Review of the film “Mr. Bates vs. the Post Office”: My blood boiled again

What has been described as the most widespread miscarriage of justice in British history happened so slowly that it is quite possible that many of us only took notice of the postal scandal from time to time.

After watching Gwyneth Hughes’ devastating four-part drama, there is absolutely no chance of such a gaffe. Mr Bates v Post Office. If your blood wasn’t boiling by the end of this opening sequence, you might need to check your heart rate.

As a result of the scandal, more than 700 subpostmasters and subpostmasters were falsely accused of theft, fraud and falsified accounting caused by a faulty new IT system called Horizon. Many lost their livelihoods, homes and savings as they returned money that post offices falsely claimed had disappeared. And in any case, The Post claimed that the victims were “the only ones” – something Hughes initially wanted to call a drama. The only ones.

The resistance was led by Alan Bates, the brilliant, bloodthirsty sub-postmaster from Llandudno in North Wales, and one could not have asked for a better choice than Toby Jones as the hero in this battle between David and Goliath. Just like his character Lance Detectors or his detective on ITV recently Long shadowJones specializes in that kind of quiet underdog tenacity. Add Julie Hesmondhalgh as his partner, Suzanne Sercombe, and there’s no way you’re rooting for this couple.

And they really succeeded at the post office – the first scene where brutal guys in suits drive up to the Bates post office in three menacing black cars. Bates brilliantly turned the situation around when the heavyweights called the police.

“It turns out that no crime was committed,” said a policeman present at the scene. “Except Post Office Ltd is stealing my livelihood, my job, my home, my savings and my good name,” Bates replied. “So it’s a civil matter,” the PC replied.

Only it wasn’t just a civil case involving Hampshire sub-postmaster Joe Hamilton (played by Monica Dolan) and Yorkshire sub-postmaster Lee Castleton (Will Mellor), who both ended up in court. Hamilton narrowly avoided prison time after taking a plea deal that included a stipulation that she “promise not to blame the Horizon system.”

The Post Office declared Castleton bankrupt after paying legal fees. In a very ironic moment later, we saw Castleton’s young daughters looking at him. Postman Pat on television – perfectly depicts the gap between the Post’s home image and this monstrous reality.

When Hamilton sought advice from a friendly local lawyer, she was doubly shocked by the enormous power this publicly traded company wielded. “The Post Office doesn’t need police,” the lawyer told Hamilton. “They can pursue their criminal charges all the way up to the Crown Court.”

Bates avoided prosecution because he refused to approve fake accounts created by a faulty IT system. Semi-retired in the idyllic Welsh countryside, he was prompted to strike back by news footage showing a fellow postmaster being sent to prison.

Having generated so much anger and pity (especially for the injured Hamilton), Hughes ended the episode on an uplifting note. Bates invited others affected by the scandal to a meeting in a village (Fenny Compton, Warwickshire), which he chose at random from a map because it was in the center of the country. And when the victims of the scandal got out of their cars en masse, tears welled up in their eyes.

Fascinating stuff, and by the looks of it, like many of our posts these days, it’s long overdue.