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
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