Sharpe's Peril

Plot synopsis:
The story continues from where Sharpe's Challenge left off. On their way home to England, Richard Sharpe (Sean Bean) and Patrick Harper (Daragh O'Malley) reluctantly agree to escort Marie-Angelique Bonnet (Beatrice Rosen) to the hill fort of Kalimgong, where her fiancé, Major Joubert (Pascal Langdale), is stationed. They encounter a baggage train heading to Madras, made up of soldiers from the King's and the East India Company's armies, commanded by the young Ensign Beauclere (Luke Ward-Wilkinson), engineer Major Tredinnick (David Robb), and Subedar Pillai (Rajesh Khattar). Included in the train is a redcoat prisoner named Barabbas (Amit Behl), an Indian princess (Nandana Sen) and her retinue, and Tredinnick's pregnant wife (Caroline Carver). When the train is attacked by forces of the bandit Chitu, the Subedar is wounded. They are saved by the timely arrival of Colonel Dragomirov (Velibor Topic) and his cavalry squadron. With no one more qualified, Sharpe is forced to take command.
Trouble comes from within the train as well. Sharpe discovers that Barabbas is in fact the son of Obadiah Hakeswill, the man who murdered Sharpe's first wife. Flying into a rage, Sharpe almost kills Barabbas on the spot, stopped only by Harper's intervention. They also face opposition from Colour-Sergeant Wormwood (Steve Speirs), a British soldier who dislikes Sharpe's methods and fosters feelings of resentment among his men, which grows when Sharpe punishes two of Wormwood's men for drunkenness and attempted rape.
Arriving at Kalimgong, Sharpe and Harper find the entire garrison killed, with the exception of the fort's commander, General Sir Henry Simmerson (Michael Cochrane), Sharpe's old enemy. Strung up naked in the courtyard, Simmerson's mind is addled with the heat and he seems to only speak nonsense, such as "save the harvest." Major Joubert is not among the dead, to Marie-Angelique's relief, but neither are the Company ledgers that reveal what has been stolen from the fort. The Subedar succumbs to his wounds and dies.
Continuing on, the train finds a farming village destroyed by bandits, the entire harvest stolen, and everyone dead but a young girl who witnessed the attack. Between what the girl saw and Simmerson's addled ramblings, Sharpe realises that not only were these people growing opium for the Company, but Colonel Count Dragomirov and Major Joubert were responsible for the slaughter in the village and at Kalimgong, using bandits as scapegoats.
The train is forced to leave mounts and wagons behind when the bridge over a river is found to be destroyed. While crossing, Dragomirov and his men attack. Joubert grabs Marie-Angelique and rides off with her. Sharpe tries to pursue, but Wormwood uses the chaos to try to kill Sharpe, managing only to wound him in the shoulder. Harper drags Sharpe to safety.
Dragomirov's troops retreat. Once his wound is treated, Sharpe takes a horse and leaves to rescue Marie-Angelique, putting Harper in command of the train. When Sharpe finds Joubert, they fight. The weakened Sharpe is disarmed, but Marie-Angelique shoots and kills Joubert with his own pistol. However, Dragomirov's cavalry finds them, and takes them to their field headquarters on the Indian plains. Meanwhile, during the night, the seriously wounded Tredinnick sneaks away, as he is slowing down the train. He tries to ambush Dragomirov, but his shot misses, and Dragomirov stabs him and leaves him for dead. Lance Naik Singh (Raza Jaffrey) finds Tredinnick and hears his dying words: Dragomirov's lie that Sharpe is dead.
Dragomirov shows Sharpe around his field headquarters, where Indian slaves produce opium. He offers Sharpe Joubert's position and promises to keep Sharpe's people prisoner rather than kill them, but Sharpe turns him down. Later, Dragomirov threatens to give Marie-Angelique, who has been dosed with opium, to his men, so Sharpe agrees to lead Dragomirov to the train and convince Harper to surrender. During the night, Dragomirov has Sharpe chained in a pit with cobras, but he gets free, rescues Marie-Angelique, and catches up with the train. Dragomirov follows, but Sharpe uses gunpowder to create a roadblock.
When the train comes to a village, Mrs. Tredinnick goes into labour. Sharpe has no choice but to stop and defend the place. He gets the village's leader, the real Chitu (Ulhas Tayade) and the rest of the residents on-side for the upcoming battle. Singh repairs a very old cannon. Wormwood wants to desert, but his two cronies decide to fight alongside Sharpe. That night, Sharpe apologises to Barabbas for his earlier treatment and agrees to let him fight, but later, Wormwood frees Barabbas and tells him that Sharpe plans to execute him in the morning. Both Barabbas and Wormwood ride away separately. Wormwood joins Dragomirov and tells him all about Sharpe's defences.
