A TASTE of the Old Bailey arrives at the New Vic Theatre in Newcastle-under- Lyme next week as the inspiration for TV classic Rumpole of the Bailey takes to the stage.

A Voyage Round My Father is Sir John Mortimer’s auto- biographical play on life with his eccentric barrister father, a character famously immortalised as the much- loved Horace Rumpole in the hit TV series.

The play describes Mortimer’s upper middle-class childhood and young adult life between the wars.

He grows up in the shadow of his father, a brilliant, eccentric and completely impossible barrister, who goes blind in middle age but insists on continuing with life as though he hasn’t.

Called to the Bar in 1948, Sir John Mortimer QC CBE developed his career as a playwright by rising early to write before attending court. His output includes 50 books, plays, and scripts including the hugely successful adaptation of Brideshead Revisited for ITV in 1981.

A Voyage Round My Father runs from Friday, January 23 until Saturday, February 14. Shows start at 7.30pm and tickets are £8.50-£17.50, call 01782 717962.