Sharpe's Peril On Sharpe Sundays: The Long and Winding Road Home

Sharpe’s Peril

Having finished their mission in India Sharpe and Harper are on their way home to England.  On a stop along the way Sharpe is talked into taking a detour and escorting precious cargo to the fort of Kalimgong. The cargo turns out to be high maintenance bride-to-be  Mademoiselle Bonnet on her way to meet her fiancé, Major Joubert.

On the road they run into a group of traveler’s including members of the East India Company army, the King’s army, and an Indian princess and her group, who are also on the way to the fort.  While Sharpe and Harper are there the group is attacked by followers of the bandit Chitu.  The traveling group commander is seriously wounded and Sharpe is asked to help them by taking command. Despite Harper’s misgivings, Sharpe agrees.

The East India company troops are commanded by the very young Ensign Beauclere who worships his deceased soldier father. He has to deal with the very shady character of Colour-Sergeant Wormwood who has his own personal agenda. Sharpe is protective of the young Ensign, but he knows he has to keep an eye on Wormwood.  Sharpe’s biggest ally seems to be the company engineer Major Tredinnick. 

 

There’s also a prisoner among the group, a soldier named Barabbas with a family connection Sharpe knows way too well.  Who is he and why is he there?

Let’s not forget Dragomirov and his men! Back at the attack from Chitu it was Dragomirov and his fellow cavalry soldiers that save the day.  But is Dragomirov to be trusted?

What big surprise will Sharpe find at Fort Kalimgong? What is Wormwood up to? Will it be a boy or a girl for Major Tredinnick’s younger wife? Will Barabbas live up to his name? Will Sharpe deliver Miss Bonnet to her fiancé?

Please join new and longtime Sharpe fans for the Global Sharpe Watch this Sunday, October 14, 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/

Peril is the last episode in the Sharpe series and so we bid farewell this Sunday to Sharpe Sundays. It has been a wonderful experience to watch this legendary series together with an interesting, knowledgeable and fun group of new and veteran fans. 

Thank you to all who shared their knowledge of the Sharpe books and the Sharpe series with us.

We even had Paul Trussell, Rifleman Tongue, drop by on one Sharpe Sundays watch. Thank you sir.  

Thank you to my Sharpe Sundays partner Sin/iz4blue/Fanny or Sharpe Lives for coming up with the original idea and for organizing us all so well. 

A special Thank You to our steadfast group of Sharpe Sundays regulars.  A pleasure to share this journey with you every Sunday.

Will there be another Sharpe episode to give closure to the series? There have been rumors since Peril aired in 2008 that there is one in the works. Some have speculated that it will be somewhat based on Sharpe's Devil.  (Devil is the last (chronological) novel of Cornwell's Sharpe series.)  Some have speculated that Sharpe will go on an adventure to find his daughter Antonia who he hasn't seen since she was a baby.  All fans hope there will be one more episode and that Sharpe and Harper will march again. 

Thank you all who dropped by and read the Sharpe Sundays posts. Hope it will encourage all to watch the Sharpe series and read the novels by Bernard Cornwell. 



Thank you to Sean Bean Online and The Mighty Bean and many others for all the screencaps and pics used for the Sharpe Sundays posts. 

Sharpe's Challenge On Sharpe Sundays: Return to India

Sharpe's Challenge

Two years after Waterloo now French farmer Richard Sharpe is summoned by Wellington to London and asked to go on a mission to India.  You see Sharpe was in India at the start of his military career serving as a soldier under a younger Arthur Wellesley (later the Duke of Wellington). 

Wellington wants him to find an agent missing in India who was sent on a mission to find about a brewing rebellion.  Sharpe says no at first, he likes being a farmer, until on leaving he finds Ramona Harper waiting for him. Seems the missing agent is his friend Patrick Harper.

On his arrival in India Sharpe runs into the lovely daughter of General Burroughs and later learns she’s been kidnapped and held for ransom by the rebellious Rajah.  If there is a damsel in distress who are you going to call? Richard Sharpe of course!

Sharpe also runs into an old enemy, the evil but handsome William Dodd.  Sharpe was the only surviving witness to Dodd’s treachery years before and he fears being recognized while on his mission to rescue Celia Burroughs.

Will Sharpe find Harper? Will he rescue the damsel in distress?  Will Dodd remember Sharpe? Will Richard regret returning to India? 

