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 1980 (65 minutes and 103 minutes respectively) that aired outside of the regular seasons but that are considered part of the overall Rumpole television canon. The seven seasons of the programme and the "Rumpole's Return" special episode are available on DVD and as part of a single DVD box set, published by Fremantle Media. The "Play for Today" ("The Confession of Guilt") is also available on DVD, released separately by Acorn Media. A&E Home Video released the entire series on DVD in Region 1 between 2004–2006. It was initially released in season sets then on 28 February 2006, they released