''Sharpe's Gold'' is a 1995 British television drama, the sixth of a series screened on the

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

network that follows the career of Richard Sharpe, a British soldier during the

Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...

. The drama has almost nothing in common with the novel of the same name by

Bernard Cornwell Bernard Cornwell (born 23 February 1944) is an English-American author of historical novels and a history of the Waterloo Campaign. He is best known for his novels about Napoleonic Wars rifleman Richard Sharpe. He has also written ''The Saxon ...

. Scriptwriter

Nigel Kneale Thomas Nigel Kneale (28 April 1922 – 29 October 2006) was a Manx screenwriter who wrote professionally for more than 50 years, was a winner of the Somerset Maugham Award, and was twice nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best British S ...

explained, "I didn't use much of

he book He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...

I used the first ten pages, I think. Then I had an idea which would be more fun to do. It was all about magic by the time I was through with it."

Plot summary

It is summer 1813.

Lord Wellington Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, (1 May 1769 – 14 September 1852) was an Anglo-Irish soldier and Tory statesman who was one of the leading military and political figures of 19th-century Britain, serving twice as prime minister of ...

( Hugh Fraser) is preparing to invade France from Spain after winning the campaign on the Iberian peninsula. Meanwhile, Major Richard Sharpe (

Sean Bean Sean Bean (born Shaun Mark Bean on 17 April 1959) is an English actor. After graduating from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, Bean made his professional debut in a theatre production of ''Romeo and Juliet'' in 1983. Retaining his Yorkshire ac ...

) gets into serious trouble when he tries unsuccessfully to save one of his riflemen, Skillicorn (

Philip Dowd Philip, also Phillip, is a male given name, derived from the Greek (''Philippos'', lit. "horse-loving" or "fond of horses"), from a compound of (''philos'', "dear", "loved", "loving") and (''hippos'', "horse"). Prominent Philips who popularize ...

), from being executed by the zealous Lieutenant Ayres ( Ian Shaw) for stealing a chicken. To maintain discipline in his army, Wellington makes Sharpe apologise to Ayres. Bess Nugent (

Rosaleen Linehan Rosaleen Philomena Linehan (; born 1 June 1937) is an Irish stage, screen and television actress. Career Linehan was born in Dublin. She attended University College Dublin and graduated in 1957 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics and Po ...

) and her daughter Ellie ( Jayne Ashbourne), arrive unannounced from Ireland to visit their cousin, Wellington. They are there to search for Bess's husband, Will (

Peter Eyre Peter Gervaise Joseph Eyre (born 11 March 1942) is an American-born English actor. Eyre was born in New York City, the son of Dorothy Pelline (née Acton) and Edward Joseph Eyre, a banker. He was sent to a public school in England at the age of ...

). Wellington refuses to assist their foolhardy mission, demanding they go home. Sharpe and Ellie find themselves attracted to each other, and they engage in a friendly shooting match at 100 yards. Several of the officers and men place bets on the contest; surprisingly Sharpe only narrowly prevails. Wellington assigns Sharpe the task of handing over 50 rifles in exchange for some British deserters caught by a feared Spanish guerrilla leader named El Casco (

Abel Folk Abel ''Hábel''; ar, هابيل, Hābīl is a Biblical figure in the Book of Genesis within Abrahamic religions. He was the younger brother of Cain, and the younger son of Adam and Eve, the first couple in Biblical history. He was a shepherd w ...

). The

Provost Marshal Provost marshal is a title given to a person in charge of a group of Military Police (MP). The title originated with an older term for MPs, '' provosts'', from the Old French ''prévost'' (Modern French ''prévôt''). While a provost marshal i ...

insists that some of his men go along, so Sharpe is saddled with Ayres. Later, the two ladies catch up to Sharpe's detachment, forcing him to take them along for their protection. On the way, they repel an attack by French cavalry led by Lieutenant Barbier (

Julian Sims Julian may refer to: People * Julian (emperor) (331–363), Roman emperor from 361 to 363 * Julian (Rome), referring to the Roman gens Julia, with imperial dynasty offshoots * Saint Julian (disambiguation), several Christian saints * Julian (giv ...

