Sharpe is a British television drama series starring Sean Bean as Richard Sharpe, a fictional British soldier in the Napoleonic Wars, with Daragh O'Malley playing his trusted companion, Patrick Harper. Sharpe and Harper are the heroes of the Sharpe series of novels by Bernard Cornwell; most, though not all, of the episodes are based on the books. Produced by Celtic Films and Picture Palace Films for the ITV network, the series was filmed mainly in Crimea, with recordings of other episodes in Turkey, England, Portugal and Spain. The two final episodes were filmed in Jaipur, India.
The series originally ran from 1993 to 1997. It consisted of fourteen episodes, each with a running time of around 100 minutes. In 2006, ITV premiered Sharpe's Challenge, a two-part adventure loosely based on his time in India, with Sean Bean continuing his role as Sharpe. Filming of Sharpe's Peril, also set in India, was produced by Celtic Film/Picture Palace in 2008. The first part was broadcast on ITV and UTV on 2 November 2008, with the second part shown a week later. Sharpe's Challenge and Sharpe's Peril were broadcast in the US in 2010 as part of PBS's Masterpiece Classic season.