[spoilers] Sir Harry Pearce - Return of the Jedi (#3)

[Silktie]

Really? Thanks! That's still one of my all-time favourite Harry scenes. I also like how he indicates in his diary that his only regret was that he didn't do greater damage to Mace, hee! I don't think he's alone in that.

[BravoNine]

I would love to see more of Harry's past, maybe the inquiry will show some of that with flashbacks or something....

And maybe we can soon get an updated version of Harry's diary that will include the events of the last few series too!

[Forever Secret]

It would be interesting to see Harry's past, but not too much, I think part of what makes Spooks so good is that there's a feeling of mystery around each character, (Except Lucas in S9) there's bits and pieces that we find out about them but never too much revealed about their pasts
But I think the inquiry will dig into his professional past, old operations ect, will be interesting to see

I'd love to see an updated versionof Harry's diary as well! It would be pretty interesting to read, especially anything about Ruth's return in S8, and Lucas in S9

[Tea Lady]

I wonder if they will skip over Harry's investigation. Perhaps the series will start post investigation with perhaps Harry already sacked or serving time in prison. Then he will come back, somehow.

I just wonder how interesting it will be for non Spookies, to sit there and watch endless scenes about Harry's past. I mean, it doesn't promise much action like the opening episode of a series always does.

Lets face it, when do Spooks scripts ever really follow the path, we all think it will take. We are always guessing wrongly.

I will be a little disappointed not to see a bit about Harry's past don't get me wrong, but I think the writers will once again, take this in a direction we haven't thought of.

[loladom]

(15-01-2011 08:47 PM)Tea Lady Wrote:  I wonder if they will skip over Harry's investigation. Perhaps the series will start post investigation with perhaps Harry already sacked or serving time in prison. Then he will come back, somehow.

I hadn't thought about the possibility of prison time. I've only been concerned with the loss of his job, the trashing of his career history and personal reputation or being pensioned off in disgrace. However, technically handing over state secrets is treason. And treason can carry a prison sentence. Fortunately we can't go as far as calls of "off with his head" He's also done other dubious things ie killing people in revenge rather than self defence (but are any witnesses alive?) Then there's the black ops stuff (although that could be defined as call of duty)

Did Ruth know he poisoned the old HS? What else could he go down for that we know of?

[DogSoSmall]

I agree that they're not going to be able to focus too much on Harry's investigation. I suspect the majority of the Spooks audience is there for the one-off, one-shot story lines each week, and viewing figures (and critics reviews) would probably suffer if it got too introspective. Frustrating as it is never to really get a satisfying glimpse of their private lives, it's not really what the programme is about.

I would like to see them resolve Harry's suspension and Harry and Ruth's relationship pretty early on in the series and then get the chance for some exciting story lines with a happy Harry and a happy Ruth actually doing their jobs with a smile for a change!

[Forever Secret]

I agree about resolving both Harry's investigation and the Ruth/Harry relationshp pretty early in the Series, at least episodes 1 and 2 should have the focus on the investigation, but it shouldn't really drag on through the whole series, I suppose it depends on whether or not like S6-9 it has a running storyline, or whether the investigation WILL be the running storyline. If they chose the direction of bringing a new storyline, then I think the investigation would have to resolved early so it wouldn't get in the way or clash with the one shot stories each week
I think someone mentioned before, whether or not Harry would actually put up a fight to save his job, but he wouldn't allow himself to be sacked or to leave the Service a disgraced officer, maybe the investiagtion could focus sometimes on that. It seems that S10 will be more centred around Harry, just like S9 was focused more on Lucas and his past.
As for Harry and Ruth, I just want them to resolve it. As long as they both work for MI5 the will they/ won't they element and the tension will always be there. If they were going to resolve it I think the writters would either have to get them together, or make one of them leave for good... and I hope neither of them leave
I agree DogSoSmall, I want to see Happy Ruth and Happy Harry, working on The Grid too, instead of all this dodging around the situation stuff

[Byatil]

Well, if the writers employ the "shock tactics" they seemed to go for in S9, I wouldn't be surprised if Harry was fired and we didn't see much of him for the rest of the series :/ I doubt the investigation will be focused on too much; as everyone has said, the writers need to focus more on "threat of the week" than on individual stories, especially when each episode needs to make coherent sense as a stand-alone piece.

I wonder if Harry might just give up the ghost, having finally realised just how much he's sacrificed for his job. He was beginning to come to terms with that in 9.8, so it would be interesting to see whether he's still as devoted to his job as he was before.

[A Cousin]

(16-01-2011 02:36 PM)Byatil Wrote:  I doubt the investigation will be focused on too much; as everyone has said, the writers need to focus more on "threat of the week" than on individual stories, especially when each episode needs to make coherent sense as a stand-alone piece.

Agreed. Spooks is a plot centered programme and always has been. PF himself made an interesting observation when he said character development only works well in Spooks if it is part of the threat of the week. He was referring specifically to the Harry & Catherine episode in S3, but I think he is correct overall. What there is of the inquiry and any attendant investigation into Harry's character will need to be wrapped into the threat(s) of the week in order to work successfully.

[HellsBells]

The ending of series 9 was not much of a cliff-hanger for your average non-obsessed viewer, therefore I think the investigation has to be concluded quickly and a much more dramatic storyline started otherwise the viewing figures will suffer.