MYSTERY!: RUMPOLE OF THE BAILEY, RUMPOLE AND THE ETERNAL TRIANGLE (TV)
Summary
One in this mystery anthology series. Host Diana Rigg introduces this British series of legal dramas about eccentric, kind-hearted barrister Horace Rumpole, who defends seemingly hopeless cases in London's main criminal court, the Old Bailey. In this episode, Rumpole is dragged to a Schubert concert by Erskine-Brown and Hilda and has trouble staying awake until he notices the pretty and talented violinist. He spots her again at the bar after the performance and she flirtatiously introduces herself as Elizabeth, explaining that he defended a friend of hers against a drugs charge back in college and that she was highly impressed with his talents. Later, Dot assures Erskine-Brown that she can handle Henry, even though he is often a "headache," and Rumpole calls Elizabeth for lunch, first stopping at the barber's to have himself smartened up. Desmond and Tom, Elizabeth's fellow musicians, argue over rehearsal, and a neighbor, Mathieson, overhears Tom saying to Elizabeth that he plans to "tell him." At lunch, Rumpole is surprised to learn that Elizabeth is a vegetarian and a teetotaler, but goes along with her order. She observes that he is "someone full of love," despite his dislike for Ballard and Justice Oliphant, and then explains that she is lonely and needs someone to talk to, anxious over the jealousy between Tom and her husband Desmond. She reveals that Desmond owns a gun, his father's, and admits that she is frightened and desires Rumpole's friendship.
At the office, Erskine-Brown overhears some very suggestive conversation between Henry and Dot, and he hurries to tell Ballard that he has witnessed sexual harassment. Hilda is surprised when Rumpole eschews meat and drink, though when she notices his new shave and fragrance, she guesses that he has done it for her. Erskine-Brown attempts to question Dot about Henry's advances, though she seems not to understand his meaning. Later, Tom is found dead in the trio's rehearsal space, and when Desmond's gun is found stashed behind the piano, he is arrested for the murder. Elizabeth hurries to find Rumpole and asks for his help in defending Desmond, saying that it is all "nonsense." At the same time, Ballard is alarmed when he overhears Probert on the phone with Inchcape, discussing an unplanned pregnancy. Rumpole questions Desmond, guessing that he killed Tom because of his affair with Elizabeth, but Desmond denies everything. Rumpole notes that Elizabeth made a good deal of money running a dress boutique in college, around the same time as the drugs case, though Desmond did not know her then. He explains that he was out with his sister and came home to find Tom dead, saying the whole thing is "like a dream."
Ballard corners Inchcape and tries to give him some stern advice, though Inchcape is baffled by his strange euphemisms. He then tells Erskine-Brown that Dot has made a formal complaint, but against him, not Henry, having misunderstood his probing questions about "urges," and Ballard laments the "flagrant immorality" in the office. Rumpole decides to look closely into Tom's background, and in court, he notes that the murder weapon was wiped clean of fingerprints yet found easily by police, though Justice "Ollie" is unimpressed with Rumpole's tactics. Mathieson's testimony seems to support the idea of an affair between Tom and Elizabeth, and Elizabeth talks about her boutique, Dreams of Youth, and mentions that Rumpole got her friend off in a previous trial. Rumpole then reveals that Tom testified in that case, though not against Elizabeth, and that she has been paying him off for years, guessing that he was blackmailing her with knowledge of her true involvement in the drugs case. When she saw that Tom asked Desmond to meet with him on the day of his death, she guessed that he was going to "tell him" the truth and called Tom from her car phone to arrange an earlier meeting, where she shot him. Elizabeth denies everything, but Rumpole points out that no one else had motive and that she is testifying of her own volition to make Desmond look guilty, and that she deliberately befriended him, Rumpole, in order to take advantage of him. Later, Erskine-Brown is embarrassed to learn that he actually overheard Henry and Dot rehearsing a salacious play, and Ballard learns that Probert and Inchcape were discussing their clients' messy divorce, not their own relationship, causing Rumpole to comment on their habit of connecting everything with sex. Rumpole resumes his meat-eating and wine-drinking ways, to Hilda's relief, and they admit that they were both briefly "enthralled" by the murderess. Commercials deleted.
Details
- NETWORK: PBS
- DATE: April 27, 1995 9:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 1:00:00
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: B:77469
- GENRE: Drama, legal
- SUBJECT HEADING: Drama, legal; Comedy; Britain
- SERIES RUN: PBS - TV series, 1978-1992
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Lloyd Shirley … Executive Producer
- Brian Walcroft … Executive Producer
- Jacqueline Davis … Producer
- Rebecca Eaton … Producer
- David Ball … Associate Producer
- Robert Tronson … Director
- John Mortimer … Writer
- Joseph Horovitz … Music by
- John Bradbury … Trio music by
- Eira West … Trio music by
- Lesley Shrigley-Jones … Trio music by
- Diana Rigg … Host
- Leo McKern … Cast, Horace Rumpole
- Peter Blythe … Cast, Samuel Ballard, Q.C.
- Jonathan Coy … Cast, Henry
- Julian Curry … Cast, Claude Erskine-Brown
- James Grout … Cast, Mr. Justice Ollie Oliphant
- Marion Mathie … Cast, Hilda Rumpole
- Abigail McKern … Cast, Elizabeth 'Mizz Liz' Probert
- Denis Lil … Cast, Mr. Bernard
- Christopher Milburn … Cast, Dave Inchcape
- Camille Coduri … Cast, Dot
- Eleanor David … Cast, Elizabeth Casterini
- Patrick Drury … Cast, Desmond Casterini
- Richard Hawley … Cast, Tom Randall
- Jay Villiers … Cast, Det. Insp. Baker
- Garry Cooper … Cast, Michael Mathieson
- Juliette Mole … Cast, Hilary Peek Q.C.
- Howard Attfield … Cast, Barber
- Roger Ennals … Cast, Waiter
- Jon Jon Keefe … Cast, Barman
- Paul Grunert … Cast, Porter