Horace Rumpole
| Rumpole of the Bailey | |
|---|---|
Caricature of Leo McKern as Horace Rumpole from the episode "Rumpole and the Younger Generation"
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| Genre | Drama |
| Created by | John Mortimer |
| Starring | Leo McKern |
| Theme music composer | Joseph Horovitz |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of series | 7 |
| No. of episodes | 44 |
| Production | |
| Running time | c. 50 minute episodes |
| Production company(s) |
BBC (play) Thames Television (series) |
| Distributor | FremantleMedia (since 2002) |
| Release | |
| Original network |
BBC 1 (play) ITV (series) |
| Picture format | 4:3 PAL 576i |
| First shown in | 17 December 1975 (Play for Today) |
| Original release | 3 April 1978 – 3 December 1992 |
Rumpole of the Bailey was a British television series created and written by the British writer and barrister John Mortimer. It starred Leo McKern as Horace Rumpole, an elderly London barrister who defended a broad variety of clients, often underdogs. The TV series led to the stories being presented in other media including books and radio.
The "Bailey" of the title is a reference to the Central Criminal Court, the "Old Bailey".
While certain biographical details are slightly different in the original television series and the subsequent book series, Horace Rumpole has a number of definite character traits that are constant. First and foremost, 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, such as a Queen's Counsel (QC) or a Circuit Judge (sarcastically referred to as "Queer Customers" and "Circus Judges" by Rumpole), he only enjoys the simple pleasure of defending his clients (who are often legal aid cases) at the Old Bailey, London's Central Criminal Court: "the honour of being an Old Bailey Hack," as he describes his work. A devotee of Arthur Quiller-Couch's Oxford Book of English Verse, he often quotes Wordsworth (and other poets less frequently, e.g. Shakespeare). He privately refers to his wife Hilda as "She Who Must Be Obeyed", a reference to the fearsome queen in the adventure novel She by H. Rider Haggard.
His skill at defending his clients is legendary among the criminal classes. The Timson clan of "minor villains" (primarily thieves) regularly rely on Rumpole to get them out of their latest bit of trouble with the law. Rumpole is proud of his successful handling of the Penge Bungalow Murders "alone and without a leader" (that is, as a "junior" barrister without a QC) early in his career and of his extensive knowledge about bloodstains and typewriters. Cross-examination is one of his favourite activities, and he disdains barristers who lack either the skill or courage to ask the right questions. His courtroom zeal gets him into trouble from time to time. Often, his investigations reveal more than his client wants him to know. Rumpole's most chancy encounters stem from arguing with judges, particularly those who seem to believe that being on trial implies guilt or that the police are infallible.
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Wikipedia