Nah, he’s not really. Despite his straight-from-the-70s sideburns and his penchant for calling young women “old girl” and “old thing,” I’m finding I quite like him.
From wikipedia:
The character was originally devised by the production team as a means of handling any action scenes required in episodes when they had envisioned that the new Doctor would be played by an older actor (Sarah even jokingly compares Harry to James Bond at one point). When forty year-old Tom Baker was cast, however, this was no longer a concern and the decision was taken to write Harry out — something producer Philip Hinchcliffe later admitted was probably a mistake, as Harry was a likeable and popular character who worked well with both of his fellow leads.
The excerpt below is shamelessly reproduced (without permission, but with proper credit given) from the November 19, 2007 issue of Time Magazine. The author is Evan Thomas.
