Rumpole of the Bailey (radio series) Christmas season in different years Featuring Timothy West as Rumpole. Produced by Pam Fraser Solomon. First broadcast: December 1996 Featuring Leo McKern as Rumpole. Abridged and directed by Bob Sinfield. Produced by Ken Phillips. First broadcast: 30 December 1997 Featuring Desmond Barrit as Rumpole. First broadcast: 25 December 2001 Rumpole of the Bailey (radio series) Rumpole of the Bailey is a radio series created and written by the British writer and barrister John Mortimer based on the television series "Rumpole of the Bailey". Five different actors portrayed Horace Rumpole in these episodes: Leo McKern, Maurice Denham, Timothy West, Benedict Cumberbatch,
Rumpole of the Bailey Ground Staff in WWII; married Hilda in approximately 1944; won the Penge Bungalow Murder case in 1947; and had his son Nick in 1951. The series itself takes place between 1967 and 1992, when Rumpole is getting on in years. Within the ecosystem of the many short stories and occasional novels, which were written over a 29-year period (1978–2007), Rumpole's biographical details fluctuated. For example, in the first book, published in 1978, Rumpole mentions buying his wig in 1932, and another time to proposing to Hilda in 1938, and his "sixty-eight next birthday". In "Rumpole and the Fascist Beast" it