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For anyone who doesn't know the story of the Horizon Post Office Scandal, it's hard to sum up in a few line sound bites. Essentially at the turn of the year 2000 the entire Post Office Network in the UK became computerised. The new computer system, Horizon, was outsourced and designed by Fujitsu. It was already late, had gone over budget and was full of bugs, but was launched anyway. Soon thereafter Postmasters all over the country began experiencing shortfalls on their accounts, shortfalls which due to their draconian contract they were legally liable for. The Post Office had an entire investigation and legal department responsible for prosecuting postmasters, which it did with great vigour, while exercising no investigation whatsoever to the Post Masters claims - that Horizon was at fault. This party line continued for near on 20 years, while Postmasters all over the country were having their lives systematically destroyed by the very brand they had been working for. Many lost most or all of their savings, relationships suffered, and some committed suicide.

The main protagonist here is Alan Bates (Toby Jones) a former Subpostmaster who begins to rally other victims to his cause, and ultimately takes the Post Office on in the High Court. The span of the story here covers a period of well over twenty years and it does well to juggle multiple narratives and storylines, as well as give a greater insight into some of those who were responsible (at least two of whom, portrayed in this drama, should be facing prison sentences) fort this utter travesty - The meat of the screen time goes to Bates, Jo Hamilton (an excellent performance from Monica Dolan) and Lee Castleton (a nice out of type casting of Will Mellor in the role) - Postmasters all at the sharp end of this tale. A couple of composite characters make up some of the other Postmasters and other characters in the story including Bob Rutherford (Ian Hart) are composites, his character being based on the Second Sight duo of Ian Henderson & Ron Warmington. Hart nails them both superbly wioth his role. Other notable performances are the likes of Lia Williams and Katherine Kelly, playing Paula Vennells and Angela van den Bogerd, two women who were out of their depth in their own Post Office Senior Management roles, let alone in exploring the Horizon issue at hand. And whose lying apathy is brilliantly captured by both actors. Shaun Dooley, an actor I always have a lot of time for is great as Michael Riffikin, the man who saw first hand accounts being altered by employees at Fujitsu remotely. Amit Shah & Alex Jennings both give solid turns in their respective roles.

When I first saw the trailer for this series, I was initially worried that such a crucial story of our time had been reduced to a Ms Marble like Sunday easy going drama affair. Fortunately, despite the God awful song on the closing credits of every episode, this drama scores more than it misses and doesn't shy away from several of the darker aspects of the story.

For the most part this is a show which does a superb job of juggling an incredibly complex topic, and is anchored by solid and well researched performances. Some of the dialogue is very expositional at times, (especially in episode 1) but there is a lot to pack into the four hour running time. In what really should have been a six parter for a story of this type and scale, inevitably some things, events and people were not included. It did feel a little criminal not to at least mention the investigation work done by Panorama, (a major turning point in the story) or have the name of investigating Journalist Nick Wallace mentioned by someone, somewhere in the show. (his name is in the credits to be fair) These were key turning points in the fight for justice and warrant inclusion and I am sure we could have had a few less shots of the impressive Welsh Countryside and a bit more meat elsewhere.. But this is essentially the Postmasters story, and while it would have been interesting to see more scenes on who, what, where and when took key decisions at both the Post Office and Fujitsu, this drama should go a long way to waking up the general public on this crucial issue of public interest, who have been largely ignorant of it for so long.

It's vital viewing and essential part of the quest for justice in what has become the biggest miscarriage of justice in British history. I remind you, like the show does itself, the fight continues for many, and its not over yet.

Highly recommended.

This four-part ITV series appears to have really captured the British public imagination, the furious reaction to it has seen the show's cause taken up in the national press, highlighted in the nightly television news, seen questions asked of the P. M. and indeed filtered directly through to the mood of the people on the street.

The crux of the matter was the appalling mistreatment of sub-postmasters up and down the country following the enforced imposition of the new Horizon computer system on them by the State-owned General Post Office. In a significant number of cases, the system threw up financial irregularities for no good reason, implicitly stating that when the business owner did their daily cash-balance they were now mysteriously in debt to the GPO and were contractually obliged to make good the shortfall, out of their own pockets. These sums, although they started relatively low, soon grew exponentially to significant levels often into 5-figure amounts leaving the postmasters, after exhausting the almost non-existent and unsympathetic help-line assistance of the I. T. company responsible for the system's installation, Fujitsu, found themselves taken to court to repay their so-called debt.