When Dragomirov attacks the next day, Sharpe's men resist strongly. Beauclere is fatally wounded while defending the women. Wormwood kills one of his former comrades (with the other also perishing in the battle), but Harper kills him in a hand-to-hand fight. At the last moment, British cavalry soldiers arrive, led by Barabbas, who had ridden the entire night to bring reinforcements. Sharpe duels Dragomirov and kills him.
After the battle, Sharpe says his goodbyes to Marie-Angelique, who talks of visiting Sharpe's farm in Normandy, and to Simmerson, with whom he has an almost-friendly conversation, before he and Harper ride off for home.

Tags: violence, action

Review:
Just watch any Sharpe you see on the box..
They criticized this episode because Daragh O'Malley had got a bit fatter.
And maybe Sean Bean had a few more lines on his face - well, how many wives has be tried to please - apparently without success!.But it's wonderful.
Heroism, humanity, and fellow feeling are all there just as they are in the entire series.
There's some closure for fellow aficionados; Hakeswill (in a sense) is laid to rest, and Simmerson ends the fool he always was.Bernard Cornwell is an excellent author, and Sean Bean / Daragh O'Malley and this entire cast has brought it all to wonderful viewing.Wanna be a soldier!.
Another fine addition to the Sharpe series..
Sean Bean returns as the ever intrepid Richard Sharpe in this latest reworking of Bernard Cornwell's earlier books.
Shot on 35mm this film, and the previous film from a few years earlier, "Peril" has z different look and feel to it, but regardless we get to see Sharpe's continued exploits and share in his adventures.
The production values are higher than ever.
The Indian productions seem to have been taken up a notch or two from the films shot in the 90s.
Sun drenched scenery, both plush and arid, they're a far cry from the relatively frigid realms of the winter locations in Spain and Portugal.
For whatever reason the direction feels a little different as well, but ironically enough seems to hearken back to the feeling that the earlier Sharpe films gave the audience.
There's a sense of adventure, intrigue and the exotic, as well as the romantic.Sharpe is presented with some internal challenges as well as a plethora of external ones.
Teresa, though long gone since the fourth film, is still very much alive in Sharpe's memory.
To find out why, you have to see the film.If I had one critique it's that Sen Bean, being a smoker, has aged prematurely.
Oh sure he's old, but his smoking habit doesn't help sell him as the dashing hero type.
He looks ragged, which, ironically enough, actually helps accentuate the character.
Still, it would behoove him to toss the cigarettes and add some years to his life.Still, it's a solid installment.
A bit longer than usual, and it does take liberties with some of the characters, but it's a decent watch.Give it a whirl and enjoy..
Sharpe revisited.
Though I personally much prefer Sharpe's Napoleonic series to these Indian installments (Challenge and Peril), but I still find the latest one Sharpe's Peril quite entertaining and really very well watchable.OK, I wish the Indian installments were much closer to the Bernard Cornwell's books, that is if they happened in due time (before Napoleonic wars) and order (somehow in Challenge and Peril they've mixed as much from Indian set of books as they possibly could, though not always for good), but it is still a very great Sharpe's adventure.
Just as usual - some quest for good old Sharpe, some girl's heart to win over, and some baddies to defeat.
If that is still not enough a reason for you to watch this Sharpe's adventure, maybe a magic word - Simmerson - would do the trick.
It did worked for me (And thAaaat was soooo great!).
And the very last encounter of Sharpe and Simmerson!
One should not miss it, that I'm sure of..
I love Sharp , every single one!!!.
As usual I enjoyed every single minute of this Sharp adventure!
So what if Sean Bean is a little older, it happens to us all and time has moved on since Waterloo!!
Once again I gasped at his heroics, wished I was one of the buxom females he saves and cried when he and Harper glance back to the sound of 'Over the Hills and Far Away'.I do love every single Sharp but I do prefer the Napoleonic War Episodes (these would get a 10)as due to there being 14(?) episodes there is more time to attach yourself and enjoy the characters.
Sharps Waterloo was my particular favourite but I did sob!!
I feel it is time to dust down my Sharp Video collection and watch them all again with my two daughters , they are in for a treat, (though they have told me they don't want to)!!!
Tough!!.
time to call it a day.
My wife and me are big fans of the series so tuned in this latest 2 parter with anticipation.
Unfortunately as the story began to unfold we we felt that that we had been here before.
By the end we felt disappointed with the outcome.
Although the scenery was magnificent, the story itself just dragged and it was just too clichéd.
You just knew what was going to come next...sorry but it's time to draw a close on the TV adventures of Richard Sharpe.
I just wish Captain Fredrickson and the chosen men could have magically appeared to give us a break from the Sharpe and Harper show!.
Great Farewell To Sharpe.
While not quite as romantic as the previous feature film, SHARPE'S CHALLENGE, this action-packed adventure is a wonderful farewell to the bad boy English rifleman and his colorful friends and enemies.
