Patrick started out as a propman working on the films of Danny Boyle, Terence Davies, Derek Jarman and Bill Forsyth among others. It was while working on Life is Sweet that Mike Leigh encouraged him to become a director. Using begged and stolen 35mm stock, he made his first short The Last Ten Minutes starring Robert Carlyle. It ran in selected cinemas along with Shallow Grave.
He continued to make award-winning shorts and travelled with them to festivals around the world, before directing his first feature, The Final Curtain, for DNA/Universal, starring Peter O’Toole, Aidan Gillen and Adrian Lester.
In television, Patrick has extensive series experience, including ITV’s noir/cop show Taggart, BBC’s Sea of Souls and Waterloo Road.
Patrick opened The A-List for Kindle/BBC (nominated for a Broadcast Award and International Kidscreen Award 2020) before directing Tim Roth, Genevieve O’Reilly and Ian Hart in episode two Tin Star: Liverpool (Series 3) for Kudos/Sky.
He directed both Series Two and Three of the Award-winning Guilt starring Mark Bonnar, Jamie Sives and Phyllis Logan, and the opening 3 episodes of Happy Valley S3. Patrick is currently directing all six episodes of The Gold S2 for BBC One.
Patrick Harkins is represented by Frances Arnold