Mr Bates vs the Post Office, whose first episode aired on January 1 on ITV, unleashed the anger and sadness of 3.9 million viewers . The prestigious British actor Toby Jones (star of films such as Capote and Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy) gave a face and voice to the battle that Alan Bates waged against the UK government for two decades.
The sad thing is that that the BBC - particularly BBC Radio - has been reporting on this in depth for years, as has Private Eye, Computer Weekly etc.
Former Post Office chief Paula Vennels hands back CBE as Horizon scandal intensifies
What a harsh punishment.
To be fair, there is an ongoing inquiry which was put onto a statutory footing in 2021. It’s expected to complete in 2025. It’s not a particularly easy site to navigate, although the search facility will bring up witness statements and videos with transcriptions of appearances at the inquiry so far. This is a mirror site with better search function.
Most of the reports and statements so far relate to the Post Office’s continuing failures of disclosure. They shredded a lot of it.
None of that is to understate the importance of this series in making the details known and creating public pressure to get this done, and done properly. Given the general failure of inquiries to produce anything more than harsh words, that is crucual. I look forward to the second series, which must be coming given how much this one couldn’t cover.
Jut a reminder that Toby Jones is Lance. He’s a detectorist.
