SUNDAY 23 APRIL
Drama
Sharpe's Challenge
9:00pm - 10:30pm
ITV1 London
VIDEO Plus+: 9168
Subtitled, Widescreen
Episode written by Russell Lewis
1/2
Huzzah! Colonel Richard Sharpe roars back onto our screens, with Sean Bean narrowing his eyes once again for a role that fits him as snugly as one of those dashing military jackets. Bean is brilliant, but he's nearly eclipsed by a terrific Toby Stephens as a renegade officer who has swapped sides to help a maharaja challenge British rule in India. Sharpe is sent by Wellington to crush the rebellion, but finds his mission complicated by the fact that the maharaja has kidnapped a British general's daughter, and she - like every other female in the cast - has taken a shine to our hero. The episode is a joy to watch, but don't expect breakneck speed - it proceeds at roughly the pace of a grand old gun carriage rumbling over a stony track. But the action hots up in tomorrow night's concluding part.
RT reviewer: David Butcher
Col Richard Sharpe - Sean Bean
Sgt Patrick Harper - Daragh O'Malley
Capt Leonard - Oliver Chris
Davi Lal - Karan Arora
Maj Crosby - Nicholas Blane
Col William Dodd - Toby Stephens
Sir Samuel Rawlinson - Michael Elwyn
Wellington - Hugh Fraser
Ramona Harper - Diana Perez
Celia Burroughs - Lucy Brown
Capt Lawrence - Lex Shrapnel
Lt Mohan Singh - Alyy Khan
Khande Rao - Karan Panthaky
Madhuvanthi - Padma Lakshmi
Lalima - Shruti Vyas
Col Pierre Gudin - Aurelian Recoing
Gen Sir Henry Simmerson - Michael Cochrane
Sgt Shadrach Bickerstaff - Peter-Hugo Daly
Gen Burroughs - Peter Symonds
Col Hector McRae - Graham McTavish
Maj John Stokes - Gary Dunnington
Sgt Jaques Bonnet - Thierry Hancisse
Ensign - Toby Regbo
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