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
Robin Bailey Robin Bailey William Henry Mettam "Robin" Bailey (5 October 1919 – 14 January 1999) was an English actor. He was born in Hucknall, Nottinghamshire. Although often chosen for upper class and tradition-bound roles such as Mr Justice Graves in Thames Television's "Rumpole of the Bailey", Bailey is perhaps most fondly remembered for his portrayal of Uncle Mort in "I Didn't Know You Cared", the BBC's adaptation of Peter Tinniswood's stories about an extended Yorkshire family. The television series ran from 1975 to 1979, and is available on DVD. Bailey continued to play Uncle Mort in a series of radio programmes.