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Harry Harper (fictional character)
Encyclopedia
Harry Harper is a fictional character
from the BBC One
medical drama
Casualty
, portrayed by actor Simon MacCorkindale
. He made his first appearance in the series sixteen
episode "Denial", broadcast on 8 June 2002. He ran Holby City Hospital's emergency department
for five years, before being elected as a Member of Parliament
. His final appearance was in the series twenty-two
episode "Thicker Than Water", broadcast on 8 March 2008. MacCorkindale was diagnosed with bowel cancer in 2006, and departed from Casualty after the disease spread to his lungs. He died on 14 October 2010, at the age of 58.
), who asks her mother Beth (Lynda Rooke) to take her instead. They crash, and Beth is fatally injured. Harry blames Tally for the accident and develops an anti-depressant dependency, forging senior house officer
Lara Stone's (Christine Stephen-Daly
) signature to prescribe himself drugs.
Harry clashes with registrar
Simon Kaminski (Christopher Colquhoun
) over his temperament, suspending him from work. In revenge, Simon begins sleeping with Tally (Holly Davidson
). He learns that Harry has been self-prescribing and attempts to blackmail him. Lara notices the strained atmosphere between them, and Harry confides in her that he needs help, accepting her support. He misinterprets Lara's kindness, however, and tells her he is in love with her. His feelings go un-reciprocated, and Harry is angry when Lara sleeps with paramedic Luke Warren. On an outdoor pursuit day for management training, Harry leaves the marked route and becomes trapped in a cave. Simon rescues him, incurring a spinal injury in the process.
Several weeks later, Harry discovers that Lara has begun a relationship with Simon. Tally takes the news badly and behaves erratically, leaving Harry no choice but to suspend her on the anniversary of Beth's death. When Simon mocks her, Tally attempts suicide by taking an overdose. She recovers, but Harry realises he has been neglecting her and takes her on holiday. Lara and Simon become engaged, but Harry discovers he has been cheating on her, taking Lara away from the venue on her wedding day. Simon dies in a plane crash en-route to the wedding, and Lara disappoints Harry by moving to Australia.
Selena returns to the department in 2004, having married since her last meeting with Harry. When she is stabbed in the hospital car park, Harry realises he still has feelings for her, but Selena cuts him off as he tries to tell her. Harry begins a relationship with nurse Ellen Zitek (Georgina Bouzova
), who becomes pregnant. Harry proposes, believing it is the right thing to do, but Ellen turns him down. It transpires that Ellen had a cancerous molar pregnancy. She is later hit by a motorbike and dies, leaving Harry distraught. He decides to go into politics when the department is threatened with closure, winning the local bi-election. Following his last shift at the hospital, Harry and Selena sleep together. Jealous corporate director Nathan Spencer (Ben Price
) deletes text messages Harry sends to Selena, leading her to believe their night together was a mistake.
After several months in Westminster, Harry returns to the department having arranged for the Secretary of State for Health
to visit. Harry and Selena are held at gunpoint by a patient's wife, and Selena declares her love for Harry before taking a bullet for him and dying. Following a bomb scare in the hospital, junior doctor Guppy convinces Harry to return, taking a job as consultant manager. When F2 doctor Ruth Winters (Georgia Taylor
) attempts suicide, Harry makes her diary—reflecting how the NHS has failed her—public, and is forced to resign.
that he was a long-standing fan of the series, commenting that it was "great to be joining an established show with a great bunch of people." Neil Bonner of the Liverpool Daily Post
conflictingly quoted MacCorkindale as stating that he had never seen an episode of the show in its sixteen year history. He was surprised to be offered the role of Harry, having spent years beforehand working in the United States
, but found its Bristol location ideal having recently moved to the West Country
.
Compiling a "medical dream team" from multiple television hospital dramas, The Guardian
Grace Dent
assessed Harry's characterization as being "Alpha male", writing that he "comes from a long line of TV medics who stride through the hospital wards like demi-gods, saving lives, sorting out lesser medics' muck-ups and, more importantly, wooing the knickers off any passing nurse." Dent deemed Harry unflappable professionally and a gentleman in his personal life, with old-fashioned principles with regards to women.
