Sean Bean was good old Richard Sharpe. It was what made him. Napoleonic wars. The stuff that caused the American Revolution to be less important on the whole. Good old yorkshiremen.
Lots of small parts go to people who are now the cream of acting talent; Daniel Craig is a villain, as is his Our Friends in the North co-star Mark Strong. You got Pete Poselwaithe in there, Liz Hurley, Brian Cox, Michael Cochrane, Comedian and broadcaster Alexander Amrstrong and Paul Bettany to name a few. This was great television.