Rumpole of the Bailey interest in nineteenth-century anarchists, especially the Russian Peter Kropotkin from whom the title of the play was drawn. The character's name was later changed to Horace Rumpole when it was discovered that there was a real barrister called Horace Rumbold. The title of the play was briefly changed to "Jolly Old Jean Jacques Rousseau" before settling on the less esoteric "Rumpole of the Bailey". Mortimer was keen on Michael Hordern for the role of Rumpole. When Hordern proved unavailable, the part went to Australian-born actor Leo McKern. Mortimer was initially unenthusiastic about McKern's casting but changed his opinion upon seeing
Mark Pegg (actor) Mark Pegg (actor) Mark Pegg is a British actor and film producer. He first came to prominence as Detective Constable Tony Weir in the BBC production Our Friends in the North and has since appeared in many television and stage productions, including Frank Hauser's Chichester Festival Theatre's 1995 production of Hobson's Choice with Leo McKern.<ref name="http://www.cft.org.uk/1995"></ref> He trained at the Academy of Live and Recorded Arts in London. In 2006, he produced the feature film Heroes and Villains which starred James Corden and Jenny Agutter,<ref name="http://www.screendaily.com"></ref> and in 2007 he was the Executive Producer on Stuart Urban's Tovarisch, I Am