 

For the answer to all these questions please join new and longtime Sharpe fans for the Global Sharpe Watch this Sunday, October 7, 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/

You may recognize the actor playing Major Dodd:

Toby Stephens comes from an illustrious acting family. He is the son of two great British acting legends, Dame Maggie Smith and the late Sir Robert Stephens. Toby Stephens has an illustrious acting career himself on stage and screen. Both he and Sean Bean have played James Bond villains. Happy 50th Anniversary James Bond! 

You may also recognize Padma Lakshmi taking a break from cooking shows to play devious and deadly Mahduvanti,

 

If you're interested in what went on behind-the-scenes on the two most recent Sharpe episodes, Challenge and Peril, go to the link below for an article by Sean Bean's personal assistant in India:

 http://www.sharpepointe.com/Punya_1.html

 

Napoleon Meets his Waterloo and Sharpe and Harper: Sharpe's Waterloo

Sharpe's Waterloo 

Napoleon breaks out of exile on Elba and Richard Sharpe is on the march again.  He promised Lucille he wouldn’t fight again, but this is his chance to see Boney for the first time in the battlefield.  What will Lucille do, leave Sharpe or go with him?

Sharpe is off to Belgium to serve as one of the staff to the Prince of Orange. He is soon surprised to be reunited with Patrick Harper, who is there as a civilian, and two of the Chosen Men, Harris and Hagman.

  

Sharpe thinks the Prince of Orange a young aristocratic fool.  He loses even more respect for the Prince as the fight with Napoleon’s troops begins.  Sharpe is sent to command the defense of a key farmhouse, La Haye Sainte, joined by the Chosen Men and Harper. 

Meanwhile Rossendale is serving in Wellington’s cavalry and he and Jane are also in Belgium. What will Sharpe do to get his money back?

  

Should Sharpe have returned to battle or stayed on the farm? Will Harper see Boney (Napoleon)? Will Harris and Hagman win the day?  Will “meeting your Waterloo” enter the world’s vocabulary? 

Another promising young actor played a major guest starring role in the Sharpe series. Paul Bettany played a marvelous Prince of Orange:

Please join new and longtime Sharpe fans for the Global Sharpe Watch this Sunday, September 30, 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/

Did you know that Bonaparte and Wellington shared two mistresses? 

Giuseppina Grassini was an Italian Opera singer and a singing teacher. In the early 1800's she became Napoleon's mistress and he brought her to Paris to sing in several concerts. Then much, much, later when Wellington was British Ambassador to France she became his mistress as well.

Mademoiselle Georges was a French stage actor.  She became Napoleon's mistress after Grassini but the affair ended after Napoleon became Emperor. Year's later in 1815 while Wellington was in France he also courted Mademoiselle Georges. 

"To sleep with one of Napoleon's mistresses might be considered an accident, but to sleep with two might suggest a pattern of triumphalism."  From the book Napoleon & Wellington by Andrew Roberts

Sharpe's Justice: Sharpe Goes Home Next Sharpe Sundays

Sharpe's Justice

It's 1814 and Richard Sharpe is posted to the last place on earth he wants to be: Yorkshire.  "Bloody Yorkshire to find some Bloody Yeoman." Sharpe is going back to the home he left as a different person 20 years before.

Europe is temporarily at peace and Napoleon is in exile at Elba. Sharpe is posted to his native Yorkshire to head the Scarsdale Yeomanry. There he encounters the overdressed and overconfident George Wickham who has been in command of the Yeomanry before Sharpe’s arrival.  

Wickham seems to be allied with two prominent cotton mill owners in town. (They need better looking cotton mill owners in this town.) One of them, Parfitt, has come up from the business ranks to become a wealthy man. He and Sharpe seem to have much in common, though appearances can be deceiving.  

Sharpe  finds out he’s expected to put down post-war unrest.  Now that the war is over England is flooded with unemployed men, including Dan Hagman.  This flood of unemployed has given the mill owners an excuse to lower wages. This is opposed by a rebel in town, Truman, who incites the unemployed to protest and demand better wages.

Sharpe has already encountered Truman on the way into town when he and the Yeomanry are ambushed on the road. But Sharpe and Truman discover they have a very close connection.

Sharpe is also trying to get his money back from his adulterous wife Jane and her new lover Rossendale. He doesn’t know that Rossendale has gambled away all his money.  He’s surprised to find that Jane is now at Rossendale’s ancestral estate near Sharpe in Yorkshire and goes seeking her there. 

