Marion Mathie Movies

After an absence of two years, Rumpole of the Bailey returned to the British airwaves with a sixth season of six new episodes, initially telecast from from October 28 through December 2 1991. The delightfully dishevelled barrister Horace Rumpole (Leo McKern) starts things rolling by defending a chef accused of violating health ordinances in "Rumpole a la Carte", which features a subplot wherein Rumpole's formidable wife Hilda (Marion Mathie) uncharacteristically dallies with her handsome cousion. In "Rumpole and the Summer of Discontent", the client is a trade unionist, and at issue is the right to strike--both in the courtroom and in the Rumpole household. In the next episode, "Rumpole and the Right to Silence", an accused murderer stubbornly refuses to supply Rumpole with evidence that may clear his name. "Rumpole at Sea" finds Rumpole and Hilda reluctant sharing an ocean voyage with the blustery barrister's old nemesis Judge Graves (Robin Bailey), getting mixed up in a missings-person case along the way. In "Rumpole and the Quacks", it is Rumpole's own doctor who is the client, with his colleague Phyllida (Patricia Hodge) as the prosecutor--said Phyllida having a personal score to settle with our hero. The season ends with "Rumpole for the Prosecution", as Rumpole is placed in the unenviable position of prosecuting his old friend Claude (Julian Curry) on a charge of intellectual thievery. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A dry spell of nearly four years separated the third and fourth seasons of the internationally popular British legal series Rumpole of the Bailey. Not surprisingly, fans rejoiced when the series finally returned on January 19, 1987, with six new hour-long episodes in the docket. Leo McKern, as ever, heads the cast as the disheveled but brilliant British barrister Horace Rumple, while Marion Mathie takes over from Peggy Bates-Thorpe in the role of Rumple's formidable wife Hilda, better known as "She-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed." The first case on the Season Four manifest is "Rumpole and the Old, Old Story", in which Rumpole's defense of a businessman charged with attempted murder is muddled up by his domestic problems with Hilda. Episode #2, "Rumpole and the Blind Tasting", finds our hero once more called upon to defend a member of the scurrilous Timson family, even as he endeavors to "break in" his new law pupil Liz Probert (played by Leo McKern's daughter Abigail Kern). In "Rumpole and the Official Secret", his client is a sweet little old lady accused of leaking top-secret government information. In "Rumpole and the Judge's Elbow", a case involving a massage-parlor owner accused of procuring is compromised when Rumpole is (in so many words) offered a judgeship. "Rumpole and the Bright Seraphim" finds the feisty barrister in West Germany, defending a British soldier charged with killing a non-com. The season ends appropriately with "Rumpole's Last Case", wherein the strain of his job may have finally forced Rumpole to hang up his wig for good--but not before one final duel of wits with an old enemy. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This is one of the rare comedies by director Gerald Thomas that does not have the words "Carry On...." in the title, and that is the first indication that the wacky, hare-brained, ribald core of the "Carry On" series is missing here. The premise is that a young couple, David and Catherine Robinson (Leslie Phillips and Geraldine McEwan), have to turn their large country house into a money-making proposition. Their solution is to invite the kids of the rich and famous, since that is where the money lies, to spend a summer enjoying all the loving care and attention they miss at home. After the youngsters arrive, David quickly realizes what the offensive little punks need is some real discipline, and so the summer begins. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide