John Bardon was an English stage and screen actor. He was awarded the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Musical in 1988 for Kiss Me, Kate, sharing the award with co-star Emil Wolk. He was best known for playing the patriarch of the Branning family, Jim Branning, in the BBC soap opera EastEnders, for 15 years from 1996 to 2011.

Rumpole of the Bailey is a British television series created and written by the British writer and barrister John Mortimer. It starred Leo McKern as Horace Rumpole, a middle-aged London barrister who defended a broad variety of clients, often underdogs. The popularity of the TV series led to the stories being presented in other media, including books and radio.