Rumpole of the Bailey

You may have heard of the British TV series Rumpole of the Bailey starring Leo McKern.  It's about a British barrister from London who defends all manner of clients and never pleads guilty.  Rumpole is such a fun and interesting character that a series of books followed the show which was created by John Mortimer, who was an actual barrister.  I haven't read any of the books yet but we did enjoy the first season of the TV series which takes place from 1978 and 1992.  Leo McKern is a great actor and Horace Rumpole is a fun character. He refers to himself as "the Old Bailey hack."  In the show Rumpole always refers to his wife as "She Who Must be Obeyed"!

The Old Bailey is the name of the the Central Criminal Court of England which is located in London.  It's called the Old Bailey because of the street on which it stands.  The public is allowed in to observe the trials which can be major criminal cases.  The judges still wear those powered wigs as shown in the Rumpole series. 

When we were in London we thought we would go to the Old Bailey to see if there were any interesting trials going on.  It took us awhile to find the place and when we arrived it was almost time for lunch so they said we should come back.  We didn't have a chance to do that but I did have my picture taken in front of the Old Bailey.

The Old Bailey