). Ellie becomes distraught after having to shoot and kill a young Frenchman. When Sharpe tries to comfort her away from the others, they embrace. The trade goes as planned. However, Ellie then discovers that one of the deserters has her father's pipe. When Sharpe refuses to begin a search, the Nugents ride off, forcing Sharpe to go after them. The riflemen spot Barbier's detachment and drive them off with a surprise attack. The ladies encounter El Casco's men; Bess is killed and Ellie taken captive. When she is taken to El Casco's cave lair, she finds her father, though he has become deranged. Sharpe tracks them down with the help of Barbier, whose men were captured and had their hearts cut out while still alive by the partisans (who believe they are descendants of shipwrecked

Aztecs The Aztecs () were a Mesoamerican culture that flourished in central Mexico in the post-classic period from 1300 to 1521. The Aztec people included different Indigenous peoples of Mexico, ethnic groups of central Mexico, particularly those g ...

). Sharpe attacks the Spaniards and rescues Ellie and her father. El Casco kills Ayres and wounds Sharpe, but is killed by Sergeant Harper (

Daragh O'Malley Daragh Gerard Marion O'Malley (born 25 May 1954) is an Irish actor, director and producer. He was born in Dublin, Ireland. Among many TV appearances O'Malley is known for his portrayal of Patrick Harper in the series '' Sharpe'' (1993–2009), ...

). Back at camp, Will recovers his senses and thanks Sharpe.

Cast

as Richard Sharpe *

as Sergeant

Patrick Harper Sharpe is a series of historical fiction stories by Bernard Cornwell centred on the character of Richard Sharpe. Cornwell's series (composed of several novels and short stories) charts Sharpe's progress in the British Army during the Napoleonic ...

* Hugh Fraser as

* Hugh Ross as Major Mungo Munro *

Michael Mears Michael may refer to: People * Michael (given name), a given name * Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael Given name "Michael" * Michael (archangel), ''first'' of God's archangels in the Jewish, Christian an ...

as Rifleman Francis Cooper *

John Tams John Tams (born 16 February 1949) is an English actor, singer, songwriter, composer and musician born in Holbrook, Derbyshire, the son of a publican. He first worked as a reporter for the '' Ripley & Heanor News'' later working for BBC Radio De ...

as Rifleman Daniel Hagman *

Jason Salkey Jason Salkey (born 24 April 1962) is an English actor, best known for playing Harris, the "educated rifleman", in the television series '' Sharpe''. Salkey has also published a book and video diaries about working in ''Sharpe'' alongside Sean Be ...

as Rifleman Harris *

Lyndon Davies Lyndon may refer to: Places * Lyndon, Alberta, Canada * Lyndon, Rutland, East Midlands, England * Lyndon, Solihull, West Midlands, England United States * Lyndon, Illinois * Lyndon, Kansas * Lyndon, Kentucky * Lyndon, New York * Lyndon, Ohio ...

as Rifleman Perkins *

as Bess Nugent * Jayne Ashbourne as Ellie Nugent *

as Will Nugent *

as El Casco *

Philip McGough Philip McGough is a British actor with many appearances on UK television and a former member of the Royal Shakespeare Company. Personal life In an interview with The Mirror in 2001, McGough revealed he had trained as a monk between the ages of 14 ...

as Provost Marshal * Ian Shaw as Lieutenant Ayres *

as Lieutenant Barbier * Diana Perez as Ramona *

as Rifleman Skillicorn *

Peter-Hugo Daly Peter-Hugo Daly (born 1956 in Islington, London) is an actor and musician. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, he was a member of new wave band the Cross along with fellow actor Phil Daniels. The band released a 1979 single, "Kill Another Night" ...

as Sergeant Rodd *

Nicholas McGaughey Nicholas McGaughey is a Welsh television actor and voice actor best known for playing the character of Brandon Monk in the Welsh soap ''Pobol y Cwm''. He has appeared on a number of top English television programmes such as '' Casualty'' in 1998. ...

as Tripper * Jake Abraham as Donkin * Jonathan McGuinness as Bewley

Production

According to Jason Salkey, who played Rifleman Harris, the episode was originally cast with different actors, and had to be re-scripted to avoid paying this original cast as well. This is one reason it differs greatly from the book, and is not thought highly of by lead actor Sean Bean.

References

External links

*
Sharpe's Gold at SharpeFilm.com
{{Nigel Kneale 1995 British television episodes 1990s historical films 1990s war films Napoleonic Wars films

Gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...

War television films Fiction set in 1813 Films directed by Tom Clegg (director)