Rumpole of the Bailey public school) and studied law at either Keble College or the fictional "St Joseph's College", Oxford, coming away with "a dubious third". He would not be eligible to be called to the Bar in England today, as a lower second is the minimum requirement. He was called to the bar at the "Outer Temple" (a fictional Inn of Court, named on the analogy of the Inner Temple, where John Mortimer was called, and the Middle Temple). Apart from the legal drama in each story, Rumpole also has to deal with his relationships with family and friends. His wife Hilda was
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.