Harry Pearce

Infobox character
name = Sir Harry Pearce


caption = Peter Firth as Harry Pearce
portrayer = Peter Firth
gender = Male
first = 2002
last =
last_cause =
occupation = Head, Counter-Terrorism
family =
spouse = Ex-wife, née Townsend
children = Daughter, Catherine Townsend
Son, Graham Townsend

Sir Harry Pearce is the fictional head of the Counter-Terrorism department of MI5, featured in the British television series, "Spooks". This program is also known as MI5 in the United States. This character has been played by Peter Firth since the series began in 2002.

Harry Pearce is divorced, with two children. It was mentioned in the pilot episode that he had not told his wife what his profession was until their wedding day. While his ex-wife and son never appear on screen, his daughter (Catherine Townsend - taking her mother's name after the divorce) does feature in the series three episode "A Prayer For My Daughter", played by Caroline Carver. At the start of this episode he sees her as emotional and always the one to spot a 'bird with a broken wing', but by the end of it he has shown that he cares for her deeply and has grown to respect her intelligence. (He mentions at the start that 'it was her brother who got the brains', but it is stated later in the episode that this brother has not succeeded in life.)

He did however have a budding relationship with Ruth Evershed, another one of the main characters. The two were at that point two of the longest surviving characters in the show, and over the years it did appear that they were forming a strong bond. At the very beginning of series 5, he realised that he was in love with her. Their relationship was brought to a head in series 5, when he worked up the courage to ask her to dinner by episode 3, but 2 episodes later she is forced to leave the country and the series. During their final goodbye Harry was about to reveal his love to Ruth, but she urged him to leave things unsaid, they then kissed and she left.

In Episode 3 of Series 6, Harry receives a letter from 10 Downing Street, informing him that The Queen wished to bestow a knighthood upon him.

The character is considered by many fans to be the pillar of the show, providing both a backbone to the team and is often the cause of many of the comic relief situations present in the series, most notably in his exchanges during series 1 with Jools Siviter, played by Hugh Laurie. He is well respected by his colleagues. He has thus survived two cliffhangers where he appeared to be about to be killed (series 2 and series 4 respectively).

He is currently only one of two characters remaining from the first series, the second being Malcolm Wynn-Jones.