For pretty much all of them, this meant not only financial stress and indeed ruin, with many remortgaging their houses or putting in their own and even their families' life-savings to meet the "debt", but of course as respected members of the community often at the social hub of the towns and villages they served, their good names were dragged through the dirt with their families suffering alongside them. Sadly, for some, the strain understandably proved too much with a number suffering mental health issues, as we see one poor man commit suicide and another woman enter a state of chronic depression which saw her too attempt suicide and require ECGT to assist her recovery.

It took one of the middle-aged victims who with his wife lost his own post office and, now relocated to the scenic backdrop of the Carnarvon Hills, to decide to fight back, specifically by trying to find out if he was the only one afflicted by the malfunctioning computer system, as he'd been officially told there had been no other complaints registered.

By getting an article published in a national computer magazine - these were obviously the days before social networking - he learns of others like him who've suffered a similar fate and so starts to organise a protest group to take their collective complaints up the ladder. Helped in this by a sympathetic M. P., they gradually make headway but not before the establishment tries to block them, using some distinctly unsavoury, indeed sometimes sinister tactics to try to make the issue go away.

But thankfully, for once, truth will out and with the help of an initially reluctant and nervous whistle-blower at Fujitsu testifying to their ability to remotely access the owners' accounts, the group finally won their case and accepted a multi-milllion pound settlement, without admitted liability naturally, although sadly about 80% of this was eaten up by the all-too-familiar "legal-costs". Still, the judgement did mean that all their false convictions were cancelled on appeal, thus restoring their good names and clearing the criminal records of those who'd fought and lost their earlier cases but even so, this was still a shocking indictment of the abuse carried out in the name of the state by faceless, uncaring, some of them even ennobled executives who couldn't be bothered to examine these low-level complaints and check if their "foolproof" system could somehow be at fault.

It must have seemed a bit of a tough proposition bringing what on paper seems such a dry subject to life on the small-screen, but by focusing on the different human-interest angles and contrasting these with the uncaring response of the empowered civil-servants, it made for gripping television. Helped by a sympathetic ensemble cast, headed by the redoubtable Toby Jones being ideally cast in the title role as the little David who decided to take on the national Goliath, it certainly stirred the blood of my wife and I who are both now pleased to see the issue back in the public eye.

We too now hope for further restitution for the affected parties, even as we're told over the end credits that four of the victims committed suicide and many others have died in the over twenty intervening years. Almost as importantly we hope too that those who in their jobs-worth way inhumanely stopped the truth coming out and yet have escaped any public censure far less conviction for their part in the scandalous cover-up, get their individual come-uppance.

I'm glad that this horrendous story is finally getting the headline and prime time news that it deserves.

Paula Vennells and the Post office are an absolute disgrace. Knowingly sending almost 300 people to gaol for a crime that you know 100% they did not commit but was 100% fraud comitting by the Post office, under Paula's instruction, well there just aren't words to describe how evil Paula is.

This show is a fantastic portray of the corruption of the post office and how they not only cheated their loyal postmasters out of their live savings but also how they tried to cover it all up.

Hopefully not that this show has been aired the Post office will be held accountable and Paula will be stripped of her honours and gaoled.

Best ITV show of 2024.

ITV are a real powerhouse for Drama at the moment. Elsewhere I have reviewed the confused nature of BBC drama and then I tuned in to watch this brilliant piece from ITV.

TV drama at its best can offer an insight into the human dramas around us, one that goes behind the newspaper headlines and fleshes out details and gains a wider acknowledgement of how big corporations have acted in a shameful way.

This is also gripping and entertaining, it's beautifully shot and written. It is astonishing how the POST OFFICE managed to get away with this for so long and still the legacy of pain from these cases endures. I would have perhaps liked to have known more about HOW it happened but I guess the ongoing public enquiry is for that.

There are standout performances, none more so than the ever reliable Toby Jones. The wonderful Monica Dolan and brilliant work by Amy Nutall and. Will Mellor are heartbreaking as another couple rolled over by the system. The performance by Krupa Pattani is brilliant and shocking. The pain is never over played and remains with you long after the programme is over.

I hope that this programme adds to the understanding of what these people went through and that at the end of the public enquiry some will pay for their despicable behaviour toward the innocent.

