The ITV drama Mr Bates vs. the Post Office has become the British broadcaster’s biggest new drama in over a decade, beating even the launch of Downton Abbey back in 2010.
05.01.2024 - 13:52 / manchestereveningnews.co.uk
Will Mellor has said he was left 'fuming' portraying one of the Post Office scandal victims and has demanded action following the conclusion of a four-part ITV drama. The actor has portrayed Lee Castleton in Mr Bates vs The Post Office.
The new series features Toby Jones as the titular Mr Bates and tells the story of the Post Office scandal and the formation of the campaign group Justice for Subpostmasters Alliance, led by Alan Bates and his colleagues.
The real-life miscarriages of justice saw more than 700 innocent sub-postmasters and postmistresses - the people who run post office branches - wrongly accused of theft, fraud, and false accounting due to a defective IT system. Many of the wronged workers were prosecuted and some were imprisoned for crimes they never committed. Their lives were irreparably damaged by the scandal.
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Alan Bates worked at a post office in Llandudno at the time and although he was never accused of theft like many others, he was dismissed from his job after raising concerns about the Horizon system. For 20 years, he's campaigned for people to hear the truth about what happened.
After appearing in the drama, which aired from January 1 to January 4 on ITV, Will asked how those responsible can live with themselves, adding it was "vile" that ex-Post Office boss Paula Vennells got a CBE - with a petition now calling for her to be stripped of the honour.
The 47-year-old told the Mirror: "Even when I thought I knew what this was about, I still didn’t until we started shooting. I
The ITV drama Mr Bates vs. the Post Office has become the British broadcaster’s biggest new drama in over a decade, beating even the launch of Downton Abbey back in 2010.
Sir Ed Davey has refused to apologise to victims of the Post Office scandal from Greater Manchester.
Actor Toby Jones has won the nation's hearts while portraying real life hero Alan Bates in ITV's Mr Bates vs The Post Office, and fans have been left shocked after discovering a rather surprising role he had in the past.Toby, 57, has starred in a number of popular films and TV shows, and has appeared in the Marvel Cinematic Unvierse, the Harry Potter franchise, and The Hunger Games trilogy. He appeared as Dr.
Everyone in Scotland convicted as part of the Horizon Post Office scandal will be cleared, Humza Yousaf has said.
A new law will be introduced to exonerate hundreds of Post Office branch managers caught up in the Horizon IT scandal.
Victims of the Post Office scandal from Greater Manchester have powerfully spoken out to reveal how false charges wrecked their lives.
Actors and staff behind an ITV drama about the Post Office Horizon IT scandal have been left “proud and overwhelmed by the power our drama has had”.
Former Post Office boss Paula Vennells has confirmed that she will hand back her CBE following the fallout of the Horizon IT scandal, which led to the wrongful prosecution of hundreds of subpostmasters.
This Morning viewers were left in tears as the real-life Alan Bates and his wife Suzanne were awarded two luxury holidays live on the show. Alan and Suzanne appeared on the ITV daytime show to discuss the TV drama Mr Bates vs the Post Office, which tells their real-life story. Alan Bates, 68, was the key campaigner who exposed the Post Office scandal, which saw innocent post office workers prosecuted for missing funds.
This Morning fans were left in tears as the real-life Mr Bates made an appearance on the programme, alongside his wife, Suzanne. Alan and Suzanne have been thrust back into the spotlight after the release of ITV's new series, Mr Bates vs The Post Office.
Labour has called for prosecution powers to be stripped from the Post Office and previous convictions looked at again following the Horizon scandal.
A petition asking for the former Post Office boss Paula Vennells to be stripped of her CBE because of the Horizon scandal has now got over one million signatures.
Metropolitan Police detectives are looking at “potential fraud offences” committed during the Post Office Horizon IT scandal.
A petition demanding ex-Post Office boss Paula Vennells is stripped of her CBE has soared to nearly 500,000 signatures in recent days.The urgent demand from viewers comes after the ITV drama series Mr Bates vs The Post Office focusing on 'the greatest miscarriage of justice in British legal history' - aired on ITV and ITVX on New Year's Day. The limited series detailed the real life events of 2009, when a group of sub-postmasters formed the Justice For Subpostmasters Alliance, after a defective IT system called Horizon led to a slew of wrongful prosecutions of fraud, theft and false accounting. A petition calling for the former Post Office CEO Paula Vennells to be stripped of her CBE quickly passed 350,000 signatures following the final episode of the ITV1 drama on Thursday night.
The Communication Workers Union (CWU) of the UK has issued a statement, following the huge public reaction to the ITV drama Mr Bates vs the Post Office, which aired last week.
Throughout the first week of January, ITV viewers at home have been gripped by fresh new drama Mr Bates vs The Post Office, which followed the real life journey of several sub-postmasters who were wrongfully accused (and in some cases even charged) with stealing from the Post Office, thanks to a Horizon computer error.The show, which spanned across four nights in total, saw a star studded cast including Toby Jones, Will Mellor and Julie Hesmondhalgh bring the story to life, including their ongoing fight for justice and compensation for the hundreds of people that were still affected by the error. In emotional scenes, fans saw the toll of the scandal with their own eyes, with several of the accused having lost their jobs, their homes and in some cases even having taken their own lives after struggling to cope with the mental toll of being wrongfully blamed for the error.
Mr Bates vs The Post Office - a new limited drama series focusing on 'the greatest miscarriage of justice in British legal history' - aired on ITV and ITV X on New Year's Day.The show follows the real life events of 2009, when a group of sub-postmasters formed the Justice For Subpostmasters Alliance, after a defective IT system called Horizon led to a slew of wrongful prosecutions of fraud, theft and false accounting. But while plenty of viewers went through a rollercoaster of emotions throughout the duration of the available four episodes, it was the final instalment that left fans the most teary eyed of all.
Will Mellor was left "fuming" after playing Lee Castleton, a victim of the Post Office scandal, in ITV's series Mr Bates vs The Post Office.The series tells the true story of Alan Bates and his fight for justice following the Post Office scandal in the late 90s. The cast, alongside Will, 47, includes Toby Jones, Katherine Kelly, Amy Nuttall, Julie Hesmondhalgh, Monica Dolan, Lia Williams and Alex Jennings.There are four episodes in the series, with all of them available to watch on ITVX. After filming, Will questioned how those responsible for the crisis could live with themselves and labelled it as "vile" that former Post Office boss Paula Vennells received a CBE.
ITV1's Mr Bates vs the Post Office retells the story of how hundreds of innocent subpostmasters and postmistresses were wrongly accused of theft.
Piers Morgan, the host of TalkTV, has expressed his outrage over the "shameful" Post Office scandal that wrongfully imprisoned many post office workers.The staff were blamed for financial errors caused by a faulty computer system, Horizon. From 1999 to 2015, 700 postmasters and postmistresses were prosecuted by the Post Office in what is now known as one of the biggest scandals in British history. Piers shared his thoughts on social media, calling it "an absolute disgrace".