Original version

BBC Radio 4 LW

Drama on 4

Drama

Drama from BBC Radio 4 and Radio 4 Extra.

BBC Radio 4 Extra

BBC Radio 4 FM

Afternoon Drama: Rumpole and the Penge Bungalow Murders

John Mortimer

Timothy West

Benedict Cumberbatch

Geoffrey Whitehead

Andy de la Tour

Ewan Bailey

Emma Fielding

Jasmine Hyde

Stephen Critchlow

Matthew Morgan

Karl Johnson

David Shaw-Parker

Marilyn Imrie

Drama on 4: Rumpole and the Penge Bungalow Murders: Episode 1: Old Unhappy Far-Off Things

Drama: Crime

Old Unhappy Far-Off Things

Episode 1

Episode 1: Old Unhappy Far-Off Things

Rumpole and the Penge Bungalow Murders

BBC Radio 4 - Drama on 4, Rumpole and the Penge Bungalow Murders, Old Unhappy Far-Off Things

Young Rumpole defends a man accused of murdering two war heroes. With Benedict Cumberbatch

4 Extra Debut. It is the 1950s, and young Rumpole defends a man accused of murdering two war heroes. John Mortimer's mystery stars Benedict Cumberbatch.

By John Mortimer.

A Christmas treat for all Rumpole fans and all Radio 4 listeners who love a good whodunit with a cracking court case thrown in for good measure.

Benedict Cumberbatch, plays the young, feisty, devastatingly acute legal eagle Horace Rumpole in his first big murder case, where he defends for the first time "alone and without a leader" in the case which was to make his name; and of course the story also marks the beginning of his life-long liason with "She who must be obeyed"; as we hear, recalled through the memoirs of the older Rumpole, how young Rumpole found himself engaged and married without being absolutely sure that he had in fact proposed in the first place!

It is the fifties, a short decade after the end of the war, and two war heroes have been shot dead. The only suspect is Simon Jerrold, the son of one of the victims, and he faces the death penalty. Defending him is deemed hopeless, so the case is handed to a novice. But the novice's superiors didn't count on the tenacity and wit of the young and hungry Horace Rumpole

Adapted by Richard Stoneman

Producer/Director ..... Marilyn Imrie 
A Catherine Bailey production for BBC Radio 4.

Drama on 4: Rumpole and the Penge Bungalow Murders

BBC Radio 4

Intelligent speech, the most insightful journalism, the wittiest comedy, the most fascinating features and the most compelling drama and readings anywhere in UK radio.

Two-part adaptation of the novel by John Mortimer

Two-part adaptation of the novel by John Mortimer. The young and hungry Horace Rumpole defends a man accused of murdering two WWII heroes

Accessibility links

Programme Index

Drama on 4

Rumpole and the Penge Bungalow Murders

Episode 1: Old Unhappy Far-Off Things

Contributors

Genres

Brand

Series

BBC Radio 4 LW

About BBC Radio 4