Harry Sullivan

[Heeroyuy]

Any thoughts on Harry Sullivan, the Doctor's male companion from Tom Baker's first season? In many ways, he was kind of like Mickey, a guy who the Doctor kind of always picked on (HARRY SULLIVAN IS AN IMBECILE!!!!) but who was in fact, very resourceful if not always bright. Harry's most classic adventure was IMO, Genesis of the Daleks, where he accompanied the Doctor for most of the story while Sarah mainly ran around quarries, nearly got radiation sickness, and fell screaming off rockets. Then again Harry got his foot stuck in a styrofoam clam ("Why do I always put a foot in it?"). Harry would later show up in "Android Invasion" and get a name-check in "Mawdryn Undead" and the ocassional companion stock footage montage (Logopolis, Ressurection of the Daleks) .

Harry was originally suppossed to be an Ian Chesterton style character, since it was originally intended for the Fourth Doctor to be an older actor. However, this kind of became redundant after Tom was cast, so Harry was eventually written out and Sarah became the main companion.



Harry was played by the late Ian Marter (Who also had a small role in "Carnival of Monsters"), who would later go on to adapt Doctor Who serials for TARGET (Including many of the 'lost' or 'incomplete' serials) but who would ultiametly succumb to complications from diabetes in the 80s Ian also worked on plans for an ultiametly dropped Doctor Who film, Doctor Who Meets Scratchman.

 

[Chaos Descending]

I liked Harry Sullivan.

I don't really know what else to say about it.

 

[Pindar]

I liked the character a great deal and was pleased he was commemorated in the Sarah Jane audio adventures by having his brother appear as a recurring character.

 

[Chris3123]

Harry Sullivan is an imbecile!

 

[Worf2DS9]

I liked Harry as well. He was a fine chap, who was sort of like the Everyman on these outrageous adventures, always seeming out of his element, yet managing to get through it all.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

I love Harry. I just wish, like Turlough, that we got to see more of him.

 

[The Borgified Corpse]

I liked Harry as well. He was a fine chap, who was sort of like the Everyman on these outrageous adventures, always seeming out of his element, yet managing to get through it all.

Agreed. I felt that he was a good counterbalance to Sarah Jane. Sarah Jane would often rush headlong into these situations because of her sense of adventure & insatiable curiosity. Harry would be the more reluctant one who would stop to think about what they were getting into. It's a simple dynamic but one that worked well. By giving Sarah Jane & Harry their own dynamic with each other, it allowed the Doctor to become a more aloof, eccentric figure. (And all things being equal, I prefer my Doctors a bit more aloof & eccentric.) I suppose, in that respect, you could draw some parallels to the William Hartnell years, with Sarah Jane taking the Susan role and Harry as Ian Chesterton.

I can also see the parallels with Mickey, although Harry wasn't quite that pathetic or whiny. But then, in Mickey's defense, if you were witness to your girlfriend inexorably falling in love with this strange, dangerous time traveler, you'd feel a bit insecure too. Still, I felt that Mickey got really screwed over by his characterization in "Rose" and never quite recovered.

 

[auntiehill]

I always liked Harry, but, as said before, he really didn't get to do very much. Like Mickey, he suffered from "third wheel" syndrome.

But he was a decent, likable chap.

 

[Stevil2001]

I love Harry. I just wish, like Turlough, that we got to see more of him.

I think we saw far too much of Turlough in episode 1 of Planet of Fire myself.

 

[Starkers]

Never been a huge fan of Harry, but he's far from being the worst companion the Doctor ever had.

 

[Winterwind]

I always liked Harry but as already noted, with Tom being a younger Doctor, he wasn't needed for the "action" the way Ian was.

Ian is my favourite male companion with Harry being a close second.

 

[Starkers]

Nah Jamie for me, then Jack. Ian will probably be there or thereabouts once I see more Hartnell stories though.

 

[Winterwind]

Oops. How could I have forgotten Jamie? Ok, move Harry down to 3rd.

Jamie has my favourite male companion scene: the hand holding bit with the Doctor in The Tomb of the Cybermen.