Rumpole of the Bailey

Over the past decade I've watched The Sopranos, The Wire, Breaking Bad and The West Wing.

Rumpole stands alongside them as classic TV.

Great stories, brilliant scripts and fantastic acting.

It has that mark of a really great piece of drama in that after watching an hour long episode, I'll sit and discuss it for an hour more.

It's amazing to see, almost 40 years later, how much has changed in the UK....and how much hasn't! It may be dated in a few places, but it's universal in many many more....I imagine that it cost less to make EVERY episode of Rumpole (and there are lots!) than it did to make one episode of Breaking Bad or West Wing.

Just go watch it!

Rumpole, a barrister spewing poetry and thunder and husband of She-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed, entertains with a unique style of oratory, wit, and his own particular slant on the world. In a world drowning in political correctness, Rumpole is a life saver. Rumpole is also one of my favorite of all time characters. The stories and supporting cast are refreshingly British and the entire series is an absolute delight! I'm so pleased this was finally released on dvd.

Rumpole is an endearing character full of vim and vigor, as they say. despite his casual appearance and his well worn hat, he is a master of the courtroom and a defender of peoples rights to the end.

His little monologues in his mind are both entertaining and educational as he dispenses his thoughts as he walks to the Bailey or as he listens to the prosecutor drone on and on. His dry wit is at times so subtle that I occasionally back up the DVD to listen to his comments again. And I enjoy how most of the other characters don't seem to understand him.

While this show is a lesser known show outside the UK and the legal circles, it is worth sitting down and watching. You may find yourself doing the anti-binge watching as we do - doling out 1 episode at a time because we know there is only a limited number to be watched. We are into season 2 now.

I saw 16 or so episodes of this show a long time ago, but the memories of it are enduring. While the show's tone was humorous, the legal drama was as intense and as interesting as anything on American TV. Leo McKern's Rumpole is funny and charming, but with a serious sense of vocation underneath that Falstaffian bulk. He's been sort of a hero of mine ever since. I hope PBS will re-air this series, or BBC America will air the unedited, unabridged Rumpole in the not-too-distant future.

Rarely has television fit a role and an actor together as perfectly as Rumpole and Leo McKern. (A couple of other examples would be Vic Morrow in "Combat!" and Derek Jacobi in "I, Cladius".) The singular pleasure these episodes afford is watching McKern act as the mildly cynical, but resolutely libertarian, barrister. It is easy to see why McKern came to loathe playing the part since it is the ultimate case of typecasting. One can less think of McKern sans Rumpole than he can Connery sans Bond. Better to rewatch Rumpole than the colorless blather on Court TV.

The scripts and additional cast are good enough to make repeated watching of McKern worthwhile.