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
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