Sir Henry James "Harry" Pearce, KBE (born 1 November 1953[1]) was a fictional character, head of the counter-terrorism department ("Section D") of MI5 as featured in the British television series Spooks.

After attending the University of Oxford,[2] Pearce went to the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst[3] before joining the Light Blue Dragoons.

[5] His first assignment at the service was to A Section, in Northern Ireland, where he was an agent handler during the Provisional IRA's campaign against the British state,[6] until his close colleague Bill Crombie was kidnapped and killed in August 1978.

[9] In Cologne, he worked against the left-wing terrorists, the Red Army Faction, and undertook a black op with only C's knowledge,[10] before his secondment ended in November 1979.

[11] On his return to MI5, Pearce was assigned to Section D, the counter-terrorism department (then at Gower Street),[12] where he was a junior field officer.

Pearce was promoted to senior field officer between October 1986 and December 1988,[15] and appointed to his current role in January 1994[16] In Episode 2 of Series 7, Harry, through Lucas North, manages to frame Arkady Kachimov, the FSB resident in London, as an MI5 mole.

In Episode 3 of Series 7, Harry learned from Lucas North that Russian intelligence interrogated him about an operation called Sugarhorse.

Harry contacts his mentor, Bernard Qualtrough, a retired spy to consult him about who could have been a mole within this highly classified operation.

In Episode 2 of Series 8, Nicholas Blake, the Home Secretary, comes to Harry and tells him that he was informed of a secret meeting in Basel between rogue elements of Western and Eastern intelligence services, including the CIA and MI6.

The commander-in-chief of the Pakistani army, General Ali, is a Nightingale asset and is planning an unofficial hardliner seizure of power.

After capturing Sarah, Harry sends Ros and Lucas to the hotel where the Home Secretary is meeting with the Pakistani President.

Lucas manages to save the President and Harry makes him appear before the TV crew to show Nightingale that they failed.

[2] They had a daughter, Catherine, on 25 April 1980,[20] followed by a son, Graham, on 18 June 1983,[21] before "Jane filed for divorce, citing irreconcilable differences" in October 1986.

[22] At some point between the divorce and her on-screen appearance, his daughter Catherine changed her surname to her mother's maiden name, Townsend.

Sasha, knowing his mother is a former western spy, suspects Harry may still be running her as an MI5 asset and demands he break all contact with Elena.

After this she quickly goes back into their professional relationship, revealing that the former Home Secretary Nicholas Blake was involved in the Nightingale Conspiracy and was connected to Ros's death.

At the end of the episode, she questions him over his decision, little realising that Albany is a fake and isn't a threat to National Security.

Harry is then told by the Home Secretary that an investigation was to take place into his entire career and is asked to prepare for life after MI5.

In Episode 3 Harry asks Ruth to meet with former lover Elena Gavrik to collect the messages sent to her by his impersonator.

However the operation goes horribly wrong and Elena is attacked, when an assassin (previously seen in episode 1 and working for the CIA) attempts to shoot at her.

Ruth proceeds to tell Harry about the job offer from the Home Secretary and asks for his opinion on whether or not she should leave.

Harry though determined to prove Jim is impersonating him and attacking the Gavriks and MI5 proceeds to interrogate Coaver despite Ruth's concerns.

She outwardly refuses to believe him and they discuss their past, when he had attempted to extract both her and Sasha from Berlin at Treptower Park, before Coaver had stopped him.

Harry accepts the terms of the CIA and prepares to be extradited but will leave on the condition that the deal with Russia be brought forward to that afternoon to avoid more deaths.

In episode 6 Harry is still in the custody of the CIA when Elena Gavrik informs Ruth she has intel about an attack planned on the UK.

Eventually they find out that Elena had been lying to them all along and that she had wanted the UK to fire at a Plane of innocent people, which would cause a destructive event, enough for the partnership deal to be deemed worthless and start conflict between Britain and Russia.

Later Ilya Gavrik asks Ruth to give him the key to Elena's cell, he then kills her to which Sasha witnesses and attempts to stop, but before he can get to his mother she is strangled.

Sasha then appears with a shard of glass (Seen earlier after Ilya had strangled Elena) Harry tells Ruth to move aside and return to the bunker.

But as she tries to stop Sasha advancing towards Harry, he accidentally stabs her with the glass shard before Dimitri shoots him in the leg.

In Series 6, Episode 3, Harry received a letter from 10 Downing Street, informing him that The Queen wished to bestow a knighthood upon him.