Rumpole and the Blind Tasting 

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

Director:

Roger Bamford

Writers:

John Mortimer, John Mortimer (by)

Stars:

Leo McKern, Marion Mathie, Peter Blythe

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
Leo McKern	...	Horace Rumpole
Marion Mathie	...	Hilda Rumpole
Peter Blythe	...	Samuel Ballard Q.C.
Julian Curry	...	Claude Erskine-Brown
Samantha Bond	...	Liz Probert
Denis Lill	...	Mr. Bernard
Jonathan Coy	...	Henry
Richard Murdoch	...	Uncle Tom
Denys Graham	...	Hoskins
Maureen Darbyshire	...	Dianne
Robin Bailey	...	Judge Graves
Dave King	...	Monty Mantis
Phyllida Law	...	Honoria Bird
Stephen Greif	...	Martyn Vanberry
Phillip Reader	...	Ken Eastham

Storyline

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.

---

Plot Keywords:

wine | wine tasting | wine snob | stolen goods | career criminal | 

---

Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery

---

Did You Know?

Trivia

Debut of Samantha Bond as Liz Probert.

---

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.

---

Quotes

[Rumpole discusses the Timsons, whom he is defending, with Liz Probert]
Horace Rumpole: The Timsons would hate to be called working people. They are entirely middle-class villains. And they are very conservative too. They live according to strict monetarist principles and the free-market economy. And they're dead against the closed shop - they believe shops should be open all hours of the night... preferably with a jemmy!

User Reviews

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.

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

26 January 1987 (UK)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Thames Television

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1