Lost in Adaptation: Sharpe

The Dom compares Bernard Cornwell's Sharpe book series with the 1993-97 TV series based on it.

Intro
The Dom: Hi, hi, hi, Beautiful Watchers; and welcome back to the Lost in Adaptation November Nanos. My all-time favorite author is -- and I suspect always will be -- Sir Terry Pratchett, God rest his soul. My *second* favorite author is Bernard Cornwell.

Poll
People Asked: 28

Saw the Show: 2

Read the Books: 2

The Dom: So, as you can probably tell from the survey results, this episode is pretty much just a pet project of mine and a thinly veiled attempt to get more people to read the works of this author. The Sharpe books are definitely his most popular creation; they're a long-running series of novels *all* based around the career of a badass rifle officer who played an *unusually* large part in deciding the course of the Napoleonic War. Yyyyup, I'm doing *two* fictional histories in a row -- although, unlike Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, there's nothing supernatural in this; this is a fictional history that could *actually* have happened if Sharpe had been real.

The Dom (V.O.): Just on the off-chance that you're not *familiar* with this particular part of history, the summary is that around the turn of the 18th and 19th century, an *extremely* talented and ambitious French soldier by the name of Napoleon Bonaparte decided that *he* should be in charge of most of the civilized world -- Britain, Spain, Portugal, and a bunch of countries that would eventually become Germany disagreed. Most of the books center around a real-life event or battle, and Cornwell goes to great pains at the beginning and end of his books to give credit to the historical people he's stealing the accomplishments of to give to his fictional character. While I maintain that they're a truly exceptional series of books, for honesty's sake, I should probably warn you that pro-British patriotism is a large part of these novels; so my American brothers *might not* get as much out of them unless they're particularly interested in European history.

In 1993, a TV series based on the books was commissioned; each episode attempted to squeeze one of the books into about an hour's running time, with *varying* results. The series is an interesting one for me because it was one of my first experiences of *retroactively* hating something. I saw the TV show *first* as a young lad and really liked it; then years later, I read the books, and *everything* changed! My opinion of the TV series went from fond nostalgia to quiet disappointment to then to OUTRIGHT DISGUST as I learned how AMAZING the books were and just how BADLY they'd been mishandled in the adaption process. Is it *fair* that I let this new knowledge of the books cloud my judgment of the TV series? *Probably* not -- but, you know, it's kinda the basis of my show; so fuck it.

What They Didn't Change
The Dom (V.O.): *Some* of the episodes did a decent job of trying to stick to the original plot -- not many, but some. They kept one of the *most* important things about Sharpe, namely that he was originally an enlisted soldier who, through an act of *ridiculous* bravery, got promoted to being an officer. At the time, this was an *unheard-of* event -- at this particular point in history, the British army was the best-trained, most efficient army in the world; but it was also the poorest led due to its policy of letting people BUY PROMOTIONS for extortionate prices. What you were usually left with was a highly-trained, highly capable unit of men led by inbred aristocrats with no experience. Now, I know that *sounds* completely mental; but there *was* a practical element to it, as colonels were expected to spend quite a lot of their own money equipping and feeding their regiment -- and we *did* conquer a large percentage of the world with this system, so there must be *some* merits to it.

Anyways, the knock-on effect of this in both the book and the show was that Sharpe was constantly looked down on by the other officers, had trouble gaining the respect of his men at first 'cause they didn't see him as being any better than them, and passed over for promotion time and time again 'cause he didn't have the *cash* to purchase his next commission.

That a real-life, very important historical figure by the name of Arthur Wellesley -- later known as the Duke of Wellington -- featured heavily in the stories is true to the book. Wellesley is one of the main reasons Great Britain doesn't speak *French* right now -- as I said before, the military had a bad habit of promoting people based on breeding and money, not ability; but it turned out that the *richest*, most *privileged* aristocratic snob with unfair political connections in all of *Britain* was also one of the finest tactical and strategic minds to ever exist! We *really* lucked out on that one.

That Sharpe and his best friend, an Irishman named Patrick Harper, initially hated each other and even tried to *kill* each other at one point is accurate; the character of Harper isn't bad either, as they paid due to his casual hatred of all things English. Some of the costumes in the show look depressingly cheap and paper-like, but *most* were not bad for accuracy to the book *and* real-life history. They *clearly* worked hard on the props department, too, as I can't fault them on things like Sharpe's signature *massive* cavalry sword or Harper's multibowled volley gun.

