Harry's Game (1982– )

Harry is an undercover agent for the British army sent to Northern Ireland to infiltrate the IRA and find (and terminate) the assassin of a British Cabinet Minister. Harry is alone, the ... See full summary »

Stars:

Ray Lonnen, Benjamin Whitrow, Nicholas Day

1 win & 2 nominations.

Cast

Series cast summary:
Ray Lonnen	...	Harry Brown (3 episodes, 1982)
Benjamin Whitrow	...	Davidson (3 episodes, 1982)
Nicholas Day	...	Bannen (3 episodes, 1982)
Geoffrey Chater	...	Col. George Frost (3 episodes, 1982)
Sean Caffrey	...	Insp. Howard Rennie (3 episodes, 1982)
Derek Thompson	...	Billy Downes (3 episodes, 1982)
Maggie Shevlin	...	Mrs. Downes (3 episodes, 1982)
Gil Brailey	...	Josephine Laverty (3 episodes, 1982)
Charles Lawson	...	Seamus Duffryn (3 episodes, 1982)
Tony Rohr	...	Brigade Commander (3 episodes, 1982)
Sam Dale	...	Billy's Driver (3 episodes, 1982)
Elizabeth Begley	...	Mrs. Duncan (3 episodes, 1982)
Rita Howard	...	Mrs. Duffryn (3 episodes, 1982)
Denys Hawthorne	...	Minister of Defence (2 episodes, 1982)
Ray Armstrong	...	Lt. Colonel (2 episodes, 1982)
Stephen Mallatratt	...	Adjutant (2 episodes, 1982)
Christopher Whitehouse	...	Frankie (2 episodes, 1982)
Linda Robson	...	Theresa McCorrigan (2 episodes, 1982)
Rio Fanning	...	Scrapyard Owner (2 episodes, 1982)
Ian Bleasdale	...	Waiter (2 episodes, 1982)
Jonathan Young	...	Brigade Officer (2 episodes, 1982)

Storyline

Harry is an undercover agent for the British army sent to Northern Ireland to infiltrate the IRA and find (and terminate) the assassin of a British Cabinet Minister. Harry is alone, the army hasn't been told he is being put in place, his wife is fed up with him and his job, and his one new friend, an Irish woman who falls for him will be consumed by his relentless search for the assassin.

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Plot Keywords:

ireland | terrorism | belfast northern ireland | irish republican army | detective | 

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Taglines:

The game of death

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Genres:

Thriller

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Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

25 October 1982 (UK)

Also Known As:

Belfast Assassin

Filming Locations:

Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

Yorkshire Television (YTV)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

180 min 60 min (3 episodes) 160 min (DVD)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The man whose car Harry hijacks at the end of the film (in order to pursue Downes) remains unnamed in the film and the viewer never finds out his profession, but in the novel he was a plastic sales representative. Thus, the credit for "sales representative" in the cast refers to him.

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Quotes

Harry Brown: He had to die. Don't you understand that?

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Soundtracks

Theme is performed by Clannad
(it can be found on the their record "Pastpresent")

User Reviews

Horrible

I spent several months scouring DVD stores and P2P networks, looking for Harry's Game, simply because I'd heard from numerous sources that it was the most authentic portrayal of the N. Irish troubles on film. I finally got my hands on a copy, and I was very excited to see what I believed was going to be the best depiction of life in N. Ireland under the shadow of the war.

Dear GOD. The acting, the accents, the dialogue, the camera work, the directing; is there anything in this friggin' series that doesn't seem like it was under the control of a high school media student?

This is the worst - yes, the WORST - depiction of the Troubles I've ever seen, and I've seen some pretty abysmal Troubles-inspired movies, let me tell ya! There are two things, and ONLY two things that make this series tolerable enough so that I could sit through the full three hours. First, the overall visual "bleakness" of the series. It really "felt" like Northern Ireland, and certainly the Northern Ireland of the 80's. As long as no one spoke or acted out anything other than walking around, it was quite authentic. Then again, this probably had nothing to do with the director's/producer's vision and more to do with their budget, but we'll give them the benefit of the doubt. The second positive point is that it appears to have been reasonably well-researched in terms of the "operating procedures" of both the IRA and the British intelligence apparatus. In that respect, it's no more or less authentic than any other half-decent attempt to portray the N. Irish Troubles.

I found myself shaking my head in both disbelief and anger every time someone did or said something on-screen. The casting appears to have been made up predominately of weak B actors, somewhat-known British TV actors, and a handful of N. Irish natives who probably hadn't acted in their lives. The accents...God almighty, the accents. Every single "N. Irish" person in the series - other than those actually FROM N. Ireland

• seemed to have developed their own bastardization of the N. Irish

accent. They may as well have been from different planets. Some were so bad that I burst out laughing...others were just bad enough to make me cringe. The dialogue was no better; the writer was putting words into the mouths of these characters that they'd never say, and making them spew out their moronic lines at inappropriate/unnecessary times. It just felt weak and unrealistic, which is quite staggering considering the fact that the one word that everyone associates with this series is "authenticity".

The Clannad theme song for the series is a fine piece of music, and the fact that it plays during the end credits is probably a wise choice - end credits, good music; a fair pay-off for having wasted several hours of your life.

Overall Authenticity = 4/10

Overall Entertainment Value = 2/10

This is bog-standard, low-budget 80's TV. Don't expect anything more, and don't expect a history lesson about N. Ireland.