Personally, I would have ended the series at the end of SHARPE'S CHALLENGE, when Sharpe has the opportunity to marry a loyal, courageous, and truly stunning general's daughter and become a general himself in the famed East India Company.
But instead, Sharpe is just trying to get home, and he is roped into escorting a spoiled French beauty through the Indian countryside, and villains are after her, and one thing just leads to another till pretty soon Sharpe is like Moses leading dozens of castaways in search of safety and a new beginning.
Where CHALLENGE had the feeling of an Arabian Nights adventure, with most of the action among Indian palaces and Royalty, PERIL is more rugged and down to earth, with a virtual "wagon train" journeying through hostile territory like an old fashioned American Western.
There are battles every ten minutes and sword fights every five minutes.
Sharpe's followers include a lot of Western types familiar from movies like STAGECOACH and MAJOR DUNDEE.
The useless missionary, the plucky pregnant woman, the loyal Indian companion, the drunken or lazy troopers, all have their parts to play.
What lifts the story above Western territory, however, is the way in which Sharpe himself is forced to look for closure to his personal dramas.
Some of his most deadly enemies reappear (or their sons do) and there are some unexpected discoveries on all sides.
The most poignant scenes in the story all revolve around Sharpe coming to terms with past regrets and resolving conflicts.
All of it was wonderful, even if Sharpe's French blonde love interest in PERIL isn't quite as demure or winning as English blonde love interest in CHALLENGE.
But both movies are Sharpe classics, both great farewells to a true hero!.
A brilliant addition to the much loved Sharpe series.
Sean Bean and Daragh O'Malley return as Richard Sharpe and Patrick Harper in another brilliant Sharpe movie!
Although I do very much miss Hagman and Harris fighting alongside Sharpe and Harper, this adventure in India still has the essence of a good old Sharpe movie.
We have a beautiful woman, the bad guy, an old 'friend' Simmerson and of course a good few twists and turns that keep us watching.
Yes, some people may complain that Sharpe has too many lines in his face or Harper has a few too many gray hairs on his head, but I love it!
It makes it feel like I'm following them throughout events in their whole lives, not just a chapter of it.
Even though the years may be climbing on our beloved actors, I do hope they decide to make another few movies or at least one last movie to tie up loose ends such as finding Sharpe's daughter.Although it may not be the best of the Sharpe series, it's definitely another brilliant addition!.
Makes a wonderful double bill with Sharpe's Challenge.
SHARPE'S PERIL follows on from SHARPE'S CHALLENGE.
Sharpe and Harper are still trying to find their way out of India, although they keep getting sidetracked.
They join up with some soldiers currently escorting a prisoner cross-country, and they soon find themselves caught up in conflict after running foul of an opium smuggler.
Action, ranging from sword fights to gun battles and a siege, soon follows.
SHARPE'S PERIL was broadcast in two separate episodes.
The first sets up the action, and is quite talky and heavy on the explanation.
The second half is pure action and thoroughly engaging.The two episodes combine to make this one of the best Sharpe adventures yet.
Sean Bean has never been better, here playing a grizzled Colonel who's seen too much of warfare and just wants to be out of it all.
Daragh O'Malley brings a deft comic touch as Harper, while the other, new cast members are superb.
Amit Behl turns what could have been a caricature into an affecting portrayal of a wronged man who retains his dignity, while Velibor Topic is a hateful villain.
Beatrice Rosen is a particularly appealing love interest, and gets to show greater depth than most.
Kudos also to a returning Michael Cochrane, who looks to be having a ball.
With spectacular Indian locations, some excellent stunt work, colourful costumes, a cast of actors and actresses prepared to give it their all, and plenty of emotion to go along with the action, SHARPE'S PERIL is the best that television has to offer.
A splendid outing that doesn't suffer in any way from not being based on one of the Bernard Cornwell novels..
What a let down!.
Oh dear, what a let down this was.
The two redeeming features were the scenery (courtesy of the Indian Tourist Board)and some apparently authentic dialogue.
On British TV the programme was shown in two parts, the first of which dragged, though there was some reasonable action in the second.
I suspect that the influence of Sharpe author Bernard Cornwell was confined to providing the characters, because the plot borrowed countless clichés from Westerns of the 1950s.
There were several insults to one's intelligence.The most notable was Sharpe's supposedly inspirational speech to the soldiers and villagers as they awaited the final onslaught by the baddies.
The references to Napoleon and Waterloo would have meant something to the few remaining British soldiers, but nothing at all to the Indian troops and villagers - even supposing they (the latter especially) understood English.
Then there was Harper curiously being cured of kidney stones and Simmerson's remarkable recovery from delirium and his sudden warmth for Sharpe (and where did he get his smart general's uniform from, after the pursued soldiers and civilians had been carrying next to nothing after crossing the river).
The portrait of Sharpe's daughter in the locket looked more like a colour photograph than a painting.Sean Bean was beginning to show his age, seemed to go through the motions with his acting and was not at all an inspiring leader.