HARRRRRRY SULLLLLLLLIVAN IS AN IMBECILLLLLLLLLLLLE!!!!!!!
heh heh heh hehâŚokay, heâs really not that bad. Harry Sullivan is a competent doctor - a UNIT doctor at that - and the one the Brig thinks is qualified to work on his best friend, so high praise indeed. He has somehow managed to not be briefed on the whole âtwo heartsâ thing, which is kind of impressive, but Harry is an impressive kind of guy.
Harry is sweet, genteel, easy going, old fashioned, and completely inept. Ineptitude is his chief defining characteristic. This is not because he is stupid, because heâs not, he just is blessed with the magnificent ability to put his foot in it. Itâs utterly adorable. (Thatâs Harryâs other chief defining characteristic).
Harry was originally intended to be the next Ian Chesterton - the young active Leading Man to do the Doctorâs hitting for him. When it turned out that Tom Baker was perfectly capable of hitting people his own self (they had originally planned to cast a much older actor), Harry rolled with it and managed to turn third wheelism into an art form. And itâs beautiful. The other important role he fulfills is to be a foil for Sarah Jane. Sarah is a Feminist â˘, but how will we know if they donât keep reminding us? She needs things to assert her feminism against. Having it come up on every alien planet ever gets old after a while, and you donât want to give that role to the Doctor because heâs supposed to be Better Than All That. And so youâve got Harry, who means well, but is a total Edwardian throwback. Heâs a little bit sexist, mostly (you get the impression) because he doesnât know any better, and hasnât ever had the inherent problematicity of chivalry properly explained to him. Itâs just another way for him to exercise his well-intentioned ineptitude, and an opportunity for Sarah to be a Strong Female Character ⢠by calling him on it. It changes what could have been anvilicious (and therefore off-putting) into banter. This works extremely well - especially since they genuinely do like each other.Â
Sarah: [coming out of hypnosis] Harry�
Harry: Yes, Sarah? Iâm here, Old Girl
Sarah: Call me âold girlâ againâŚand Iâll spit in your eyeâŚ
The Four-Sarah-Harry team is often cited as peopleâs favorite Team TARDIS, and thatâs precisely because they really do like each other. Despite a somewhat rocky start that involved the Doctor tying up poor Harry with a jump rope, long before he even remotely had it coming. (Post-regenerative brain-crazies and all that). But really, Harry. Youâre a trained soldier. How do you (a) get yourself tied up and (b) not manage to get yourself untied again? Arenât you trained for this? Ah well, Harry is a bumbler, not a fighter. But heâs a really excellent support character, and all his misfortune serves to render him mostly just adorable, since he takes it all with equanimity and edwardian gentility.Â
Harryâs other major defining characteristic is to put his foot in it. Figuratively, of course (âNO NOT THAT BUTTONâ, âHarry, did you make the rocks fall?â, etc.) but also completely literally. And it never stops being funny. His first step out of the TARDIS and heâs getting lasered in the foot. He finds the ancient london sewer system by falling into it (also, off a cliff). He fails to outrun giant immobile clams. Letâs talk about the clamsâŚ
Ooksaidthelibrarian writes: âI like Harry Sullivan because he gets attacked by a giant clam. Who are the most adorable and peaceful of all creatures, but he manages to stumble into one. And you have to be really determined to get stuck in a giant clam, believe me.â
I dispute this. Harry Sullivan is the most adorable and peaceful of all creatures - Giant Mutant Clams are merely a close second. Really, this is all you need to know about Harry. Heâs the sort of guy who gets his foot stuck in clams. Giant Clams. Theyâre giant enough that you really canât miss them, and theyâre clams enough that they canât chase you down. The only way to be attacked by a giant clam is put your foot in it - in short, to be Harry Sullivan. And how does he react? âIâm always the one to put my foot in.â Yes, Harry, you are. AndâŚdo you step in clams often? Is this something that has happened to you more than once? (Incidentally, this scene is the subject of one of my very favorite Arthur, King of Time and Space sketches. Thatâs Lancelot there. Who is also Spock. Thereâs something deeply beautiful about him managing to also be Harry Sullivan.) Harry eventually escapes the Giant Clam, but once more manages to lose his shoe.
Let us all observe a moment of silence for Harryâs shoesâŚ
For those of you who have been keeping count, this means that Harry has managed to lose three shoes in two episodes (his shoes somehow made it through âthe Sontaran Experimentâ unscathed). But⌠he hasnât been back to the TARDIS. Where did the second pair of shoes come from? Does Harry have the ability to magically spawn shoes??? I mean, the way he goes at it he definitely needs it. And then the third pair of shoes⌠I have a deep and abiding love for Harryâs ill-fated shoes. (I suppose this is similar to the question of where Sarah Jane keeps getting new outfits all through season 12, but itâs just funnier in terms of Harryâs poor shoes.)
Harry is the consummate loveable bumbler. That said, Dark!Harry in âTerror of the Zygonsâ may be one of the most terrifying things ever. Because heâs just so cold and creepy. Itâs one of the best and most frightening examples of Bad Guy impersonating a trusted loved one Iâve ever seen. Partly because Ian Marter is a fantastic actor, and partly because Harry is just soâŚsafe that the contrast is particularly striking. Itâs not the Loch Ness Monster or creepy nurses or infiltrating aliens or the mystery of the moors that gives the episode its titular terror - itâs Harry Freakin Sullivan. eaughsh. *shudder.*
Harryâs first trip in the TARDIS manages to last an entire season. When she miraculously lands him about where he stared (well, several hundred miles north and a few months late) he wisely decides not to risk a second trip. He doesnât seem to regret his time as a companion, but heâs just like âokay. that was good. and Iâm done now.â It was probably the wear and tear on his shoes that made his mind up. Probably the least emotional or difficult companion departure of all time. But thatâs Harry to a tee. âDifficultâ is the opposite of Harry. Life is hard on him, but he bumbles good-naturedly through it with a smile, a salute, and an increasing lack of shoes.Â
He is also the only character in âGenesis of the Daleksâ who is not actively considering genocide. Mostly because heâs too busy standing in clams.
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