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
Rumpole of the Bailey (radio series) 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2012. In the latter two mini-seasons (2010 and 2012) there were also actors – Benedict Cumberbatch and Jasmine Hyde – portraying the "young Rumpole" and "young Hilda". 2014 – 2015 – In this period there were two mini-seasons – a total of six episodes featuring Benedict Cumberbatch and Jasmine Hyde reprising their roles as "young" Rumpole and Hilda (these episodes did not feature West and Scales as the present-day Rumpoles). 2016 – In this period there were two mini-series – a total of four episodes with Julian Rhind-Tutt taking over the role of Rumpole