Harry Pearce - Reception

Reception

This character is considered by many fans to be the pillar of the show, providing both a backbone to the team and is often the cause of many of the comic relief situations present in the series, most notably in his exchanges during series 1 with Jools Siviter, played by Hugh Laurie. Another comic theme includes Harry getting annoyed every time someone would enter his office without knocking. This grew so much that in the season three finale, when Ruth came to warn him that something was wrong, Harry guessed it because she had knocked. He is well respected by his colleagues. He has thus far survived four cliffhangers where it appears he is about to be killed (series 2, series 4, series 7 and series 9) and the tenth series is a plotline that revolves around Harry; his past and his relationship with Ruth.

He is the only character to have appeared in every single episode in the show.

Benji Wilson of The Daily Telegraph in describing Harry and Ruth's relationship commented that "(Ruth's) scenes with Peter Firth, another fine player, have become self-contained little bubbles of weltschmerz within every recent episode".