Rumpole of the Bailey
A Chronological List of the Stories
Alternative titles for radio
Many stories were adapted for the various BBC radio drama series. The radio series titles are given with notes to the titles of the printed stories. Only in the case of The Perils of the Sea was a radio title the original iteration.
A list of the broadcast order of the various radio series can be seen at the WikiPedia site at this link.
1980
The Defence of Guthrie Featherstone
• Adapted from the 1979 print story: Rumpole and the Case of Identity
The Perils of the Sea
• Adapted to print in 1981 as: Rumpole and the Boat People
2012
Rumpole and the Explosive Evidence
• Adapted from the 1978 print story: Rumpole and the Learned Friends
2014
Rumpole and the Portia of Our Chambers
• Adapted from the 1988 print story: Rumpole and Portia
Rumpole and The Sleeping Partners
• Adapted from the 1987 print story: Rumpole and the Old, Old Story
2016
Rumpole and Hilda
• Adapted from the 1996 print story: Hilda’s Story
Memories of Christmas Past
• Adapted from the 1995 print story: Rumpole and the Christmas Squeeze
1980s (exact date unknown)
Rumpole and the Bent Copper
• Not known to have been broadcast under this title
A futher alternative title for radio is provided by the John Mortimer archive at the University of California, Berkeley. The archive lists the title Rumpole and the Bent Copper as a radio episode and as being from 1981 or 1982 and is listed under the collection Rumpole for the Defence. This is not a title used in any BBC Radio script known to have been broadcast as either a full-cast dramatisation or a text reading. The story is one of two published in the collection Rumpole v. Regina (1981) and then Rumpole for the Defence (1982): either Rumpole and the Confession of Guilt, or more probably the story newly written for the 1981 collection - Rumpole and the Rotten Apple.
Rumpole and the Confession of Guilt was the 1975 TV pilot episode which was adapted for radio in 1980 (as the first episode in fact). This is the story of a police detective who fabricates a witess statement for the defendant and swears to the court that Rumpole's client read and signed the statement. Rumpole was able to prove that the defendant could neither read nor write and wins the case.
Rumpole and the Rotten Apple is the story of a client of Rumpole's, police Inspector Dobbs, who is framed for a corruption by his superior, Superintendent Glazier. Glazier had edited a recording of a conversation in a restaurant and Rumpole proves the "evidence" has been fabricated.
The file called Rumpole and the Bent Copper is listed as being in the same archive box as the other stories in the heading 'Rumpole for the Defence' and noted as: (Radio). The stories in the Rumpole for the Defence book comprise about half of the 1980 BBC radio series of dramatised Rumpole tales.
Curiously, another possible candidate for this title is Rumpole and the Miscarriage of Justice from the 1992 book Rumpole on Trial. This story has similarities to Rumpole and the Rotten Apple, and indeed seems to be a reworking of the earlier story. This is the case of Rumpole defending a police officer, Detective Superintendent Roy Gannon, against a case of miscarriage of justice when his superior, Chief Superindendent Belmont, was responsible for tampering with evidence in order to sercure a conviction. However, as this story dates from 1992 and Rumpole and the Bent Copper is supposed to be 1981 or 1982 it seems to be published too late to be the source.