Rumpole and the Blind Tasting

Episode aired Jan 26, 1987
52m

IMDb RATING

8.3/10

YOUR RATING

S4.E2

Crime

Drama

Mystery

Rumpole defends career criminal Hugh Timson for receiving a garageful full of stolen wine.Rumpole defends career criminal Hugh Timson for receiving a garageful full of stolen wine.Rumpole defends career criminal Hugh Timson for receiving a garageful full of stolen wine.

IMDb RATING

8.3/10

YOUR RATING

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Once again, Rumpole finds himself defending a member of the Timson clan, this time Hugh Timson on a charge of possession of stolen goods. Specifically, he is found to have a garage full of expensive wine. Rumpole is concerned that his story, to the effect that he purchased the wine from some unknown individual he met in a pub, will not wash with Mr. Justice Graves who has heard this story before. Rumpole also takes on a new pupil, Ms Liz Probert and even tricks Ballard into thinking that she is the daughter of a well-known clergyman, when in fact her father is the well-known left-wing councilman 'Red' Ron Probert. —garykmcd

wine

wine tasting

wine snob

stolen goods

career criminal

4 more

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Trivia
Phyllida Law makes a second guest appearance almost ten years after starring in the first series episode Rumpole and the Married Lady (1978).

Goofs
In the court case, the proceedings constantly refers to the fake wine in question as a Cheval Blanc. Blanc is white but the tasting samples passed round the court for tasting were all red wine. However "Cheval Blanc" is named after the white horse (cheval blanc) in the chateau's name, and the "blanc" does not refer to the colour of the wine.

Quotes
Hilda Rumpole: Is that you Rumpole?
Horace Rumpole: No, it's the man come to tune the harp.

User reviews1

Review

Top review

5/10

Rumpole and the Blind Tasting

Look carefully, writer John Mortimer makes a Hitchcock type of cameo at a canteen scene.

The police find criminal Hugh Timson hiding stolen silver items in bags of frozen peas. Rumpole luckily gets him off as none of the people whose items were stolen came forward to identify it. They were happy with the insurance money.

Timson might be running out of luck. The police find cases of wine in his garage and he is charged with the theft of vintage wine.

Rumpole has to defend him again. Luckily for Timson, Rumpole recently visited a blind wine tasting contest with Claude Erskine-Brown and happened to have come across the man who had his wine stolen by Timson.

A far from vintage episode. I find it hard to believe that the poetic Rumpole would not know how to do a wine tasting. There is I feel a slight decline in quality and writing.

Also after using some cunning to get a female pupil accepted by the chambers. He has to do the same again for another female pupil.

I assume Rosalyn Landor did not reprise her role as Fiona Allways. Samantha Bond plays Liz Probert, a daughter of a left wing council leader. The head of chambers, Ballard thinks that she is the daughter of a well known clergyman.

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