To Sharpe’s rescue both in London and in Yorkshire comes his familiar “guardian angel” Lady Anne. She warns Sharpe about Wickham and Parfitt and also about Jane and Rossendale. She’s there to help Sharpe, but in exchange she hopes for more. But Sharpe is still yearning for Lucille who he left back in France.

Will Sharpe reconcile with his childhood in Yorkshire? Will he get his money back from Jane? Will he stay with Lady Anne or go back to Lucille in France?

A little history today. This episode was inspired by the Peterloo Massacre of 1819:

"On the 16th of August 1819 the huge open area around what's now St Peters Square, Manchester, played host to an outrage against over 60,000 peaceful pro-democracy and anti-poverty protesters; an event which became known as The Peterloo Massacre."
From www.peterloomassacre.org read more about it HERE.

For those in the UK or those around the world that watch British Television we have two very familiar faces in this episode:

Philip Glenister who plays Truman and many know from the hit show "Life on Mars" and many, many, other programs.

Wickham is played by Douglas Henshall known to many as Nick Cutter from the hit show "Primeval" and many other programs as well.

Please join new and longtime Sharpe fans for the Global Sharpe Watch this Sunday, September 23, 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's Revenge this Sunday on Sharpe Sundays: The Peninsular War Comes to a Close

Sharpe's Revenge 

Wellington is winning and we’re coming to the end of the Peninsular War.   Sharpe is in a battle with the French forces led by General Calvet.  Who is that man with Calvet?  Sharpe’s enemy Ducos is back guarding Napoleon’s treasure.  What will happen when Sharpe meets Ducos? Who gets Napoleon’s treasure?

In the home front Jane convinces Sharpe to sign off his money to her in case he dies in battle. Sharpe is so in love he goes for it, and even promises Jane this next battle will be his last one. 

Can a man in the midst of war, a lifetime soldier, make such a promise? Jane has also become great friends with the conniving Lady Molly who covets some of Sharpe’s money.  

Poor Sharpe, Jane is still having dreams of being a grand lady back in England after the war.  Can Sharpe fulfill those dreams?

What does Sharpe dream about doing in peacetime?  He dreams about farming. 

Will Sharpe finally defeat Ducos? Why do we love Frederickson? 

What happens to Napoleon?

For the answer to all these questions join Sharpe Sundays this Sunday, September 16, to watch Sharpe's Revenge with fellow fans. We have a lot of fun and would love to have you join us. 

British Army Recruitment Poster

Please join new and longtime Sharpe fans for the Global Sharpe Watch this Sunday, September 16, 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's Mission Next on Sharpe Sundays: Conflicts Abroad and at Home

Sharpe's Mission 

Wellington continues his advance into France in 1813.  Sharpe has been assigned by Wellington to work behind enemy lines with famous and glamorous officer Colonel Brand.  Exploring Officer Ross knows they need to find and enlist the services of explosives expert Major Pyecroft if they are to fulfill their latest mission to blow up a store of French gunpowder to thwart Calvet. 

Major Pyecroft has been disfigured by an accident and has his own personal issues to deal with.  He’s taken a young Gypsy woman under his protection.  Seems the young woman and her family observed a secret meeting between a double agent and some mystery men and now her life is in danger.

Meanwhile Sharpe has problems of his own at home. Seems Jane has a taste for the glamorous life and she’s becoming bored with life as a soldier’s wife.  

Can Sharpe learn the difference between a poet and a philosopher before he goes on his mission?  Sharpe enlists the special talents of Rifleman Harris to keep an eye on the home front while he’s away.

Is Colonel Brand really a hero? Will poor Pyecroft find happiness? Can Sharpe make Jane happy? Will Sharpe and the Chosen Men save the day once again?

I'm sure many of you recognize Colonel Brand. He is played by then up-and-coming star and now Hollywood villain extraordinaire Mark Strong.

To find out what happens please join us as we watch Sharpe's Mission together for Sharpe Sundays on Tweet Chat this Sunday and future Sundays at 3:00pm US/EST, 8:00pm UK, 9:00pm Continent and other time zones. 

If you have a Twitter account, or you can create one for the watch, go to Tweet Chat http://tweetchat.com/  and type in SharpeSundays at the appointed time to join the group. 


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/