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
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"