Rumpole writer dies

Sir John Mortimer, writer and creator of Rumpole of the Bailey, has passed away at the age of 85.

Sir John Mortimer has passed away at the age of 85 following a long illness, he is probably best known for creating and writing the long-running court-drama series Rumpole of the Bailey. Mortimer drew from his experience as a barrister, in the 1940s, when creating the drama series. Rumpole of the Bailey originally started life as a “Play for Today” in 1975 but BBC bosses saw potential in the one-off play and so approached Mortimer to write more stories concerning Rumpole, the barrister of the piece. However, while more scripts where commissioned the series fell out of favour with new BBC bosses and so Verity Lambert, at Thames Television, snapped up the series. The part of Rumpole was played by Leo McKern. Aside from writing Rumpole of the Bailey Mortimer also wrote radio plays and other television plays and novels as well.