Post Office scandal writer prepared for low ratings and 'can't believe' success
Mr Bates vs the Post Office writer, Gwyneth Hughes, has admitted they prepared for low ratings and 'can't believe' the success of the show.
The ITV drama follows the true story of mysterious financial losses appearing in village Post Office tills. The four-part series documents a new computer system called Horizon being installed across the country. It saw numerous postmasters wrongly prosecuted between 1999 and 2015 for theft, false accounting, and/or fraud.
Over the course of 14 years, more than 700 Post Office sub-postmasters were wrongly accused of – and some convicted of and even imprisoned for – theft, fraud and false accounting in their branches. Mr Bates vs The Post Office follows the story of Alan Bates, who along with his partner Suzanne Sercombe in 1998, used life savings to buy a Post Office branch in Llandudno, North Wales.
Mr Bates vs the Post Office writer, Gwyneth Hughes, has admitted they prepared for low ratings and 'can't believe' the success of the show (ITV)Alan, played by Toby Jones, refused to accept liability like many other postmasters and postmistresses, and the Post Office terminated their contract with three months’ notice.
It meant the couple lost the £65,000 they invested. Alan went on to set up a campaign for Post Office whistleblowers and eventually, he and five others took the Post Office to the High Court in a Group Litigation Order covering 555 claimants. Judge Mr Justice Fraser ruled computer errors were to blame.
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Talking about the show and its success on Wednesday's Lorraine, Mr Bates vs the Post Office writer Gwyneth said: "Well, the night before the first transmission of episode one, our boss, Patrick Spence, said to us: 'Now, let's all poise ourselves not to get upset if it doesn't do very well in the ratings because you know it's new year's week and people are probably wanting something a bit jollier.'
The series tells the true story of the prosecution of 700 innocent Post Office sub-postmasters and postmistresses between 1999 and 2015 (ITV)"We woke up the next day like: 'Oh, what?!' [It's just got] bigger and bigger... it's just astonishing how so many people have committed so passionately to watching it, talking about it, I still can't believe it actually!"
She added of the show: "We were building on a great foundation, lots of journalism and lots of campaigning down the years. But yeah, the visibility of all this since the drama is amazing, we were really surprised how successful it's been. Just astonished, we weren't expecting this level of impact, it's welcomed!"
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