More Sharpe Tales from History Hack - Yes, Even Paul McGann

Paul McGann as Richard Sharpe

If you are a fan of the Sharpe TV series and haven't been listening to the History Hack Podcasts featuring the cast,crew, and producers of the series, what are you waiting for?

In the latest podcast the unimaginable happens. Paul McGann talks about what really happened on the Sharpe set, and about his injury that led Sean Bean to replace him as Richard Sharpe. Did any Sharpe fan ever expect to hear directly from Paul McGann!!!!

I listened last night and at the end I was even missing this:

Now all Sharpe fans know some of the story of how Sean Bean ended up as Sharpe, but there was a lot that I didn't know. It was a pleasure to listen to Paul McGann.  

(I confess I have a soft spot for his brother, Stephen McGann)

In addition in this podcast we get Brian Cox unplugged, telling it like it is, or was. 

I may have to sign up for HBO again to watch Succession. 

I wish we had more from the Wellingtons, Hugh Fraser and David Troughton.  Maybe they'll come back in the next podcast to share more.  And I felt we needed more about the real Wellington from the historians on the podcast, but there just wasn't time.

It was also interesting to hear Assumpta Serna's stories about the
women in the cast of the very male-centric set of Sharpe. Why do women always have to struggle to be heard! And also representing Spain's side of the Peninsular War/Spanish War of Independence.  

(I know the feeling of being sidelined in history, the Spanish American War is part of the Cuban War of Independence.)

History Hack and Jason Salkey have promised more Sharpe cast and crew podcasts in our future. 

Oh yes, of course, I can't end this post without a reminder that Jason Salkey's book, From Crimea with Love, is getting closer to publication. 

https://unbound.com/books/from-crimea-with-love/

To find the other great History Hack Sharpe Podcasts click HERE

Sharpe the TV Series Starring Sean Bean Starts Today on WETA UK

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. 

Happy Birthday Richard Armitage - Thank You for the Gift of your Voice

Happy Birthday

Today on this special day I want to celebrate and give thanks to Richard Armitage for his wonderful audio books.

Thanks to RA I share my commute to and from work with Damerel, Rule, Sylvester, Guy of Gisborne,  Uhtred of Bebbanburg and a host of intriguing characters.

Richard Armitage's reading or more accurately performance, of Bernard Cornwell's The Lords of the North is a tour de force.  This photo vidlet is only a small taste of Armitage as Uhtred of Bebbanburg.  He creates not just an unforgettable Uhtred but an entire world of characters. No matter how many times I listen to Lords of the North I soon forget that it's only Armitage doing all the voices and I'm soon not in my own humdrum 21st century life but in the midst of a shield wall in 9th Century Britain.

On his 41st Birthday today here is my heartfelt but inadequate tribute to Richard Armitage and his voice work in those marvelous audio books:

For details on how to order the entire audiobook go to RichardArmitageNet.com

http://www.richardarmitagenet.com/career/231.html

Hope you're enjoying your stay here  in the U.S. and feeling all the affection your fans on this side of the pond have for you. 

Feliz Cumpleaños - Happy Birthday

Richard Armitage

When most I wink, then do mine eyes best see,

For all the day they view things unrespected;

But when I sleep, in dreams they look on thee

William Shakespeare, Sonnet XLIII


Raw materials for all this from RichardArmitageNet.com, Richard Armitage Online, Richard Armitage Central, KnightTemplar, Artists on DeviantArt, the creator Bernard Cornwell

Start of KRA Week 2012 (poem) by Gratiana Lovelace 

http://gratianads90.wordpress.com/2012/08/22/41st-birthday-greetings-to-richard-crispin-armitage-at-the-start-of-kra-2012-poem-82212-gratiana-lovelace-post-255/

http://kingrichardarmitage.rgcwp.com/contributions/king-richard-week-2012/

Sharpe's Sword: My Favorite Episode on Sharpe Sundays August 19

Sharpe's Sword 

Sharpe and the Chosen Men come upon a French patrol and take their captain prisoner. It seems the patrol was led by a colonel in the Imperial Guard that was killed in the fight.  Sharpe finds suspicious papers on the French captain, and suspects he may really be the colonel. He gives the papers to “resident scholar" Rifleman Harris to decipher.  

