The TV series that made Sean Bean a legend comes to Public Television starting tonight, February 15 at 10:00pm thanks to WETA UK.
Based on the book series by Bernard Cornwell, Sharpe follows the life of British soldier Richard Sharpe and the 95th Rifles during the Peninsular War (1807-1814).
If you are in the Washington DC Metro Area and don't know WETA UK go to the link below on how to watch this fantastic PBS channel we have the good fortune to have access to in our viewing area:
https://weta.org/tv/uk/faq
If you are new to the Sharpe TV series and want to know a little more about it, I wrote a series of posts about the series episodes back in 2012. But beware of spoilers and follow the posts in chronological order:
http://whiterosewritings.blogspot.com/search?q=Sharpe+Sundays&max-results=20&by-date=true
There was a time when I was very involved in the Sharpe fandom, and even with some of the people that worked on the Sharpe series. Alas, those days are long gone, but I have good memories of those times. (For the most part 😊). For the memories:
http://www.reenactor.net/index.php?topic=1251.0
For Sean Bean fans in the DC area who know him from The Lord of the Rings, or Game of Thrones, or his wonderful series last year, Broken, but are not aware of the Sharpe series, this is a great opportunity to catch up.
Sean Bean is Richard Sharpe, and always will be.
Washington DC Metropolitan Area Public Television WETA launches an All British programming TV station, WETA UK on June 2. This is very exciting news for DC Area Anglophiles.
What is even more exciting for this Anglophile is that in the preview videos, you can see one by clicking HERE and the other below.
I caught glimpses of the Sharpe series starring Sean Bean, and MI5 (Spooks) and Robin Hood starring Richard Armitage.
In their press release and website WETA says it will be different from BBC America (BBCA) because it is not affiliated with just one UK Television provider but will show programming from all UK television networks. I also hope that WETA UK will show programming that BBCA has neglected because of their need to show growing ratings and attract the 18-35 year-old demographic in order to charge and attract advertisers. WETA is supported by audience donations, foundations, US Government funding, and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (PBS) and not dependent on advertising dollars. I hope donations do come in to make it possible for WETA UK to purchase rights to new and exciting UK programming.
MI5 (Spooks)
Right now looking at the lineup for this 24- hour seven day a week channel the program lineup is made up of what PBS calls "classic" programming that we've all seen for years and years. Though I love my classic UK TV (see Sharpe, MI5, and Robin Hood note above), I really hope this new channel becomes what many of us hoped BBCA would be.
I do wonder if this idea of an all UK TV channel will catch on with PBS (US Public TV) networks across the United States, or at least in major TV markets. Many of us pay a premium to our Cable TV stations or other providers so that we can watch BBCA, but the PBS stations are "free".
Oh, and by the way WETA UK, how about showing North & South with Richard Armitage on the new channel! Richard Armitage will soon be starring in The Hobbit and featuring this great series may mean a new and growing audience for WETA. You may start another innovative trend across the PBS universe by doing so.
I'll be watching WETA UK starting on June 2 and will report back from time to time on what I think about the new channel and on any exciting UK shows we may have the good fortune to see in the DC Area. Thank you WETA and Happy 50th Birthday!
To read more about it, click HERE.
