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Rumpole and the Old Familiar Faces
Rumpole and the Old Familiar Faces
Jan 10, 2026 1:18 AM

Author:John Mortimer,Full Cast,Desmond Barrit

Rumpole and the Old Familiar Faces

Desmond Barrit stars as Horace Rumpole in this full-cast, feature-length radio drama

Rumpole has no special objection to Christmas – except that with the Old Bailey closed, he has no opportunity to exercise his skills in court. But over the course of one unusual holiday, he nonetheless manages to triumph in two very different cases…

Dragooned into spending Christmas in Norfolk, at the home of one of Hilda’s old schoolfriends, Rumpole is feeling less than festive. Chilly Coldsands Rectory does not offer much in the way of enjoyment – but a trip to the local church and a surprise encounter with an old acquaintance leads to a God-given opportunity to indulge in a little seasonal, charitable blackmail.

A New Year outing to see Aladdin also provides more excitement than expected. The traditional British pantomime is one of Rumpole’s favourite institutions, but he has a vague feeling that there’s something odd about this particular production. A post-panto drink, some overheard remarks and a glance at the programme confirm his suspicions – and put him on the path to solving an audacious crime…

Starring Desmond Barrit as Rumpole and Joanna David as Hilda, with Tim McInnerny as Donald Compton and Nigel Anthony as Fred Timson.

Written by John Mortimer

Directed by Marilyn Imrie

Produced by Catherine Bailey

Pantomime music written and played by Neil Brand

A Catherine Bailey production for BBC Radio 4

Reviews

Watson adroitly [brings] the strands of his story together to create a disturbing journey to a shocking truth

—— The Observer

Creepy and packed with suspense and menace, it draws the reader into a community that has more than its fair share of skeletons to hide.

—— Daily Mail

Dark and twisty, and full of surprises and so smartly done.

—— Joanna Cannon

S J Watson has done it again. Even more compelling than Before I Go To Sleep

—— Lesley Kara

S J Watson, pacing his story with mesmerising expertise, keeps you so invested in the fates of his characters

—— Jake Kerridge, Sunday Express

I loved that behind this disturbing and clever plot there's a genuinely heartrending story.

—— Emma Curtis

An intriguing and unsettling new thriller.

—— Fabulous

If you go down to Blackwood Bay, you're in for a dark surprise. FINAL CUT is a masterfully tense, taut and terrifying thriller.

—— Tim Glister

There are so many twist and turns I was out of breath when I finished

—— Matt Cain

An expertly crafted thriller. Claustrophobic and unnerving. Watson at his very best.

—— Will Carver

A twisty psychological thriller.

—— Choice Magazine

Incredibly atmospheric and captivating. I loved the way the mystery unfolded.

—— Karen Hamilton

Watson is fascinating on the ins and outs of memory, and paces his story with mesmerising expertise.

—— Sunday Express

Stalingrad has been beautifully translated by Robert and Elizabeth Chandler, and lovingly pieced together, with the censored passages restored. Anybody who knows and admires Life and Fate would enjoy it (many of the same characters reappear)… It is a powerful war book

—— Victor Sebestyen , New Statesman

Compelling… [and] extraordinary storytelling… The English translation is an epic in itself… the story of the publication process sheds new light on how the typescript became almost as much of a battleground as the streets of Stalingrad. It gives a clear insight into the nature of Soviet political pressure, and of Grossman’s bravery… It’s a pleasure, albeit a bleak one, to see more of his brave work at last being rediscovered and published today, and his truth told

—— Vanora Bennett , Prospect

More than a novel, more than a history, more than graphic imagery, Stalingrad is written with an acute insight into the relationships of people caught up in the momentous tectonic shifts of history. A truly symphonic work… Robert and Elizabeth Chandler’s superb translation and editing…captures Grossman’s poetic intensity, bringing home the pain and the pity of a dying city

—— Gordan Parsons , Morning Star

A gloriously written book

—— Mark Glanville , Jewish Chronicle

The novel in this new, uncensored version does constantly what the best journalism does, which is to offer us significant details and show how they form part of a larger story… [a] wonderful novel… The translation that the Chandlers have put together is a masterpiece of empathy, a true mirror of the values that Grossman consistently champions over the course of Stalingrad… an engrossing, coherent and deeply moving work of art… a truly remarkable achievement

—— James Womack , Literary Review

An argument to read him not only as a fervent critic of totalitarianism, but as a deeply compassionate writer with an extraordinary gift for portraying psychological complexity and sensory detail

—— New Republic

This first English version of Stalingrad is a triumph on many levels… [Stalingrad] captures a definitive moment… [and Grossman] delivers an enduring tribute to the power of human spirit

—— Ella Walker , Herald

A seething fresco of combat, domestic routine under siege and intellectual debate, it confirms that Grossman was the supreme bard of the second world war

—— Economist, *Books of the Year*

To read Stalingrad is to be immersed in a world where everything is in flux… The reader emerges from his pages exhausted and chastened, but hugely enriched… the translators have done a superb job. If you haven’t read Life and Fate, it would pay to read Stalingrad first and prepare for the marathon of both volume; if you have, Stalingrad is an essential companion’

—— Dougal Jeffries , BJGP

A powerful account of families torn apart by probably the bloodiest campaign in history

—— Janet Margaret Hartley , Geographical

[A] masterpiece

—— Lucy Beckett , Times Literary Supplement, *Books of the Year*

A magnificent novel not only of war but of all human life

—— History Revealed, *Books of the Year*

What Red Was is an impressively successful debut... if you are looking for a gripping yet thought-provoking read which will have you hooked from the first page, look no further than What Red Was

—— Libby Wright , Palantinte

A gripping tale at once unfamiliar and unmistakably universal

—— BookRiot

A gripping portrait of four young women in South Korea... its focus on the tangled and complicated nature of female friendship is universally familiar and fascinating

—— Refinery 29

Hypnotising... you won't want to put it down until the very last page

—— Harper's Bazaar

You'll find sisterhood at the heart of this ambitious book

—— New York Times Book Review

Tremain's extraordinary imagination has produced a powerful, unsettling novel in which two worlds and cultures collide

—— Cath Kidson Magazine

Tremain writes about this part of France so well because she has known it since childhood, and she captures a sensuality in the landscape that is both attractive and eerie... It is an enthralling book about the catastrophic disruption honesty can bring

—— Siobhan Kane , Irish Times

The novel has all the formal structure of a medieval morality tale, along with its traditional dichotomies: rus and urbe, avarice and asceticism, chastity and lust

—— Guardian

Rose Tremain's thrilling Trespass is set in an obsure valley in Southern France... To be read slowly; Tremain's writing is too exquisite to hurry

—— The Times

Timeless but rooted; tangible but otherworldly. Meticulously plotted, with the musty sadness that comes of cleaving to the past, Trespass will reward your reading time

—— Scotland on Sunday

Rose Tremain's novel begins with a scream and barely loosens its grip amid the sumptuously written pages that follow...subtly harnesses the stifling heat and dangerously feral landscape of southern France to unspool a psychologically disconcerting story of family skeletons and outsider tensions

—— Metro

Like a sinister edition of A Place In the Sun directed by Alfred Hitchcock, with the depth and subtlety that make the book far more than a mere thriller

—— You Magazine (Daily Mail)
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