Harry's Game

Harry's Game (1982)

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Harry's Game is a three-part British TV mini-series that ran on ITV in 1982. It starred Ray Lonnen as the titular character, Captain Harry Brown, a special operator sent to Belfast, Northern Ireland to hunt down a Provisional Irish Republican Army assassin named Billy Downes (Derek Thompson) responsible for killing a British cabinet minister. The series is probably best known today for its theme song, sung by Clannad (which was later re-used in the film Patriot Games).

The following guns were used in this series:

(OK, I seriously need to give this page a re-vamp. There were WAY more guns in this movie than the AK and the AR-18. If I find the DVD, I'm going to get some screencaps of the British soldiers' FALS and L1A1s, the S&W Hand Ejector and Model 36 which Harry used, and the RUC inspector's Astra 400.) -MT2008

Norinco Type 56-1

A Norinco Type 56-1 assault rifle (Chinese version of the AKS-47/AKMS) is used by the PIRA assassin Billy Downes (Derek Thompson) when he kills a British cabinet minister outside his home in London. The weapon's folding stock makes it easy for him to conceal it beneath his raincoat while he is waiting for his target to appear. After completing his mission and evading capture, Downes ditches the AK in a bathroom stall at a train station before boarding a bus to Heathrow Airport.

(It should be pointed out that while the PIRA did use AKs in real life, they were mostly Romanian and East German versions supplied to them by Libya and the Soviet Union, not Chinese versions.) The P.I.R.A. never got East German AKs from the Soviets.

Norinco Type 56-1 (AKS-47/AKMS clone) 7.62x39mm

Billy Downes aims his Norinco Type 56-1 assault rifle in a publicity still (this photo was used to create the DVD cover, above).

Downes loading a magazine into his Norinco after sighting his target.

Downes' finger on the trigger of his Type 56-1 (this image is also seen in the music video for Clannad's song "Theme From Harry's Game").

Armalite AR-18

Another weapon which the IRA assassin Billy Downes (Derek Thompson) uses throughout the show is the Armalite AR-18 (it is likely that this is the British Sterling-made version, since the series was filmed in England). In real life, the AR-18 was a favorite weapon of the Provisional IRA in the 1970s and 1980s due to its light weight, reliability, and folding stock - Downes takes advantage of the latter characteristic by concealing his AR-18 beneath his winter jacket. He uses the weapon on several missions - first to kill a British soldier patrolling the Falls Road in Belfast, and later to hold the wife of an RUC officer hostage in her own home.

Armalite AR-18 5.56mm

Billy Downes aims his Armalite AR-18 at a British soldier from the attic of a building.

Downes points his AR-18 at a Protestant family he is holding hostage.

Another view of Downes with his AR-18 during the hostage-taking mission.

S&W Mk II Hand Ejector

It appears that Capt. Harry Brown (Ray Lonnen) uses a Smith & Wesson Mk II Hand Ejector in .455 Ely at one point in the story. The demands of WWI were so great that Webley couldn't produce the Webley Mk VI revolver fast enough, so the Mk II Hand Ejector filled in. The revolver was manufactured for England by S&W from 1915-1917. It was a large-framed revolver and had a 5.5" barrel.

455. Eley Caliber S&W Mk II Hand Ejector