Travelling through the lawless, bandit-plagued badlands, they come upon a camp consisting of the very dregs of the Crown’s troops in India: an ill disciplined, rag-tag unit led by boy soldier Beauclare, accompanying an Indian Maharani’s cavalcade to a wedding while supervising the transfer of a suspected murderer to a court martial.

As Sharpe and company sit down to have dinner with their hosts, the camp comes under attack by the notorious bandit Chitu. As the dust settles, it becomes apparent there have been many casualties, with Beauclare suffering a broken leg from bravely fighting off their assailants. Sharpe realises that he is the only person now capable of getting this wagon train to the safety of the next army garrison.

But little does Sharpe know that the adventure has only just begun and that he has stumbled across an opium trafficking ring run by the ruthless colonel Dragomirov – a traitorous officer from the East India Company.

Filmed in stunning locations throughout India including Orchha and Khajuraho, this is a classic adventure yarn for a modern television audience. It stars Sean Bean as Lt. Col. Richard Sharpe; Daragh O’Malley as Patrick Harper; Raza Jaffrey as Lance Naik Singh; Velibor Topic as Col. Dragomirov and Beatrice Rosen as Marie-Angelique Bonnet.

Sharpe’s Peril will be broadcast on Sunday, 23 December at 21:00 on BBC Knowledge, chanel 184 on DStv.