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
Julian Amyes Korea" (1956), and the Emeric Pressburger-written "Miracle in Soho" (1957). After 1977, he returned to directing predominantly in television directing (amongst other works) adaptations of "The Old Curiosity Shop" (1979), "Great Expectations" (1981) and "Jane Eyre" (1983) for the BBC. Amyes also worked on a number of independent productions, before acting as director on episodes of "The Bill" (1990) and "Rumpole of the Bailey" (1989–91) for Thames Television. He was married to the actress/writer Anne Allan. They had two children; Sebastian a Professor at the University of Edinburgh and Isabelle, an Actress. Julian Amyes died of a stroke in 1992.