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
Josh Bailey first goal in the league on January 2, 2009, against Ilya Bryzgalov of the Phoenix Coyotes. After a strong start to the 2010–11 season, he was injured; upon returning, he had no points in a 13-game stretch, prompting the Islanders to send Bailey to their American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Bridgeport Sound Tigers, in late November after Bailey had played 159 games in the NHL, one game before Bailey would have had to clear waivers to be sent down to the AHL, which starts at 160 NHL games. Bailey played 11 games in the AHL and scored six goals