The mail scandal continues to be ignored – our ITV drama aims to change that.

Mr Bates v Post Office it is a drama based on anger.

Screenwriter Gwyneth Hughes was sacked due to anger over the injustice suffered by hundreds of innocent people in the Horizon Post Office scandal, the biggest miscarriage of justice in British legal history. That’s why she wrote this heartbreaking four-part series about the outrage that a government agency has caused to hundreds and hundreds of innocent people. Their intention was to shed an unflinching light on this previously little-studied part of recent British history. And it happens: fearlessly and very touchingly.

Much of the drama’s power comes from its central performance. Toby Jones plays Alan Bates, a reserved but surprisingly stubborn assistant postmaster from Llandudno who leads the fight against false accusations at the Post Office.

As Bates, Jones has a quiet but invincible strength. For example, when a policeman asks a group of eminent postal detectives to leave Bates’ premises because he believes no crime has been committed, the deputy postmaster replies, “Well, the Post Office Limited is stealing my livelihood,” my business, my business. work, my Home, my savings, my good name.”

Between 2000 and 2014, the Postal Service prosecuted 736 branch owners who were accused of stealing money, but the losses were actually due to errors in Horizon’s new computerized accounting system.

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“We must convince fearful subpostmasters who have been wrongfully convicted to come out of hiding and demand compensation,” Jones said. “In some ways, this tragedy is like a siren for many people who are afraid to come forward. It is also a warning to people who take their safety for granted in institutions we consider respectable.”

The consequences of the scandal are shocking. Hundreds of lives have been destroyed. Marriages are destroyed. Livelihoods, homes and savings were lost. Four suicides have been linked to the scandal.

Some of the suspects were detained, some while pregnant or as parents of young children, and many faced criticism from their communities. Unfortunately, some of them died before justice was served.

Former post office owner and manager Wendy Cousins ​​died last year with a criminal conviction still hanging over her head. In 2009, she pleaded guilty to stealing £13,000 from her own post office in Hertfordshire. However, her son Paul said she only did it to avoid prison as she was convinced she would not survive prison.

“Innocent shopkeepers were harassed, shamed and persecuted,” screenwriter Hughes says of how people were treated like cousins. “A cozy old national institution that is becoming a breeding ground for prejudice and injustice. Incredible. I never got over the initial shock of disbelief. To this day, every horror story I hear makes me scream in surprise and anger.”

Hughes has worked on other impressive real life dramas such as: HonorA 2020 ITV show hosted by Keeley Hawes about a woman killed in a so-called “honor killing” and a 2005 BBC One drama. RatedIt stars Sarah Lancashire as Angela Cannings, wrongly convicted of murdering her two children.

“These were normal British people living normal British lives until suddenly they weren’t,” Hughes continues. “Suddenly they were called thieves and scoundrels, caught in a nightmare of false accusations and public humiliation.”

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James Strong, the series’ director, is also outraged by the scandal. “What happened to these poor people is an absolute national scandal. It’s absolutely terrifying, Kafkaesque horror.

“Viewers will be able to understand the whole situation in which ordinary life is turned upside down and turns into hell for many years.”

Worse, the victims could not understand what was happening to them. When the system reported shortfalls, sometimes running into many thousands of pounds, some workers tried to fill the gap with their own money – an often unsuccessful attempt to correct the error.

“Pardon my language,” Strong continues, “but this is the craziest thing in this whole story.” These people simply cannot understand what is happening. They are often the nicest people in the world, they are reliable people and they are pillars of the community. With typical British sensibilities, they believe it must be their fault.

“So they do everything they can to pay off these debts that they don’t actually have. Two weeks later it happens again, and then again and again. Many people became homeless. A postal worker who committed suicide was told he owed £63,000. He spent his and his parents’ savings and took out a new mortgage on his home.

The Post Office was adamant throughout, fighting tooth and nail to get a conviction and a defense against damage claims.

But in 2009 the struggle began. A group from across the UK decided they had had enough of being pushed around in the post office and formed the Justice for Postmasters Alliance. It was a classic fight between David and Goliath.

They are united by Bates, who is glad the story has finally been told. “I think this tragedy is the first time there has been anything close to the suffering that many of the victims endured.”

Part of the problem is that the scandal was completely ignored by most of the media, as the show’s executive producer Natasha Bondi explains.

“When you say the words ‘Post Office,’ they’re just unique and not sexy. There is no murdered woman, no serial killer. This is the Post Office, a rather boring and friendly brand, and you can’t imagine something like this happening at this level of nastiness.

“There aren’t a lot of glamorous, interesting people in London running around to see their MPs,” says Strong.

But everyone involved in the production hopes it will help Bates’ campaign. “Alan is still trying to get compensation for families who are suffering from enormous stress and ongoing mental health problems,” Jones said. “The compensation system will end in August 2024. Whatever happens, action must be taken immediately.”

Bates has another goal: “Hold everyone responsible who got away with this ticket to account for their actions. Sooner or later, people need to be held accountable.”

Although this story is very touching in many ways, Mr Bates v Post Office still ends with a redemptive note. To date, 86 deputy postmasters have had their wrongful convictions overturned and £21 million in compensation paid. The government also launched an independent public inquiry. But there is still a long way to go.

“David kills Goliath,” Strong says. “You want the audience to feel like these heroes did a great job fighting and defeating this huge national institution. This is a great achievement by Alan Bates and all members of the Justice for Subpostmasters Alliance.

Mr Bates v Post Office also sends a positive message about the strength of a group of people working together. “People often feel isolated or isolated, but here is a story about people coming together,” Jones says.

Especially possible Mr Bates v Post Office This is a story about a very unusual hero. “The man who made it all possible was Alan Bates,” says Hughes. “I am so proud to write his story. A modest guy who ran a modest post office in the seaside town of Llandudno. Loves beer. I don’t like cauliflower. When you ask him about his feelings, he feels uncomfortable. “A pure sense of humor and a twinkle in the eye.”

“Mr Bates did not ask to spend 25 years of his life fighting idiots, expensive lawyers and the British government,” she added. “But here he is still extraordinary, indomitable. A true British hero.”