In 2006, MacCorkindale experienced stomach cramps whilst filming Casualty and was diagnosed with bowel cancer. He had a section of his colon removed, and despite recommendation from doctors that he allow ten to twelve weeks for recovery, MacCorkindale scheduled the operation to coincide with a two-week break in Casualty filming schedule. He took a sixth-month sabbatical from the show, during which time he toured with a theatrical production of Agatha Christie
's The Unexpected Guest
. In May 2007, MacCorkindale learned that the cancer had spread to his lungs, and was told he had five years to live. He returned to film his final series of Casualty in late 2007. He did not disclose his illness to his colleagues, and found it surreal when scripts required Harry to inform patients that they had cancer or an incurable disease. MacCorkindale departed from Casualty at the end of 2007, having appeared in 229 episodes. He died on 14 October 2010, aged 58. John Yorke, Controller of BBC Drama, praised the actor, stating: "As the star and male lead of Casualty for over six years we owe Simon a massive debt. Not only was he a fabulously iconic consultant, he was also an inspirational team leader. One of the reasons so many people have loved working with him on Casualty is because of the tone he established on the shop floor—always welcoming, always disciplined, always quietly the leader."
have both commented on MacCorkindale's "loud" delivery of his lines, with Shelley deeming Harry a "human Foghorn Leghorn", and Dempster describing Casualty as being "Above all [...] about Simon MacCorkindale, shouting. Then panting, alarmingly, as he peers through some blinds. And then shouting again."
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
from the BBC One
BBC One
BBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...
medical drama
Medical drama
A medical drama is a television program, in which events center upon a hospital, an ambulance staff, or any medical environment.In the United States, most medical episodes are one hour long and, more often than not, are set in a hospital. Most current medical Dramatic programming go beyond the...
Casualty
Casualty (TV series)
Casualty, stylised as Casual+y, is a British weekly television show broadcast on BBC One, and the longest-running emergency medical drama television series in the world. Created by Jeremy Brock and Paul Unwin, it was first broadcast on 6 September 1986, and transmitted in the UK on BBC One. The...
, portrayed by actor Simon MacCorkindale
Simon MacCorkindale
Simon Charles Pendered MacCorkindale was a British actor, film director, writer and producer. MacCorkindale spent much of his childhood moving around due to his father's commission with the Royal Air Force. Poor eyesight prevented him from following a similar career in the RAF, so he instead...
. He made his first appearance in the series sixteen
Casualty (series 16)
The sixteenth series of the British medical drama television series Casualty commenced airing in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 15 September 2001 and finished on 29 June 2002. It saw another increase, this time to 40 episodes...
episode "Denial", broadcast on 8 June 2002. He ran Holby City Hospital's emergency department
Emergency department
An emergency department , also known as accident & emergency , emergency room , emergency ward , or casualty department is a medical treatment facility specialising in acute care of patients who present without prior appointment, either by their own means or by ambulance...
for five years, before being elected as a Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
. His final appearance was in the series twenty-two
Casualty (series 22)
The twenty-second series of the British medical drama television series Casualty commenced airing in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 8 September 2007 and finished on 9 August 2008. -Series overview:...
episode "Thicker Than Water", broadcast on 8 March 2008. MacCorkindale was diagnosed with bowel cancer in 2006, and departed from Casualty after the disease spread to his lungs. He died on 14 October 2010, at the age of 58.
Storylines
Harry begins working at Holby City Hospital in June 2002. He is pleased when his old flame Selena Donovan (Liz Carling) arrives to carry out a drugs trial in the department, and invites her to dinner. He cancels a driving lesson with his teenage daughter Tally (Ashlie WalkerAshlie Walker
Ashlie Walker is a British actress from London. She has been working in television since the age of ten and has had roles in Bad Girls, Casualty, Doctors, Hollyoaks and A Touch Of Frost. She has also done a variety of adverts...
), who asks her mother Beth (Lynda Rooke) to take her instead. They crash, and Beth is fatally injured. Harry blames Tally for the accident and develops an anti-depressant dependency, forging senior house officer
Senior house officer
A senior house officer is a junior doctor undergoing training within a certain speciality in the British National Health Service or in the Republic of Ireland. SHOs are supervised by consultants and registrars, who oversee their training and are their designated clinical supervisors...
Lara Stone's (Christine Stephen-Daly
Christine Stephen-Daly
Christine Stephen-Daly is an Australian television actress.Christine grew up in Melbourne with her father Paul, an entrepreneur who was the originator of the world's first travelling tram restaurant in Melbourne in 1993; mother Rhonnda, a housewife; and three sisters Louise, Laura, and...
