Rumpole of the Bailey
Rumpole of the Bailey is a television series created and written by British writer John Mortimer, QC and starring Leo McKern as Horace Rumpole, an aging London barrister who defends clients. It has been spun off into a series of short stories (and one novel, adapting a Rumpole telemovie), and a radio series.Rumpole loves the courtroom. Despite attempts by his friends and family to get him to move on to a more respectable position for his age, he only enjoys the simple pleasure of defending his clients at The Old Bailey, London's criminal court. He often quotes Wordsworth and secretly calls his wife Hilda "She Who Must Be Obeyed". The stories combine Rumpole's humor with mystery and drama.
Rumpole's first television appearance was in a 1975 BBC One play with Leo McKern in the title role. The BBC was not interested in developing the play into a series, but in 1978 it transferred to ITV as an hour-long Thames Television production with McKern returning to the role and Peggy Thorpe-Bates as Hilda. Other regular cast members included Patricia Hodge, Peter Bowles, Julian Curry and Richard Murdoch.
Each season (seven in all, plus a television movie) was accompanied by a book adaptation, also written by John Mortimer. Although the television series ended in 1992, the books have continued, now containing original stories.
In the autumn of 2003 BBC Radio 4 broadcast four new 45-minute Rumpole plays by Mortimer, starring Timothy West as Rumpole and his wife Prunella Scales as Hilda.
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