I am a great fan of the novelist Bernard Cornwell, but have not read books featuring Sharpe a soldier in the British army during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars.
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| The Third of May, 1814 |
“It was a Napoleonic war drama to be shot in the Crimean Peninsula. But little did the producers know that they would be sending the cast and crew to film in a rapidly disintegrating Soviet Union.
Once in Crimea, the whole production faced near-starvation and danger around every corner as they set about creating one of Britain’s most successful and critically acclaimed 90s television programmes, Sharpe.
It was to go down in television folklore for its unique tales of mishaps and hardship. Renowned actor Paul McGann was originally cast to play the lead character, Sharpe. But only six weeks into filming he picked up a serious injury and had to pull out.
It left the production in chaos and saw one of the highest-ever insurance pay-outs for a television series.
Everyone packed up back to the UK with the future of the series left in suspense. That was until a relatively unknown actor called Sean Bean took on the part and the show was back on the road. The cast and crew headed back to Simferopol in Crimea (later to be nicknamed “simplyawful”) and filming resumed.
Sharpe became a six series hit across nearly 15 years, with viewing figures topping 10 million.
Our panel includes Sharpe’s author Bernard Cornwell, then-assistant producer Stuart Sutherland, one of the “chosen men” Jason Salkey who played one of Sean Bean’s right hand men, Michael Cochrane who played Colonel Sir Henry Simmerson across the entire series, and Diana Perez who played Ramona.
Presenter: Kirsty Wark
Producer: Howard Shannon
Series Producer: David Prest
A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4”*
Picture, The Third of May, Goya, 1814, Museo del Prado, Accession number, P000749 (Museo del Prado)
*Sharpe, The Reunion, Radio 4, https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001l1zh
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