As they are ready to go back to camp a frightened young woman comes out from the trees and throws herself on Sharpe.  Seems she’s a novice that escaped when the French patrol attacked a carriage with a priest and several nuns. The priest and nuns were killed. The French wanted information from the priest because he knew the identity of El Mirador, Wellington’s top spy.  

Back in camp Sharpe meets a charming new friend, Captain Jack Spears, and an old enemy, Henry Simmerson.  This is an episode about trust, friendship, and love.  Who is the French captain really?  Who is El Mirador? Who is Candide? Who can Sharpe trust?

James Purefoy as Jack Spears

Jason Salkey, Sean Bean, Richard Rutherford Moore John Tams

Sharpe's Sword is my favorite episode and also my favorite book of Cornwell's Sharpe series. They are substantially different, the book and the series episode, but they have the same underlying theme: 

The meaning and the power of friendship 

The series episode also has Sean Bean saying "Lass" all the time. Makes me swoon every time.

Emily Mortimer and Sean Bean

Please join new and longtime Sharpe fans for the Global Sharpe Watch this Sunday, August 19, 3:00pm EST/US, 8:00pm UK, 9:00pm Continent on Tweet Chat.  For all the details and "How To's" go to  Sharpe Lives Movie Club Facebook Page:

http://www.facebook.com/SharpeLivesMovieClub?sk=notes

Or to Distracted Musings of One Reality at the link below:

http://distractedinreality.wordpress.com/2012/06/11/sharpe-lives-or-sharpe-sundays/

Sharpe Sundays: Sharpe's Honour - Duels and Ducos

Sharpe’s Honour


La Marquesa Mendora writes to her husband, a Spanish general, and accuses Sharpe of forcing his attentions on her. Sharpe swears he’s never met her. Her husband confronts Sharpe and demands and apology or a duel. Is La Marquesa telling the truth, or is it part of a plan by Napoleon and French spymaster Ducos to get the British to leave Spain?




Please join new and longtime Sharpe fans for the Global Sharpe Watch this Sunday, July 22, 3:00pm EST/US, 8:00pm UK, 9:00pm Continent on Tweet Chat.  For all the details and "How To's" go to  Sharpe Lives Movie Club Facebook Page:


http://www.facebook.com/SharpeLivesMovieClub?sk=notes


Or to Distracted Musings of One Reality at the link below:


http://distractedinreality.wordpress.com/2012/06/11/sharpe-lives-or-sharpe-sundays/


One of my favorite songs from the Sharpe TV Series is Spanish Bride.  The song is an old British sea shanty also named "Spanish Ladies," or "Farewell and Adieu" and has been traced to the period between 1793 and 1796 in which British ships would dock in Spanish harbors when Spain and Britain were first allies against Revolutionary France. But there's some evidence as well that the song may date to the Peninsular War times of the Sharpe series.    


The version in the video below is an arrangement by John Tams with some of the lyrics by Tams as well.  John Tams is an award winning folk singer, musician, composer, writer, actor who in addition to playing Rifleman Dan Hagman is responsible for the wonderful music for the entire Sharpe series (along with Dominic Muldowney.)

Video by dominusminou

*Screencap of Alice Krige and Sean Bean from mythicdesigns.net

Sharpe Sundays Episode 3 - Series 2: Badajoz

Sharpe’s Company


It’s now 1812 and the Duke of Wellington is making plans to lay siege to Badajoz.  When a new draft of soldiers arrives from England among them is a dangerous figure from Sharpe’s past in India, Sgt. Hakeswill.  Bad news for Sharpe all around since his commission as a captain is no longer needed he’s back to being a lieutenant and worse yet made Quartermaster. In order to get a promotion Sharpe volunteers to lead the Forlorn Hope, the first men to attack the breach, but Wellington refuses.  Will Sharpe save the day and thwart Hakeswill's evil plans?  

