Sharpe's Regiment (TV programme)

Sharpe's Regiment
Written by	Bernard Cornwell (novel) Charles Wood
Directed by	Tom Clegg
Starring	Sean Bean Daragh O'Malley Abigail Cruttenden
Theme music composer	Dominic Muldowney John Tams
Country of origin	UK
Original language(s)	English
Production
Producer(s)	Malcolm Craddock Muir Sutherland (exec.)
Running time	100 min.
Release
Original release	1996
Chronology
Preceded by	Sharpe's Sword
Followed by	Sharpe's Siege

Sharpe's Regiment is a British television drama, the ninth of a series that follows the career of Richard Sharpe, a British soldier during the Napoleonic Wars. This episode is based on the novel of the same name by Bernard Cornwell.

It is 1813. The First Battalion of the South Essex Regiment has suffered terrible losses in the fighting in Spain and the entire regiment is in danger of being disbanded as a result. Major Sharpe (Sean Bean) and Sergeant Major Harper (Daragh O'Malley) are sent back to England to find out why replacements have not been sent. Sharpe is told that the Second Battalion of the South Essex is drawing pay for over 700 soldiers, but when he arrives at the Second Battalion's barracks, he finds only eleven men, even though there is regular recruiting for the regiment. Sharpe senses something is amiss and is determined to get to the bottom of things.

During an audience with the dimwitted Prince Regent (Julian Fellowes), Sharpe is introduced to Lord Fenner (Nicholas Farrell), the man responsible for the regiment's troubles. Fenner insists that the second battalion of the South Essex exists only on paper as a means of paying troops who have been scattered for various reasons until they can be placed into a proper unit. Fenner sends Lady Anne Camoynes (Caroline Langrishe) to sleep with Sharpe and ascertain his intentions. When he finds out, he sends assassins to solve his potential problem, but Sharpe and Harper dispose of them instead. Their bodies are tossed into the river and rumours are spread that Sharpe and Harper have been killed.

Meanwhile, the two men "enlist" in the South Essex's Second Battalion to find out what happens to the recruits. They learn that they are being trained by the brutal and effete Lieutenant Colonel Girdwood (Mark Lambert) and then auctioned off to other regiments by Sharpe's old enemy, Sir Henry Simmerson (Michael Cochrane) with Fenner getting a kickback. Simmerson's niece, Jane Gibbons (Abigail Cruttenden), helps Sharpe and Harper escape afterwards.

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