Sharpe

Richard Sharpe has earned authority in battle that some of the men above him believe should have come from birth. Sharpe makes that friction an enduring part of its military adventures, with Sean Bean giving the soldier a combination of competence, pride and impatience.

Daragh O'Malley's Harper and the regular company give the missions continuity beyond the latest order. The men need to trust each other in circumstances where their superiors' priorities may be considerably less practical.

Adapted from Bernard Cornwell's novels, the feature-length episodes mix historical settings with fictional adventures. The budgets show in the scale of some battles, but the directness of the storytelling and the central partnership often matter more than the number of people on screen.

This is satisfying traditional adventure rather than a modern prestige reconstruction of warfare. Start with the television sequence and let the company become familiar. The Last Kingdom, also drawn from Cornwell, offers a different period with a similarly strong interest in a capable man negotiating loyalties he did not choose.