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The Debut of One of the Most Memorable Courtroom Characters of All Time
Witness the birth of British barrister Horace Rumpole, who emerges in all his claret-quaffing, cheroot-smoking glory in this original BBC television play created three years before the launch of the long-running Rumpole series. Hear his first utterances of the wifely sobriquet "She who must be obeyed," his first recitations of Wordsworth in the loo, and his first cynical musings about the nature of justice - until now lost to television history.
Writing a segment for the series Play for Today, John Mortimer created an Old Bailey "hack," a career, trial lawyer at London's central court fashioned after the crusty gents he had encountered during his own legal career. Embodied by distinguished actor Leo McKern Rumpole faces an open-and-shut-case, which he plans to wrap up by noon But once Rumpole discerns the telling secret of his teenage client, he smells victory and mounts a full-on defense. This entertaining and thought-provoking drama is a perfect jewel in itself as well as the genesis of a legend.
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