Rumpole of the Bailey (radio series) 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, and Julian Rhind-Tutt. Since 1980 there were a number of different BBC radio productions derived from the Rumpole stories. Essentially there were two different series and three Christmas specials – yielding a grand total of 40 episodes. Some were new radio adaptations of scripts previously produced for TV; some
Out of the Unknown commission a full series of "Out of the Unknown" scripts before moving on to "The Wednesday Play" and handing "Out of the Unknown" over to a new production team. At the same time, Michael Imison also moved on to produce "Thirty Minute Theatre". Shubik went on to become a noted television producer of series such as "Play for Today", "Playhouse" and "Rumpole of the Bailey" and instigated, but did not produce, the acclaimed adaptation of "The Jewel in the Crown". For series three, Shubik commissioned dramatisations of stories by Robert Sheckley ("Immortality, Inc."); Isaac Asimov ("Liar!" and "The Naked Sun"