 6'4.
4	* ApprovalOfGod: Creator/BernardCornwell approved of the series and loved Creator/SeanBean in the role so much that he retconned Sharpe in the novels to have the same accent and has said he imagines Sean's voice whenever he writes the character.
5	** Cornwell was likewise delighted with Creator/PetePostlethwaite's portrayal of Hakeswill in the first series, and admits his writing of the character in the prequel novels (''Tiger'' onwards) was much closer to the actor's performance than his original version.
6	** Cornwell also wrote in his short nonfiction book ''Sharpe's Story'' that Cecile Paoli's casting was spot-on, and exactly how he pictured Lucille when he wrote the character.
7	* {{Blooper}}:
8	** In ''[[Recap/SharpeS1E2SharpesEagle Sharpe's Eagle]]'', as Sir Henry says "The South Essex will advance slowly and with caution, Major Lennox!" Hogan's costume changes from a blue jacket to a white one.
9	** In ''[[Recap/SharpeS4E2SharpesSiege Sharpe's Siege]]'' in a scene where a bunch of dead French soldiers are lying in a pile one of the “dead” extras very noticeably blinks on camera.
10	** In ''[[Recap/SharpeS3E2SharpesBattle Sharpe's Battle]]'', during the scene where Sharpe and his men are first attacked by Loup's brigade, a shot of grey-wearing soldiers advancing and being cut down by the Chosen Men's rifle fire also features a man in jeans and a t-shirt watching the action...
11	* CaliforniaDoubling: The series was mostly filmed in Ukraine and later Turkey, owing to the cheapness of labour there, despite being set mostly in Spain and Portugal (early episodes) and France (later episodes).
12	* TheCastShowoff: Chosen Man Hagman is often seen singing or playing music. John Tams who plays Hagman is also a folk musician and composer. He also co-authored music score for the series.
13	* CreatorBacklash: Creator/HughFraser hated the prosthetic nose he had to wear to recreate Wellington's distinct beaky appearance.
14	* CreatorsFavouriteEpisode: Creator/BernardCornwell named ''Sharpe's Siege'' as his personal favourite book in the series.
15	* CreatorsFavourite: Creator/SeanBean named Richard Sharpe as his favourite role. His ongoing appreciation of Napoleonic Wars history has even led to him narrating [[https://www.history.co.uk/shows/sean-bean-on-waterloo a two-part documentary miniseries]] about the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo in 2015:
16	-->He's a very complex character. He knows that he's a good soldier, but he will always have to fight the prejudice of aristocratic officers because of his rough working-class upbringing. On the battlefield, he's full of confidence - but off it, he is unsure, a bit shy and ill at ease.
17	* FakeBrit: The American Creator/AlexisDenisof as Lord John Rossendale.
18	* FakeNationality: The British Oliver Cotton as the French Brigadier General Guy Loup.
19	* IronyAsSheIsCast: Michael Mears, who plays Chosen Man Cooper in several of the films, is actually a dedicated peace activist who has written and performed a play about WWI conscientious objectors.
20	* NoBudget: The series was rather infamously filmed on the cheap, making epic battles like Waterloo look like minor skirmishes.
21	* NoStuntDouble: Creator/SeanBean didn't use a stunt double for the series.
22	** He was nearly very seriously injured during ''Sharpe's Regiment'' when a horse stepped on him. The incident actually was added into the film.
23	* TheOtherDarrin: Wellesley was first played by Creator/DavidTroughton, who departed after ''[[Recap/SharpeS1E2SharpesEagle Sharpe's Eagle]]'' due to poor health. Wellesley's elevation to the peerage not only changes his name to Wellington, but his actor to Creator/HughFraser (the one who played Captain Hastings from ''Series/{{Poirot}}'').
24	* TheOtherMarty: Creator/PaulMcGann was originally cast as Richard Sharpe, but he broke his leg while playing football only a few days into the shooting of ''Sharpe's Rifles''. Creator/SeanBean was recast in the role and... well, you know the rest.
25	* RealSongThemeTune: The series uses an extended version the traditional British military song "Over the Hills and Far Away", using the lyrics from George Farquah's 1706 play ''Theatre/TheRecruitingOfficer''. Although written during the War of Spanish Succession, they are fortuitously fitting for Sharpe's career, which also took him "to Flanders, Portugal and Spain" (although Waterloo is in Brabant, which is fairly close to Flanders, Sharpe's first battle ever, as a private in the 33rd, was actually in Flanders - Boxtel 1794).
26	* RomanceOnTheSet:
27	** Creator/SeanBean met his third wife Abigail Cruttenden on the set. She played his second wife who eventually cheated on him and stole all his money. The marriage lasted three years.
28	** Creator/ScottCleverdon (Harry Price) and Assumpta Serna (Teresa) met while filming ''Sharpe's Company'' and married the same year. They are still married.
29	** Jason Salkey (Rifleman Harris) met his wife Natasha while she worked as a translator for the film crew in Ukraine. They are still married and have a son, Daniel.
30	* SequelGap: ''Sharpe's Assassin'' (2021) begins on the day following ''Sharpe's Waterloo'' (1990), and was the first ''Sharpe'' book published in 14 years.
31	* StarMakingRole: For Creator/SeanBean.
32	* ThrowItIn: The part where Sharpe and La Marquesa fall off the horse in ''[[Recap/SharpeS2E3SharpesHonour Sharpe's Honour]]'' was unscripted, but the director, Tom Clegg, liked it and kept it in.
33	* WhatCouldHaveBeen:
34	** Cooper was supposed to have appeared as a full-time Chosen Man and was originally going to be a long living member of Sharpe's Chosen Men, presumably to feature in either ''[[Recap/SharpeS4E3SharpesMission Sharpe's Mission]]'' or ''[[Recap/SharpeS5E3SharpesWaterloo Sharpe's Waterloo]]''. He was to have been and would have been the last of Sharpe's Chosen Men along with Harper to survive Waterloo, but plans changed when Michael Mears had a serious dispute with producers during his last episode, ''Sharpe's Gold'' over the harsh working conditions. His role was replaced with Richard Rutherford-Moore playing as Rifleman Moore, a new Chosen Man, whom had no dialogue.
35	** In the TV series, Creator/PaulMcGann was initially cast as Sharpe, only to break his leg in the early days of filming, leading to Bean being cast.
36	* WriterRevolt: An editor told Creator/BernardCornwell to change a scene where an Ensign died likely because ensigns are frequently young boys or men in their mid to late teens. He resented being told how to write, so he changed it to be ''more'' depressing. And in a number of the books since, Cornwell has killed off Ensigns in increasingly worse ways.
37	* WritingByTheSeatOfYourPants: Cornwell does plan his novels in advance, but has admitted to changing them up midway through because he thinks it reads better. An example - Frederickson was supposed to marry Lucille in ''Sharpe's Revenge''.
38	* YouLookFamiliar: Creator/JulianFellowes appeared in ''[[Recap/SharpeS1E1SharpesRifles Sharpe's Rifles]]'' as Major Dunnet and later appeared in ''Sharpe's Regiment'' as the Prince Regent.

Context Trivia / Sharpe