What They Changed
The Dom (V.O.): I kinda feel that as an adaption, the Sharpe series was doomed to failure right from the start, if for no other reason than they just didn't have ANYWHERE near the kind of budget it needed to do justice to the novels. In the book, the French columns descended on the British lines like a *battering* ram the size of a *freight* train; in the show, a bunch of reenactors just sort of wander towards the camera. In the book, men are *eviscerated* by the dozens by canister shots, sending blood and limbs *flying* in all directions; in the show, they just sort of fall over. In the book, ten *thousand* French cavalry come riding over the horizon; in the show, *ten* cavalry come riding over the horizon. What I'm trying to say is, while it's *perfectly* understandable to not be able to afford to hire a massive army, that means YOU SHOULDN'T BE ADAPTING A SERIES OF BOOKS ABOUT MASSIVE ARMIES!!!! To have *any* chance of working, this series would have needed to have Hollywood-level funding; and it's a *bit* much to ask the Americans to invest in a show that glorifies a country that they *were*, at the time, at war with.

Unfortunately, the show's problems can't *all* be blamed on fiscal issues; it's probably the *definitive* example of my "tell the author's or tell your *own* story; don't take the author's story and try to turn it *into* your story" saying. Obviously, some things *had* to be changed for practical reasons -- there aren't really any pristine 18th-century Spanish towns anymore, and certainly none that the residents would be okay with an English production company blowing up in order to add to the realism.

Another big problem was that the show somehow lost a good chunk of its original cast between the second and third episodes. For the essential historical figures, they simply found new actors; but whenever they *thought* they could get away with it, they wrote in new TV-only characters to replace the book originals.

Also, for some reason that still eludes me, they chose to skip *past* some of the best books. They then came *back* to some of the titles later, like Sharpe's Gold, but couldn't use the original stories because half the characters were now *dead*; so they wrote a completely new one, and my *goodness* if it wasn't fucking *awful*! The writers of the show proved that the one thing they were worse at than adapting was original screenplays.

One of the things I adore about Cornwell is how *well* he got into the heads of people living in the past; you *really* feel like you're seeing the world through 200-year-old eyes when you read his books. The mentality of his characters are sometimes bizarre and unrelatable; but they seem so very, *very* realistic. Despite having this as a starting point, the TV show is *rife* with weird, out-of-place 20th-century reactions to things.

As a character, the screenwriters just did *not* get Sharpe at all. They had him doing things like giving little speeches along the lines of "War is hell, but at least it's brought us together." *Book* Sharpe had been in the army since he was 15 and had been *fighting* for years before that; he literally had *no* concept of life without war -- this is one of the fundamental bases of his character, and it's MIND-boggling that they could have missed this.

One of the show's few redeeming features is Sean Bean; but unfortunately, I can't help but feel that he wasn't really right for the role, at least not physically. Sharpe is an unusually *tall* man from London with jet-black hair; they cast a five-foot-nine, blond Yorkshireman.

The TV series also moved things around so much, I *swear* I lost track of what was happening entirely. Characters that weren't supposed to show up until later books are brought in early, assuming roles that weren't originally theirs; others that should have been killed off or written out keep popping up in later episodes they have NO BUSINESS BEING IN -- and on top of that, *other* characters that should have made appearances in multiple episodes were neglected until later, and then given *incredibly* rushed backstories.

What They Left Out Altogether
The Dom (V.O.): Uhhhh, boy. I...don't think I can even *talk* about this -- there's 24 books and only 16 episodes, of which probably *only* about half are actually based on the books. Sharpe has an incredibly long and interesting career, and I *really* don't think I can do it justice by just describing it. I'mmmm afraid I'm just takin' the coward's way out on this one and just saying you'll have to read the books -- sorry.

The Dom's Final Thoughts
The Dom: For quite a while, I actually gave this series a little leeway 'cause I just assumed that TV shows weren't *capable* of being *epic* enough to do something as grand as the Sharpe books -- that is, until a little show called Game of Thrones came along and turned that theory upside-down by putting *blockbusters* to shame with its awesomeness. Yes, I know that's not the *fairest* of comparisons 'cause in 1993, they wouldn't have had CGI worth a damn; but even if you ignore the special effects, Game of Thrones is proof of what *awesomeness* can be achieved with a shit-ton of talent, effort, and money -- and regretfully, the makers of the Sharpe TV show had none of those things.

As an adaption, this series exists as an example of how to do *everything* wrong; they overreached, they hired a talentless hack to do the writing, they miscast, they muddled up the order of things, they CHANGED SO MUCH for NO apparent reason! Cornwell himself has been quite kind to this show in the past; but I'm pretty sure that's only because he's a really positive, nice guy. It's my forlorn hope that one day, someone will reboot the Sharpe series -- preferably in feature *film* form -- and do it justice this time. In the meantime, all I can do is *highly* recommend the books to anyone with even a passing interest in military history *or* those who just enjoy an incredibly well-researched, incredibly well-written book. As I can't imagine you haven't already guessed, I'm *not* recommending you watch the TV show -- unless, I suppose, you're, like, a hardcore Sean Bean addict and you desperately need a fix; if that is the case, I promise not to judge you. Good day to you.