Well done ITV and director. James Strong and writer Gwyneth. Hughes. When you look at the response from the public and how it has moved political debate it proves that drama and the arts in general are vital, useful and key to a functioning democracy.

If you're not moved by this story you probably fit the job description for a job in the Post Office, or maybe our government? It's a truly shocking story and identifies some names who should hang their heads in shame whilst also pinpointing some of the good people in our society. I read one paper review that claimed the dramatisation lacked drama. Lacked drama! There's drama enough in this story to stand strong, how it wrecked lives and enriched others, the slow slog through molasses in search of the truth, but maybe some people aren't happy without some crash bang wallop? This is a very human tale of massive injustice and corporate cover up. Surely now there's momentum to bring justice and apologies to those still around to receive it? Fingers crossed ...

A spectacular miscarriage of justice affecting hundreds of ordinary people. The Post Office, in fact a government department, persecuted their employees for what turned out to be, their faulty computer system. The computer company and post office are shown to be heartless liars who made enormous efforts to cover up their mistake and hide the evidence. Eventually the employees achieve the truth and expose the errors. Some minor financial settlement is achieved that in no way compensates the hundreds of people whose lives have been ruined. A true David vs Goliath story that was quite upsetting to watch, not least because it is true!

A superb short series which captured the astonishing story of how the Post Office bullied their own employees into submission. Apparently with great accuracy the story pointed the finger at two of the senior management. An excellent cast with a great script meant that the viewer was both educated and deeply moved.

Two black points I note having done some research. No mention of the then Chairman, who must have had some knowledge of the scandal, and who later moved onto another job - as head of ITV (the makers of the documentary). And why no mention of the Daily Mail who pushed the campaign for justice for many years (which I actually remember).

An excellent docudrama about the Post Office Horizon system scandal case that did make it to the news at the time but this ITV mini series has commendably succeeded in driving the message of the real, astonishing events, home. Unbelievable that this actually went on for so long, on the detriment of hundreds of people's lives and livelihoods who were wrongly convicted for theft. Well, they do say that sometimes life is stranger than fiction.

At the end of the four episode series however, I felt I wanted to see more. For example, to see if anyones were held accountable for their roles in the scandal, and justice, as it seemed that the directly affected individuals won a Pyrrhic victory, by winning the case but not having been able to fully recover their losses, yet. Further, I am unable to fathom how some of them will ever recover their ruined lives. According to latest UK press news, hundreds were jailed or left bankrupted and at least four people took their own lives.

Perhaps, as renewed calls for justice on the case are being made, we could be looking forward to a series two offering, for the appropriately rightful closure.

PS. Don't miss the 1 hour documentary made on the Real Story to accompany the series.

You will see more cups of cha in this film than any other. On paper, post offices, computer systems and cake sounds like the most boring formula for a film.

However the four episodes are gripping with never a dull moment. The script and cast are superb. Toby Jones fits the role like a warm glove and Lia Williams as PO chief Vennells is ambiguous, slimy, icy and first class. The film captures the essence of what was the biggest ever miscarriage of justice in British legal history. Over 2,700 claimants with the little people being sent to jail and financially ruined. It was like the establishment throwing darts at both naked feet. Let's hope that the film will take the lid off even more and at last we me find those responsible at the PO and Horizon punished. And where did Jo's £30,000 disappear to ?

Dull-looking?

Not so.

During my years in England I had loved the British Post office...incredibly fast and efficient with a rich history in the service of the UK. I knew nothing about its banking and pension payment services.

But a heart-breaking scandal was brewing thanks to privatization, computerization and an huge government coverup. This series from ITV dramatizes the vicious campaign by the Post Office and the gov't to cover up their own failures.

Hundreds of "subpostmasters" (those people who run postal kiosks in small village shops) were bankrupted, criminalized, jailed and even driven to mental hospitals as they were relentlessly persecuted. All were charged with stealing fortunes and were hounded cruelly, even though they had only done their jobs faithfully and honestly.

Toby Jones delivers the heart of this multi-decade scandal, which ruined the lives of the sweetest and most innocent people imaginable.

Bravo to ITV for broadcasting a beautifully-made series, which highlights the human element of a disaster so complex it requires thousands of words to describe on Wikipedia.

Currently running on PBS's Masterpiece Theatre. Also on Amazon but perhaps you can find a cheaper outlet.