) signature to prescribe himself drugs.
Harry clashes with registrar
Specialist registrar
A Specialist Registrar or SpR is a doctor in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland who is receiving advanced training in a specialist field of medicine in order eventually to become a consultant...
Simon Kaminski (Christopher Colquhoun
Christopher Colquhoun
Christopher Colquhoun is an English actor who trained at RADA. He is most famous for appearing as Simon Kaminski in the BBC drama series Casualty, from 2002 to 2004...
) over his temperament, suspending him from work. In revenge, Simon begins sleeping with Tally (Holly Davidson
Holly Davidson
Holly Davidson is a British actress, model and personal trainer.She is most known for her recurring roles on the TV series' Renford Rejects, The Bill and Casualty, and roles in the films Final Cut, Van Wilder 2: Rise of the Taj and Essex Boys.She is the daughter of the photographer Robert Davidson...
). He learns that Harry has been self-prescribing and attempts to blackmail him. Lara notices the strained atmosphere between them, and Harry confides in her that he needs help, accepting her support. He misinterprets Lara's kindness, however, and tells her he is in love with her. His feelings go un-reciprocated, and Harry is angry when Lara sleeps with paramedic Luke Warren. On an outdoor pursuit day for management training, Harry leaves the marked route and becomes trapped in a cave. Simon rescues him, incurring a spinal injury in the process.
Several weeks later, Harry discovers that Lara has begun a relationship with Simon. Tally takes the news badly and behaves erratically, leaving Harry no choice but to suspend her on the anniversary of Beth's death. When Simon mocks her, Tally attempts suicide by taking an overdose. She recovers, but Harry realises he has been neglecting her and takes her on holiday. Lara and Simon become engaged, but Harry discovers he has been cheating on her, taking Lara away from the venue on her wedding day. Simon dies in a plane crash en-route to the wedding, and Lara disappoints Harry by moving to Australia.
Selena returns to the department in 2004, having married since her last meeting with Harry. When she is stabbed in the hospital car park, Harry realises he still has feelings for her, but Selena cuts him off as he tries to tell her. Harry begins a relationship with nurse Ellen Zitek (Georgina Bouzova
Georgina Bouzova
Georgina Bouzová is an English television actress best known for her former role as Ellen Zitek in the BBC One medical drama Casualty...
), who becomes pregnant. Harry proposes, believing it is the right thing to do, but Ellen turns him down. It transpires that Ellen had a cancerous molar pregnancy. She is later hit by a motorbike and dies, leaving Harry distraught. He decides to go into politics when the department is threatened with closure, winning the local bi-election. Following his last shift at the hospital, Harry and Selena sleep together. Jealous corporate director Nathan Spencer (Ben Price
Ben Price
Ben Price is a British actor, best known for playing the third incarnation of Nick Tilsley in the ITV soap opera, Coronation Street...
) deletes text messages Harry sends to Selena, leading her to believe their night together was a mistake.
After several months in Westminster, Harry returns to the department having arranged for the Secretary of State for Health
Secretary of State for Health
Secretary of State for Health is a UK cabinet position responsible for the Department of Health.The first Boards of Health were created by Orders in Council dated 21 June, 14 November, and 21 November 1831. In 1848 a General Board of Health was created with the First Commissioner of Woods and...
to visit. Harry and Selena are held at gunpoint by a patient's wife, and Selena declares her love for Harry before taking a bullet for him and dying. Following a bomb scare in the hospital, junior doctor Guppy convinces Harry to return, taking a job as consultant manager. When F2 doctor Ruth Winters (Georgia Taylor
Georgia Taylor
Georgia Taylor is an English actress, known for her role as Toyah Battersby in Coronation Street and currently for playing Ruth Winters on Casualty. She was born in Wigan, Greater Manchester....
) attempts suicide, Harry makes her diary—reflecting how the NHS has failed her—public, and is forced to resign.
