The WORST episodes of Rumpole of the Bailey
Every episode of Rumpole of the Bailey ever, ranked from worst to best by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The worst episodes of Rumpole of the Bailey!
Horace Rumpole (played by the late Leo McKern) is an untidy, ageing London barrister who defends in criminal cases. His clients rarely cut elegant figures. He is fond of red wine, poetry, and fair dealing, and is not looked on as a great success by his wife ('She Who Must Be Obeyed'). Rumpole has had a few triumphs, and the Penge Bungalow murders are often on his mind... Rumpole shares Chambers at Number 3, Equity Court, with a mixed group of barrister colleagues, including Guthrie Featherstone (Peter Bowles) and Phyllida Trant (Patricia Hodge). He also takes pupils - notably Fiona Allways (played by Rosalyn Landor) and Liz Probert. The creator and writer of the series, Sir John Mortimer, received an Edgar Allan Poe Award for crime and mystery for Rumpole.
#1 - Rumpole and the Married Lady
Season 1 - Episode 4 - Aired 4/24/1978
Rumpole defends a woman (Mrs Thripp) in a divorce action brought by her husband, claiming infidelity. She Who Must Be Obeyed (Mrs Rumpole) forms the opinion that her husband has a mistress - with curious results. Meanwhile, the aggrieved Thripp has begun a battle of notes.
#2 - Rumpole and the Family Pride
Season 7 - Episode 5 - Aired 11/26/1992
Rumpole and Hilda are invited for the weekend at a cousin's castle - but when they get there they find their relation faces the charge of murdering a travelling woman and is looking for Rumpole to rally round to help him.
#3 - Rumpole and the Fascist Beast
Season 2 - Episode 4 - Aired 6/19/1979
Rumpole defends Captain Rex Parkin, who is charged with inciting a riot by racist speeches. Rumpole also has a new pupil, one Latif Khan.
#4 - Rumpole and the Course of True Love
Season 2 - Episode 5 - Aired 6/26/1979
Rumpole defends a flamboyanty romantic young schoolteacher who is accused of seducing a pupil. Meanwhile, Rumpole's colleague in chambers Guthrie Featherstone pursues his ambition of becoming a High Court judge, while Phyllida has a secret to keep from a former lover.
#5 - Rumpole and the Age for Retirement
Season 2 - Episode 6 - Aired 7/3/1979
Rumpole defends Percy Timson, a receiver of stolen property who has been framed for the theft of an important painting which is out of his league. Meanwhile, Rumpole's wife and son Nick (who is now a college lecturer in the US) are making plans for Rumpole's retirement in the very near future - to a restful existence in Maryland.
#6 - Rumpole and the Show Folk
Season 2 - Episode 3 - Aired 6/12/1979
Rumpole travels to the north of England and practices his own theatricality in defense of Maggie Hartley, an actress accused of shooting her womanizing husband.
#7 - Rumpole and the Reform of Joby Jonson
Season 7 - Episode 4 - Aired 11/19/1992
Rumpole defends a teenager charged with stealing from old people. Curiously, Rumpole's own apartment is promptly broken into and documents are stolen. Erskine-Brown is in the running again to 'take silk' (become a Queen's Counsel) but the word around the Inns of Court is that he does not have enough 'bottom' and will not make the grade. Phyllida launches a campaign in support of Claude, but can she pull it off?
#8 - Rumpole and the Honourable Member
Season 1 - Episode 3 - Aired 4/17/1978
Rumpole defends Ken Aspen, a politician accused of raping a party worker. The defendant admits there was intercourse but claims it was consensual, and Rumpole believes he has found a strong line of defense.Meanwhile, Rumpole's favorite clerk has been accused of stealing from the petty cash at Number 3, Equity Court...
#9 - Rumpole and the Heavy Brigade
Season 1 - Episode 6 - Aired 5/15/1978
Rumpole is busy defending the youngest son of a family of villains on a murder charge. His client has all the evidence stacked against him, but meanwhile it is Rumpole's battered old bowler which is becoming the focus of bemused attention in chambers and beyond. Hilda has made up her mind that Rumpole is to take her to the Scales of Justice Ball. Perhaps a new hat and an acquittal at the Old Bailey will get him in the mood for dancing?
#10 - Rumpole and the Learned Friends
Season 1 - Episode 5 - Aired 5/1/1978
Guthrie Featherstone, with Rumpole as his junior, defends a safe-cracker who claims to have been framed by the notorious Inspector "Dirty" Dickerson. Rumpole risks his reputation by attacking police corruption before a police-friendly judge - and as a result he finds himself called to a disciplinary hearing. There is even the possibility that Rumpole may be forced to retire, but he digs his toes in.
#11 - Rumpole and the Case of Identity
Season 2 - Episode 2 - Aired 6/5/1979
With the Christmas season in full swing, Rumpole defends Dave Anstey on the charge of stabbing a sales assistant in an off-license. It seems to be a case of mistaken identity, but why does Dave's boss, on whom his alibi depends, change his story and undermine the defense? Meanwhile, Rumpole's Head of Chambers has an attractive new secretary, and starts spending a lot of time with her behind closed doors... When Guthrie Featherstone is seen gyrating at a disco with the girl from the typing pool, Rumpole means to get to the bottom of it all.