Who knew the Post Office could create such powerful and moving entertainment?

I was aware of the appalling injustice perpetrated on decent, honest hard working postmasters and mistresses as were many, but nothing seemed to happen. A computer journal exposed it, Private Eye, Panorama....then, suddenly, on terrestrial television - which is continually being scorned as past its sell by date, a brilliant, powerful drama highlighting the injustice - or yes, even, evil perpetrated on innocent victims.

Not since Cathy Come Home, has a drama so galvanised the public and reduced election-conscious politicians into scrambling for answers. What could not be done in 20 years, has suddenly been achieved in weeks, with all criminal convictions about to be overturned.

Toby Jones as Bates is fabulous, I could almost imagine him taking time off with a ghostly Jack Hargreaves to present Out of Town in scenic Wales. Monica Dolan as Jo, brought more tears to the eye than Fay Wray in King Kong - but this was no story of a Monster in love, rather it was a cynical public body with over-promoted zealots at its' helm, failing to use common sense, or even pragmatism, to deal with serious computer glitches.

How any lawyer could imagine several hundred industrious sub-post office workers would suddenly turn to crime is beyond me. Like discovering the Kray Twins had produced The Sound of Music.

I liked Katherine Kelly's nuanced Angela Van Den Bogerd (not from the Von Trap family, note) and the excellent Lia Williams as Paula Vennells.

Television can still be powerful, cut the mustard and act as a catalyst for change. The best drama of 2024 in the first week of the year. And no, I don't bother checking my change at the sub-post office I go to: I trust them.

We binged this series today as we found it fascinating. I read the reviews and was impressed with this story I had previously heard nothing about. The fact that these postal bureaucrats and executives obviously lied when they were aware of programming issues and falsely implicated this staggering amount of people is hard to understand or forgive. There are executives who were in charge at the time that deserve jail time for this egregious miscarriage of justice. I am glad this series is jump starting this dragged out process, but the continuing delay paints an ugly picture of British justice and government.

Mr Bates vs. The Post Office Streaming on 7plus My Rating 9/10

As one article stated There is a moment in "Mr Bates vs. The Post Office" that makes you as a viewer go "it cannot be real" only for you then to remind yourself that what you are watching is a true story.

However as Australians we know that so called revolutionary computer programs linked to our recent Robodebt class action cause heartbreak and great financial loss to innocent users of these systems.

This 4 part series tells the true story of one of the greatest miscarriages of justice in British legal history. When money started to seemingly disappear from its local branches, the government owned Post Office wrongly blamed their own managers for its apparent loss.

These allegations took a heavy toll on the victims and their families, leading to stress, illness, family breakdown, and at least four suicides.

The events depicted in Mr Bates vs The Post Office took place over a 20 year period covering the first sackings of sub postmasters and closures of their shops in 1999 to 2009 to the eventual class action that took place in 2020 2021 that began to see justice , accountability and some compensation for the victims of a faulty accounting system called Horizon.

A splendid ensemble cast headed by Toby Jones perfectly cast as Alan Bates a Welsh sub- postmaster who after being accused of fraudulent accounting was locked out of his business . Alan Bates eventually became the champion of over 500 post office workers who experienced the same treatment when the British Post Office insisted their accounting system Horizon doesn't lie .

As each victim rang for help to rectify the mistake they were just told they were responsible for the short loss and that no one else had reported the same problem?

This series is a David and Goliath story everyone should see this cautionary tale . It's beautifully directed by James Strong and written by Gwyneth Hughes.

After the series be sure to watch the 48 minute documentary on the same channel The Real Story of Mr Bates vs The Post Office.

This is a gobsmacking true story, in turns heartwarming and enraging. These poor poor people and what they went through. The injustice handed down to these Post Office employees was extraordinary in its savagery and the fact that the Post Office could run their own criminal investigations just adds another layer of disbelief.

A tale of a poorly run bureaucracy and their dodgy software vendor prosecuting innocent people to cover up a colossal and embarrassing screw up.

It was well told and is an indictment on large software projects run by halfwits feeding from the public trough.

It is compelling viewing.

Another excellent British short series based on true story which as I understand still continues. I love the kind of series!