Development
MacCorkindale joined the cast of Casualty in February 2002. Following his casting, he told the Daily RecordDaily Record (Scotland)
The Daily Record is a Scottish tabloid newspaper based in Glasgow. It had been the best-selling daily paper in Scotland for many years with a paid circulation in August 2011 of 307,794 . It is now outsold by its arch-rival the Scottish Sun which in September 2010 had a circulation of 339,586 in...
that he was a long-standing fan of the series, commenting that it was "great to be joining an established show with a great bunch of people." Neil Bonner of the Liverpool Daily Post
Liverpool Daily Post
The Liverpool Daily Post is a newspaper published by Trinity Mirror in Liverpool, Merseyside, England. It is published Monday to Friday and is published in Merseyside, Cheshire, and North Wales editions, and is a morning paper...
conflictingly quoted MacCorkindale as stating that he had never seen an episode of the show in its sixteen year history. He was surprised to be offered the role of Harry, having spent years beforehand working in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, but found its Bristol location ideal having recently moved to the West Country
West Country
The West Country is an informal term for the area of south western England roughly corresponding to the modern South West England government region. It is often defined to encompass the historic counties of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset and Somerset and the City of Bristol, while the counties of...
.
Compiling a "medical dream team" from multiple television hospital dramas, The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
Grace Dent
Grace Dent
Grace Dent is an English journalist, author, and broadcaster. Dent writes mainly for The Guardian, where she has a weekly column on television, 'Grace Dent's TV-OD'. She also writes for magazines such as Tatler and Marie Claire. She writes a restaurant review column for the London Evening...
assessed Harry's characterization as being "Alpha male", writing that he "comes from a long line of TV medics who stride through the hospital wards like demi-gods, saving lives, sorting out lesser medics' muck-ups and, more importantly, wooing the knickers off any passing nurse." Dent deemed Harry unflappable professionally and a gentleman in his personal life, with old-fashioned principles with regards to women.
In 2006, MacCorkindale experienced stomach cramps whilst filming Casualty and was diagnosed with bowel cancer. He had a section of his colon removed, and despite recommendation from doctors that he allow ten to twelve weeks for recovery, MacCorkindale scheduled the operation to coincide with a two-week break in Casualty filming schedule. He took a sixth-month sabbatical from the show, during which time he toured with a theatrical production of Agatha Christie
Agatha Christie
Dame Agatha Christie DBE was a British crime writer of novels, short stories, and plays. She also wrote romances under the name Mary Westmacott, but she is best remembered for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections , and her successful West End plays.According to...
's The Unexpected Guest
The Unexpected Guest (play)
The Unexpected Guest is a 1958 play by crime writer Agatha Christie.The play opened in the West End at the Duchess Theatre on 12 August 1958 after a previous try-out at the Bristol Hippodrome. It was directed by Hubert Gregg.-Plot summary :...
. In May 2007, MacCorkindale learned that the cancer had spread to his lungs, and was told he had five years to live. He returned to film his final series of Casualty in late 2007. He did not disclose his illness to his colleagues, and found it surreal when scripts required Harry to inform patients that they had cancer or an incurable disease. MacCorkindale departed from Casualty at the end of 2007, having appeared in 229 episodes. He died on 14 October 2010, aged 58. John Yorke, Controller of BBC Drama, praised the actor, stating: "As the star and male lead of Casualty for over six years we owe Simon a massive debt. Not only was he a fabulously iconic consultant, he was also an inspirational team leader. One of the reasons so many people have loved working with him on Casualty is because of the tone he established on the shop floor—always welcoming, always disciplined, always quietly the leader."
Reception
Reviewing the 2002 episode in which Harry attends to a fairground disaster, The Guardian Rupert Smith deemed MacCorkindale "fantastically wooden". He described the plot as "ridiculous", highlighting the convenience of Harry happening to be present when the incident occurred. The following year, Smith again highlighted credibility issues with a plot which revealed Harry to be a friend of photographer Patrick Lichfield, writing that the revelation was "one of the most throwaway bits of exposition ever seen in British television drama." Fellow Guardian critics Sarah Dempster and Jim ShelleyJim Shelley (TV critic)
Jim Shelley is a British television critic who writes a column for the Daily Mirror each Monday titled Shelleyvision. Prior to writing for the Daily Mirror he wrote for The Guardian and his collection of reviews "Interference: Tapehead vs. Television" was published by Atlantic Books...
have both commented on MacCorkindale's "loud" delivery of his lines, with Shelley deeming Harry a "human Foghorn Leghorn", and Dempster describing Casualty as being "Above all [...] about Simon MacCorkindale, shouting. Then panting, alarmingly, as he peers through some blinds. And then shouting again."