Rumpole of The Bailey
 Rumpole
of the Bailey, a mix of British courtroom comedy and drama,
aired on the UK's Thames Television in 1978.
The program also made a successful transatlantic voyage and was
popular on the American PBS Network.
All episodes featured the court cases of Horace Rumpole
(Australian actor Leo McKern), a short, round, perennially
exasperating, shrewd but lovable defence barrister.
His clients were often caught in social conflicts - A father
accused of devil worship; a gay newspaper sued for blasphemous
libel; a forger of Victorian photographs who briefly fooled the
National Portrait Gallery; a pornographic publisher etc.
Rumpole's deep commitment to justice led him to wholeheartedly
defend hopeless cases and the spirit of the law, as opposed to his
fellow barristers who stubbornly defended the letter of the law.
Rumpole was given to frequent outbursts from the Oxford Book
of English Verse and managed to aim the elegant passages at
upper-class hypocritical trumpeters, buffoons and other
barristers, and prosecution inspiring justices.
He constantly commented on the phenomenon of "judgitis"
- which he maintained "like piles, is an occupational hazard
on the bench." His suggested cure? Banishment to the golf
course!
 Rumpole was married to Hilda (played at various times by Joyce
Heron, Peggy Thorpe-Bates, and Marion Mathie), who he called
"She Who Must Be Obeyed."
Even though Hilda (whose
father was head of chambers) aspired for a more prestigious
position for her husband and a more luxurious life-style for
herself, she always supported her husband's brand of justice
rather than that sought by egotistical or social climbing royal
counsels.
Rumpole loved to lampoon his fellow colleagues ("a group
of twits") including the dithery and pompous Claude Erskine-Brown,
the full of himself Samuel Ballard, and the variety of dour judges
who presided in court - The bumbling Justice Guthrie Featherstone,
the blustering "mad bull" Justice Bullingham, the
serious and heartless Justice Graves, and the almost kindly
Justice "Ollie" Oliphant.
Among Rumpole's colleagues he favoured the savvy and stylish
Phillida Neetrant Erskine-Brown (Patricia Hodge),and the endearing
Uncle Tom, an octogenarian waiting to have the good sense to
retire while practising his putting in chambers.
John Mortimer (the creator of the Rumpole stories)
called upon both his 36 years of experiences as Queen's Counsel
and his life with his father, a blind divorce lawyer. Many of
Rumpole's character traits are shared by Mortimer himself - He
adores good food, enjoys a bottle of claret before dinner, loves
Dickens, and fights for liberal causes.
Sadly, Leo McKern died on 23 July 2002, aged 82.
EPISODES
Rumpole & the Younger Generation | Rumpole & the
Alternative Society | Rumpole & the Honourable Member |
Rumpole & the Married Lady | Rumpole & the Learned Friends
| Rumpole & the Heavy Brigade | Rumpole & the Man of God |
Rumpole & the Case of Identity | Rumpole & the Showfolk |
Rumpole & the Fascist Beast | Rumpole & the Course of True
Love | Rumpole & the Age for Retirement | Rumpole's Return |
Rumpole & the Genuine Article | Rumpole & the Golden
Thread | Rumpole & the Old Boy Net | Rumpole & the Female
of the Species | Rumpole & the Sporting Life | Rumpole &
the Last Resort | Rumpole & the Old, Old Story | Rumpole &
the Blind Tasting | Rumpole & the Official Secret | Rumpole
& the Judge's Elbow | Rumpole & the Bright Seraphim |
Rumpole's Last Case | Rumpole & the Bubble Reputation |
Rumpole & the Barrow Boy | Rumpole & the Age of Miracles |
Rumpole & the Tap End | Rumpole & Portia | Rumpole &
the Quality of Life | Rumpole a la Carte | Rumpole & the
Summer of Discontent | Rumpole & the Right to Silence |
Rumpole at Sea | Rumpole & the Quacks | Rumpole for the
Prosecution | Rumpole & the Children of the Devil | Rumpole
& the Miscarriage of Justice | Rumpole & the Eternal
Triangle | Rumpole & the Reform of Joby Jonson | Rumpole &
the Family Pride | Rumpole on Trial
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