Rumpole rebooted – iconic series to return with female lead
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Lily James
Credit: Eva Rinaldi, CC BY-SA 2.0
Rumpole of the Bailey is to make a return – albeit in a form easier on the eyes.
The famous series is being revived three decades after Leo McKern’s last closing speech at the Old Bailey. The series was created by Sir John Mortimer, whose daughter, Emily, is updating it for modern times.
The Mail on Sunday has reported that Lily James and Keeley Hawes are in the running for the lead role. Ms James recently starred in The Pursuit of Love, which Ms Mortimer wrote and directed.
The latest figures from the Bar Standards Board indicate that women make up 38 per cent of the profession in England and Wales.
It is understood that the show will be broadcast next year, though it is not clear on which station. The original show was based in part on Sir John’s own experiences as a barrister.
He was called to the bar in 1948, at the age of 25 and took silk in 1966. In 1968, he succeeded in an appeal against conviction on behalf of John Calder and Marion Boyars for publishing Hubert Selby Jr.’s Last Exit to Brooklyn. He retired from the bar in 1984.
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