Richard Caton Woodville Jr. (1856-1927)

Please join new and longtime Sharpe fans for the Global Sharpe Watch this Sunday, July 8, 3:00pm EST/US, 8:00pm UK, 9:00pm Continent on Tweet Chat.  For all the details and "How To's" go to  Sharpe Lives Movie Club Facebook Page:

http://www.facebook.com/SharpeLivesMovieClub?sk=notes

Or to Distracted Musings of One Reality at the link below:

http://distractedinreality.wordpress.com/2012/06/11/sharpe-lives-or-sharpe-sundays/

Armand Philippon (1803)

Philippon is a name we'll hear mentioned in this Sharpe episode. Like Richard Sharpe, the real Armand Philippon enlisted as a soldier during the French Revolution and rose through the ranks of the French army (Grande Armée) to become Baron Philippon.He was Governor of Badajoz in 1812 when we join Sharpe's Company in Spain this Sunday.

Join the Sharpe Watch - Sharpe Sundays Starts this Sunday with Sharpe's Rifles

Sharpe’s Rifles

It’s 1809 and Sergeant Richard Sharpe of the second Battalion of the 95^th Rifles is in Portugal. The British Army is there fighting against Napoleon Bonaparte and the French in the Peninsular War (Spanish War of Independence.) Through an act of bravery Sharpe receives a field commission making him a lieutenant and is given command of the 95^th Rifles under Captain Murray. The Rifles, also known as the Chosen Men, are not very accepting of his command because he was raised from the ranks and is not a proper officer.  But Sharpe has been given a special mission by Sir Arthur Wellesley (later the Duke of Wellington) to find a missing agent behind enemy lines and he’s determined to do so despite many setbacks.  But when Sharpe encounters two Spanish guerrilla leaders, one of them a woman, he begins to wander what his mission really is.   

Please join new and longtime Sharpe fans for the Global Sharpe Watch this Sunday, June 24, 3:00pm EST/US, 8:00pm UK, 9:00pm Continent on Tweet Chat.  For all the details and "How To's" go to  Sharpe Lives Movie Club Facebook Page:

http://www.facebook.com/SharpeLivesMovieClub?sk=notes

Or to Distracted Musings of One Reality at the link below:

http://distractedinreality.wordpress.com/2012/06/11/sharpe-lives-or-sharpe-sundays/

In his novels Bernard Cornwell likes to mix real life historical figures with his fictional characters.  In this first episode of Sharpe Series 1 we'll meet two important historical figures:

Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington

Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, KG, GCB, GCH, PC, FRS (1 May 1769[1] – 14 September 1852), was a British soldier and statesman, a native of Ireland, from the Anglo-Irish Ascendancy,[3] and one of the leading military and political figures of the 19th century. He is often referred to as "the Duke of Wellington", even after his death, when there have been subsequent Dukes of Wellington. 

From Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Wellesley,_1st_Duke_of_Wellington

Nathan Mayer Rothschild

Nathan Mayer, Freiherr von Rothschild (16 September 1777 – 28 July 1836), known as Nathan Mayer Rothschild, was a British banker and financier and one of five sons of the second-generation of the Rothschild banking dynasty. 

From Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nathan_Mayer_Rothschild

Or could be his brother James Rothschild who aided his brother Nathan during the Napoleonic Wars:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Mayer_de_Rothschild

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Richard Armitage Fans, don't forget Armitage Watch on Fridays and Saturdays. Go to the link below for all the details:

http://armitagewatch.blogspot.com/p/calendar-of-upcoming-watches.html

Sharpe Lives on Sharpe Sunday

Wouldn't it be fun to share some Sharpe Watching this summer? My friend and fellow blogger Sin and I thought so, and we also thought why keep this all to ourselves, why not share Richard Sharpe with the world!


Join Sharpe Sundays on Twitter and Facebook starting June 24 to gather and watch Sean Bean in his iconic role as Richard Sharpe.

Share and Chat about Sharpe with Fellow Fans! 

For all the details, dates, Twitter Chat, Facebook, and more information about the legend of Sharpe and how Sean Bean made the role his own go to DistRActed Musings of One Reality at the link below:


http://distractedinreality.wordpress.com/2012/06/11/sharpe-lives-or-sharpe-sundays/

Hope to see Fellow Sharpe Fans on Sundays

Fabo/HKLETTUCE