Making It Happen

Empire

Highly charged face-offs between law and anarchy….. Compelling.

Screen Jabber

Despite the '70s setting, Harrigan’s no macho cartoon like Gene Hunt, he’s a compassionate man with a fierce social conscience ... Tompkinson’s innate humanity and soulfulness lending Harrigan heart as well as steel. Conway’s Dunston the type of thoroughly creepy small town psycho you never want to jostle in a pub. Moodily directed by Woods and written by former police detective McKenzie, who brings a gritty authenticity to the piece, there are obvious parallels between the economic wasteland of the '70s and the mess we’re currently in, the ashes of Call-Me Dave’s Big Society as cold and inhospitable as the Winter of Discontent. While the film at times betrays its small screen origins, Harrigan is a tough, no-nonsense little thriller that punches above its weight a lot like its protagonist.

Hey U Guys

Certainly a captivating piece of cinema – with a real classic British drama feel about it. Tompkinson excels. Not only does he have a well crafted character to work with, but he brings the perfect amount of stern brutality to the role, while remaining likeable and vulnerable throughout. At times he appears infallible and hard as nails, and at other points he is calm and pensive, as his age and pending retirement comes into play.

The Upcoming

Filmed in Newcastle-upon-Tyne there is no question about the film’s locational authenticity, and there can be no doubt that when it comes to nitty-gritty police dramas, no one does them as well as the British.  All in all Harrigan is an entertaining watch.

Barbara Hodgson – Newcastle Journal

It would be a crime not to see more of Detective Harrigan. This stylish debut feature links a series of storylines that feel uncomfortably real, although much of the violence is kept out of shot.

Georgina McAlister - Filmland Empire

Sharp and brutal, Harrigan is a crime thriller set in 1974, in Newcastle. Like a strong punch to your gut, this film will hold you captive and take you back on a journey to a destitute 70's

Sunday People

Stephen Tompkinson lights up this dark and melancholy thriller. With a strong sense of its own identity, the well structured script provides tension and a violent finale.

Britflicks

The first thing that strikes the viewer about police drama, ‘Harrigan’ is the ‘faithful old 70’s look’ the film has been given. Arthur McKenzie’s writing is intelligent and insightful throughout. ‘Harrigan’ deserves to do well on the strength of its writing and character portrayal alone.

Dog and Wolf

There are some extravagant scenes, almost operatic in their excess, such as the Amazing Grace intoned bloody murder of a police grass, or the knife-brandishing fervour of a scab father pushed to the brink. Great performances from the film’s leads.

Sight & Sound

Woods keeps it compulsively watchable thanks to well chosen locations, James McAleer’s Scope camerawork and a keen awareness of the situation’s visual and dramatic potential. Stephen Tompkinson is wholly convincing as the greying, outwardly hard as nails Harrigan. His sensitive resolution of a hostage situation involving seven foot Ronnie pays dividends in the siege driven climax. If the latter shamelessly steals from Assault On Precinct 13, John Carpenter in turn borrowed from Rio Bravo, and it’s not hard to imagine Harrigan being convincingly relocated to a Wyoming frontier town, lock, stock and still-smoking barrel.

Close-Up Film

Tompkinson is solid and likeable in the title role and there’s a very spirited performance from veteran Maurice Roëves as Billy, Harrigan’s best mate from the olden days. The very effective climax, where Harrigan and his team are besieged in the newly opened police station he has set up in the gang’s territory, is reminiscent of John Carpenter’s urban western, Assault on Precinct 13. The film is also disturbingly but justifiably violent in places. If Tompkinson were prepared to commit to another long term police role after DCI Banks. The character of Harrigan certainly has enough meat in it to carry such a series.