Rather a talented professional dealing with rich kid superiors playing soldier with purchased commissions…which is exactly what it was like in the british army until after The Great War.
There are (to the best of my knowledge) two modern armies that believe in promoting their combat officers exclusively from the ranks of the enlisted men and NCOs - the Germans and the Israelis. Sharpe, in my humble opinion, does not come across as very German.
You must be shitting us. 
One major difference between his character in the books and the TV series is that, in the books, he’s a much badder dude - not in the sense of being tougher, but in the sense of being rutheless.
For example, in Sharpe’s Gold (the book), he quite deliberately blows up a major British fortress, killing hundreds of his fellow soldiers, because the commander of the fortress stands in the way of his mission.
In Sharpe’s Prey (the book), he returns to the scene of his childhood … to torture and murder the orphan-master who abused him (mind you, he very much deserved it).
In the TV series, he’s more the unambiguous hero. In the books, he’s a bad, bad dude (albeit with a romantic streak) - which is exactly why his superiors like and protect him. They value his ruthelessness as well as his professionalism.
I bought the box set of this series but I haven’t watched it yet. I had no clue what it was when I got it.
And yes I only bought it for Sean Bean…
It’s a treat. If you like military historical fiction, you will like it.
It’s the role Sean Bean was born to play. The production values are a bit on the cheap side (holding the Battle of Waterloo with fifty extras, that sort of thing), but it is very well cast.
No. He has not even died once.
[QUOTE=Alessan]
There are (to the best of my knowledge) two modern armies that believe in promoting their combat officers exclusively from the ranks of the enlisted men and NCOs - the Germans and the Israelis. Sharpe, in my humble opinion, does not come across as very German.
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Zombie Sharpe would indeed be an asset to Wellington’s army. 
The scenes I find myself liking are the ones where competent officers (and yes, there are a few) rip into Sharpe or make clear that he’s to do as he’s told for a greater plan to which he is not privy, i.e. Wellington sending Sharpe on a decoy mission, and that guy whose name I forget who lashed out at Sharpe when Sharpe kvetched about being assigned boring logistics duty:
Sharpe: Hauling canteen and shovels, it’s not soldiering, sir!
Officer: Of course it’s soldiering! What the bloody hell do you think soldiering is?! Just because you’ve been allowed to prance around like a bloody pirate… etc.
The fact that there’s a distinction between JCOs and regular officers means that it’s not quite the same thing.
Everyone is right about the low budget. The fight scenes work best when Sharpe’s men are engaged in their main role as skirmishers. I saw an episode recently about Waterloo, where what should have been a mighty French column were attacking a British line and the numbers were pitiable. As to differences from the book, well yes there are changes. Some things work in a book but not in a film or TV drama. Think ‘The Godfather’.
I bought the first 3 sets on DVD this past spring. Watching them all at once, I was amused to notice how much effort is put into presenting Sean Bean as eye-candy. When all the rest of the men are in fully-buttoned uniforms, guess who’s running around in an open shirt? Unless he takes it completely off; he seems to spend more time washing up than the whole rest of Wellington’s army put together. The producers of this show were very much aware of what some segments of their audience were watching for.
What, no love for Sweet William? 
The reason that Sean Bean’s uniform never fit was an accident. Originally, Paul Mccann, the Eight Doctor was cast as Sharpe, but he was injured during filming and Sean Bean replaced him. Sean Bean was bigger than Paul Macann and as the budget was like all Brit TV productions, 2/3 of a shoestring, they had to work it into it.
“Chosen men, are you? Well, *I *didn’t choose you.”
In the books Sharpe is even more bitterly angry about this. In one of the books the other officers are nervous around Sharpe because he is so openly waiting and wishing for one of them to be killed in battle so he can get a field commission.
Sharpe has to wash up a lot so that you can see the scars on his back. 
A google image search for Sean Bean as Sharpe produces some great pictures. This one is my favorite. This one looks like he’s just about to drop his weapons and start stripping.
my, my, what a big cannon.
I saw an episode of Sharpe, that was made later, but about his earlier exploits in India. It had Top Chef’s Padma as well as yummy Toby Stephens in it.
Surely you’re not suggesting that all those candy shots are happenstance? (Maybe that’s what they kept telling Sean. “I don’t know why your shirts are still too small to button up, Mr. Bean. They just come back from the laundry that way.” )
This reminds me of something I’ve wondered about. I haven’t read the books yet, so maybe someone can tell me.
In the earliest episodes of the series, Sharpe has a love affair with a Spanish guerilla fighter and they have a daughter together. Sharpe attributes his ambition to rise through the ranks to his desire to make a better life for his little girl, especially after the death of her mother.
In later episodes, however, the child seems to disappear. What happened to her? Did she die? Is she being brought up by her mother’s family in Spain, and Sharpe just never thinks to mention her even when he contemplates marriage to another lady? Does it come up at all in the novels?
As far as I remember, he gives the girl to Teresa’s family and he never sees or hears from her again.
Sharpe has children with Lucille, and spends the rest of his life with her in France.