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Mr Bates vs The Post Office plays like a thriller that turns into an inspiring tale of collective action—which also happens to be a harrowing true story. It follows a group of subpostmasters in the United Kingdom accused of accounting errors but, it turns out, had been victimized by a faulty computerized accounting system. Some of the subpostmasters pleaded guilty to accounting errors, while others nearly and actually took their own lives because of the ruinous effect that the accusations had on their reputations, psyches, and personal finances.
The four-hour series follows Alan Bates (Toby Jones), a mild-mannered retired subpostmaster who takes it upon himself to unite the victims and demand justice for what turned out to be about 1,000 people who had been falsely accused of theft and fraud. But the group didn’t truly triumph until the series ran, its dramatization more effective at making their case than the real-life news items that came before it. Just after it aired last year in the UK, parliament took action, authorizing compensation payments and reversed all convictions that had been prosecuted. And the story has continued to grow, with a report just this month finding even more victims than previously believed and showing that at least 13 people died by suicide as a result of the scandal.
The series’ writer, Gwyneth Hughes, a former journalist and documentary filmmaker, rendered the events as compelling scripted television by gathering individual victims’ stories, traveling the country and interviewing them before crafting her scripts. She told The Guardian: “I still love reading journalism, I still love watching documentaries. But I also know that as a documentary filmmaker the best you can do is to ask someone to recollect past events in tranquility … As a viewer, when you watch even the best documentary, you’re looking at the screen and thinking, ‘Oh, that poor person, that’s terrible’. But when you watch a drama, you’re looking at the screen, and thinking something different. You are thinking ‘Oh, poor me! Poor me! That could be me!’”
While the events of Mr Bates take place in the 2000s and 2010s, it feels more relevant than ever, showing how difficult it can be to stand up to technological and government forces—but also demonstrating that collective action can work.
Where to Watch: PBS
A Moment From the Show
The trailer for Mr Bates vs The Post Office.
Dive Deeper
Starred Review: Toby Jones is perfect in a devastating tale of a national scandal
“The fact that the victims managed to take all of this on is remarkable and powerful, and here their victory is as rousing as it should be,” Rebecca Nicholson writes.
Where to Read: The Guardian
How It Happened: Interview with Toby Jones
“For all of the appalling injustice and the terrible, ongoing struggle that ordinary people have been thrown into lasting a number of years, a crisis throws up opportunities for heroism,” Jones said. “Alan Bates is a proper hero.”
Where to Read: PBS.org
Further Listening: Masterpiece Studio
Hughes discusses how she used her experience as a journalist, documentarian, and dramatist to bring this story to life in such a compelling way that it had massive real-life effects.
Where to Listen: YouTube
Further Reading: ‘The Great Post Office Scandal’ by Nick Wallis
Wallis, a journalist, served as a consultant on the TV series and has dedicated most of his career in the last several years to continuing to report on the scandal and its aftermath. His relentless reporting is archived on an exhaustive website he has dedicated to the cause, and his 544-page book is the definitive work on the subject, though it predates the series and the legislative effects it has had. He’s now at work on a follow-up project.
Where to Buy: Amazon.com
Peabody Conversation with Patrick Spence, Executive Producer and James Strong, Director
In this backstage interview at the Peabody Awards, Executive Producer Patrick Spence tells us that “the power of television is immense” and that the program “brought about huge awareness and huge emotions in the country.”
Where to Watch: PeabodyAwards.com