Rumpole and the Age for Retirement

Horace Rumpole resisting his wife's retirement campaign while defending Percy Timson is exactly what the series does best — domestic comedy and courtroom wit colliding with Rumpole's unshakeable devotion to both claret and the underdog. As a short story the scope is limited and it rewards familiarity with the series, but within those parameters Mortimer's writing is sharp and the character is as lovable as ever. The real reason to choose audio over print here is Leo McKern, whose performance AudioFile called magnificent — Mortimer himself said McKern brightened and brought the character fully to life, and this recording makes that statement easy to believe.

🎙 Narration: excellent Leo McKern's narration is the definitive reason to choose audio — AudioFile called him magnificent, Mortimer said he brightened and brought the character fully to life, and this recording stands as a gold-standard example of author-character matching.