Irene Shubik plays Shubik had produced for "Play for Today" was John Mortimer’s “Rumpole of the Bailey” (broadcast 17 December 1975), starring Leo McKern as the eponymous barrister. McKern had greatly enjoyed playing the role and had indicated it was a part he would be interested in returning to. Shubik commissioned six new "Rumpole" scripts from John Mortimer with a view to making a series but a change of senior personnel in the BBC led to the project being put on hold. In late 1976, Shubik departed the BBC for Thames Television and brought the "Rumpole" scripts with her. Shubik produced the
The Cruise (TV series) The Cruise (TV series) The Cruise is a BBC observational documentary series directed by Chris Terrill. The series of 12 programmes followed a group of staff on board the luxury cruise ship "Galaxy" as it sailed the Caribbean on its maiden voyage. The first episode, "Let the Dream Begin", aired at 8pm on 13 January 1998. The series was highly popular, attracting 10.39 million viewers (41 per cent audience share). It made a celebrity of Jane McDonald, a cruise ship entertainer on "Galaxy", who went on to become a recording artist and television presenter. In August 2008, BBC Two broadcast