 John Mortimer made his radio debut as a dramatist in 1955, with his adaptation of his own novel "Like Men Betrayed" for the "BBC Light Programme".However, he made his debut as an original playwright with "The Dock Brief", starring Michael Hordern as a hapless barrister, first broadcast in 1957 on "BBC Third Programme", later televised with the same cast and subsequently presented in a double bill with "What Shall We Tell Caroline?