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
William Frederick Bailey William Frederick Bailey William Frederick Bailey CB PC (9 February 1857 – 16 April 1917), was an Irish lawyer and writer. Bailey was born in Castletown, Conyers, County Limerick, Ireland. He was educated in Trinity College, Dublin, and called to the Irish Bar in 1881. He practised on the Munster Circuit and was Barrington lecturer in Political Economy TCD and Extern in English for the Intermediate Education Board. Bailey was one of the Secretaries to the Royal Commission on Irish Published Works (1880), Legal Assistant to the Commissioners under the Purchase of Land (Ireland) Act 1885 and Secretary to the