Harry Potter influences and analogues Potter" involve an average eleven-year-old, better at sport than academic study, who is sent to boarding school. Upon arrival, the boy gains a best friend (in Tom's case, East, in Harry's case, Ron Weasley) who helps him adjust to the new environment. They are set upon by an arrogant bully – in Tom Brown's case, Harry Flashman, in Harry's case Draco Malfoy. Stephen Fry, who both narrates the British audio adaptations of the "Harry Potter" novels and has starred in a screen adaptation of "Tom Brown", has commented many times about the similarities between the two books. "Harry Potter –
Tom, Dick and Harry In 1948, the Cole Porter musical "Kiss Me, Kate" premiered on Broadway. The show featured the song "Tom, Dick or Harry". The three escape tunnels used by allied POWs in the famous Stalag Luft III escape were named "Tom, Dick, and Harry" by the POWs. This nomenclature was carried over to the film "The Great Escape", which portrayed the event. Tom, Dick and Harry The phrase "Tom, Dick and Harry" is a placeholder for multiple unspecified people; "Tom, Dick or Harry" plays the same role for "one" unspecified person. The phrase most commonly occurs as "every Tom, Dick and Harry",