Rumpole of the Bailey debut on 17 December 1975 to good reviews by the critics. Aware of the potential for further stories centred on Rumpole, Irene Shubik approached the BBC's Head of Plays, Christopher Morahan, and obtained permission from him to commission a further six "Rumpole of the Bailey" scripts from John Mortimer. However, Morahan left his post at the BBC a short time later and his successor was not interested in turning "Rumpole of the Bailey" into a series. At around this time, Shubik was contacted by Verity Lambert, Head of Drama at Thames Television, who was looking for ideas for an up-market
Anne Howard Bailey audience that we had, we will be shifting back. For "General Hospital" Bailey notably created such characters as Frisco Jones, Dr. Tony Jones, and Felicia Jones. She also was the head writer for NBC's "Santa Barbara" between 1987-1989 for which she won a Daytime Emmy Award in her final year with the program. Bailey also wrote for primetime television including work for "Bonanza", "Moment of Truth", "Beacon Hill", and "87th Precinct". She also worked as a story editor for "The Adams Chronicles". As an opera librettist, Bailey wrote librettos for four works. Her first opera libretto was for Leonard Kastle's