#12 - Rumpole and the Eternal Triangle
Season 7 - Episode 3 - Aired 11/12/1992
Rumpole flirts with a beautiful violinist and finds himself reluctantly defending her husband, who is charged with murdering the violinist's musical partner. Meanwhile, Claude Erskine-Brown accuses Henry, the clerk at 3 Equity Court, of sexually harassing a secretary.
#13 - Rumpole and the Barrow Boy
Season 5 - Episode 2 - Aired 11/30/1988
Young Nigel Timson has moved on from the world of East End villainy and is now working in financial services in the City of London. Rumpole is called on to defend Nigel against charges of insider trading. Meanwhile, Henry, the clerk in Rumpole's chambers, is thinking of running off to Australia with Dianne, the typist, and he turns to Rumpole for advice.
#14 - Rumpole at Sea
Season 6 - Episode 4 - Aired 11/18/1991
Without marked enthusiasm, Rumpole takes Hilda on a cruising holiday. He is appalled to learn that a High Court judge, Mr Justice Graves, is also on board, and Rumpole takes cover - but skullduggery aimed at the missing wife of a politician brings him back to the surface.
#15 - Rumpole and the Golden Thread
Season 3 - Episode 2 - Aired 10/18/1983
Rumpole flies to Neranga, in Africa, to defend David Mazenze (his former law pupil) on a charge of murder. Rumpole meets with politcs, tribal hatred, and confusion - and his client seems to have no credible alibi to offer for the time of the murder.
#16 - Rumpole and the Bright Seraphim
Season 4 - Episode 5 - Aired 2/16/1987
Rumpole travels to West Germany to defend a British soldier facing a court-martial charged with the murder of his sergeant.
#17 - Rumpole and the Blind Tasting
Season 4 - Episode 2 - Aired 1/26/1987
Yet another of the Timsons needs Rumpole's services as an advocate, this time to answer charges of fencing stolen liquor. Rumpole accepts Ms Liz Probert - a radical left-wing activist - as a pupil, though not without certain misgivings.
#18 - Rumpole and the Tap End
Season 5 - Episode 4 - Aired 12/14/1988
Rumpole defends Tony Timson on charges of attempted murder - with Tony's wife, April, claiming he tried to drown her - while sexist remarks by Mr Justice Guthrie Featherstone give the press a field day and, more importantly, upset the Lord Chancellor. 'She Who Must Be Obeyed' decides it's time for her to begin her own career in the legal profession.
#19 - Rumpole and the Age of Miracles
Season 5 - Episode 3 - Aired 12/7/1988
Rumpole defends his clergyman nephew in an ecclesiastical court, against charges of adultery - of which the bishop takes a dim view. Rumpole's colleagues Ballard and Erskine-Brown appear for the prosecution.
#20 - Rumpole and the Sporting Life
Season 3 - Episode 5 - Aired 11/8/1983
Rumpole gets out into rural England when Fiona Allways persuades him to defend her sister Jennifer, charged with murdering her skirt-chasing husband.
#21 - Rumpole and the Summer of Discontent
Season 6 - Episode 2 - Aired 11/4/1991
Before Mr Justice Guthrie Featherstone, Rumpole defends a trade unionist on charges of recklessly causing the death of a truck-driver who was crossing a union picket-line. Guthrie is thinking about a strike of his own, to hit back at new rights of audience for mere solicitors in court. Meanwhile, chez Rumpole, Hilda declares she is going on strike herself.
#22 - Rumpole and the Quality of Life
Season 5 - Episode 6 - Aired 12/28/1988
Rumpole defends Lady Perdita Derwent, charged with the murder of her elderly husband. Meanwhile, Ms Liz Probert complains of anti-gay discrimination at number 3, Equity Court, and the portly Rumpole suffers from a strict diet imposed by She Who Must Be Obeyed.
#23 - Rumpole and the Quacks
Season 6 - Episode 5 - Aired 11/25/1991
Rumpole defends his own doctor, charged with sexually molesting a woman patient - and Rumpole's friend Phyllida is counsel for the prosecution. Claude Erskine-Brown is in hot water when Phyllida comes to believe he is advertising for women friends in an under-the-counter magazine.
#24 - Rumpole and the Man of God
Season 2 - Episode 1 - Aired 5/29/1979
Rumpole defends a vicar who is charged with stealing three shirts from a department store, but the troubled clergyman refuses to take the stand in his own defense. George Frobisher, who is in line to be appointed as a Circuit Judge, comes to dinner with the Rumpoles and introduces his new girlfriend. Rumpole remembers seeing her in court and advises his friend to think again.
#25 - Rumpole and Portia
Season 5 - Episode 5 - Aired 12/21/1988
Rumpole defends Stanley Culp, a scrap dealer, on charges of selling arms to terrorists. The case comes before a newly appointed Recorder - Phyllida Erskine-Brown.