Old Bailey Hack: An Unofficial Guide to Rumpole

by David Ryan

A critical journey through the chambers of a TV legend

"The answer is blood." With those four words in 1979, a ten-year-old David Ryan discovered what lawyers really do. Decades later, as a reporter covering real-life court cases, he found himself returning again and again to John Mortimer's the rumpled, poetry-quoting, cigar-smoking barrister who defended with devastating wit and vigour.

This comprehensive study chronicles Rumpole's evolution from experimental BBC play to national treasure and beyond. Through meticulous episode analysis, production research, and candid interviews with cast members, Ryan reveals how a fictional Old Bailey hack became a cultural icon who influenced real lawyers and charmed audiences worldwide.

The evidence
• The complete television 44 episodes across seven series dissected
• Leo McKern's reluctant embrace of his most famous role
• Behind-the-scenes battles, budget constraints, and creative triumphs
• John Mortimer's parallel literary universe of short stories and novels
• Radio's remarkable renaissance with Timothy West and Benedict Cumberbatch
• Why American lawyers formed Rumpole societies and quoted him in the OJ Simpson trial

More than nostalgia, this is cultural archaeology – excavating the social attitudes, legal controversies, and television landscape that shaped Rumpole's world.

David Ryan is a British journalist and author whose previous work, George Orwell on Screen, was among the Times Literary Supplement's books of the year. He has written about culture for The Spectator, UnHerd and Spiked, and lives in County Durham.

300 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 14, 2025

About the author

Born in 1968, David Ryan grew up in Hartlepool, northeast England, the third and youngest child of a working-class family. After three miserable years studying for a physics degree, he decided to become a reporter instead. With a journalism school's prize for best student under his belt, he then worked on papers in Northumberland, Hampshire and Essex, winning more awards in the process. In 1999, he joined the Highbury & Islington Express (the High&I), when the gentrified London borough of Islington was a byword for Tony Blair's government. Working for the upmarket Ham&High series, he hurled himself into London's cultural scene, interviewing the likes of Ryan Gosling (then an unknown 20-year-old) and Boris Johnson (who'd just been hired as editor of The Spectator). He went freelance in 2001, in part so he could travel more; to date, he has visited about 70 countries. His first book, George Orwell on Screen, was one of the Times Literary Supplement's books of the year in 2018. On the strength of this book, the Criterion Collection interviewed him for its DVD/Blu-ray of Michael Radford's film 1984. He's not sure which is more thrilling, being a published author or being a DVD extra.

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