I was watching the series and my mind refused to believe it was a real story behind the plot. Such a financial scheme, such a disastrous hole in modern legal system, hundreds of people lost their jobs and reputation, lost their homes, some lost their lives and the legal battle is still on, while the head of the Post Office (I cannot name her a mastermind behind of all this) was awarded Dame title and still holds it!

Excellent script in very good length, great actors and I would recommend it.

A great cast, well-paced screenplay, well worth the time. How both types of system (well-respected institutions and information technology) can let down and even destroy those who depend on them, and the appalling closing of ranks from major organizations in attempts to cover up failings, including a failure on the part of the justice system in its initial approach.

It's also an object lesson in how not to handle well-justified complaints, and a case of how truth really can sometimes be stranger than fiction. A former cabinet minister plays himself in a cameo role rather forcefully, too!

Don't miss watching this, but maybe worry a bit once you have!

This is a fantastic drama retelling an unbelievable miscarriage of justice and the impact it had on ordinary citizens, I say ordinary but in fact they were extraordinary in how they fought back and didn't give up. The casting is superlative with superb performances across the board. I cannot recall such an affecting "drama" I've seen in recent years, you really will feel so so angry and utterly disgusted in how the Postmasters were treated. The story is well paced and explains the ins and outs of the story well without being too intricate and thankfully not oversimplifying things. Everyone associated with this production should be congratulated and it's a must-see.

STAR RATING: ***** Brilliant **** Very Good *** Okay ** Poor * Awful

Alan Bates (Toby Jones) is a sub-postmaster in a small Welsh village, visited by agents on behalf of The Post Office, suspected of stealing from the accounts. He is the latest in a long line of sub-postmasters, falsely accused of stealing on account of the faulty accounting system Horizon, installed by electronics firm Fujitsu. While many have been sent to prison and even been driven to suicide over the years, Alan and others, including Jo Hamilton (Monica Dolan), Lee (Will Mellor) and Lisa Castleton (Amy Nuttall) and David Hamilton (Conor Mullen) are presently under suspicion. But Alan, a man of principle, decides to fight back, and rounds all affected together in a battle to expose the truth.

Unless you've been living under a rock these last few weeks, it will have been impossible to escape from the scandal of the false prosecutions brought against hundreds of sub-postmasters over a span of twenty years, lauded as arguably the biggest injustice of all time, dominating the headlines in all the papers and other forms of media. While the plight of the innocent postmasters has been at the forefront of the story, the behaviour of the Post Office has also come under heavy scrutiny, especially with its seemingly unique power to being its own private prosecutions. The whole sorry affair has cast a cynical light on the thanks you get for being a decent, hard-working 'ordinary person' (and conversely, what you think you can get away with when you're all high-and-mighty and powerful.)

Like any other average person caught up in a situation like this, there's a rawness in how they react, since they never asked to be put there, and the cast here, including Jones in the commanding central role, Julie Hesmondhalgh as his sturdy partner, Dolan, Mellor and Nuttall all play everything in an affectingly natural way, without any distracting histrionics, that keeps the drama on solid ground and provides a sense of believability, guided along by a similar approach from director James Strong. In a succinct four episode take, this horrifying true life travesty is brought to shattering life.

The realist approach is reminiscent of the style of a Ken Loach film, and this fittingly has had the most shattering real life impact since Cathy Come Home led to the creation of the charity Shelter, in forcing former Post Office CEO Paula Vennells to hand back her CBE, and showing the power drama still has to address and combat injustice. ****

I'm not going to go into the IN's & OUT's of what happened regarding this SCANDAL of EPIC PROPORTIONS...

It's been well documented and... THE POST OFFICE THE GOVERNMENT and especially FUJITSU should hang their heads in SHAME.

I think I'm stating the obvious when I say for a long time many folks had NO IDEA of just HOW BIG A SCANDAL this thing was...

Those that say...COVER UP's & CONSPIRACIES Do Not Exist with those in power...should watch this.

Of Course Conspiracy & Cover Up's exist & always have, there's a BIG ONE being addressed a little more now (somewhat) with Washington trying to get their heads around something many folks at the TOP have known about for a long, long time... But this one is for another time, but it's going to wake up our species once it hit's the fan...

But regarding this one here...

How PATHETIC are these people in charge WHO KNEW, does one believe in 'Karma' it would be apt if such a thing truly existed because those that said nothing & worse DID NOTHING to stop these poor people being trampled on will perhaps get what's coming?

Here's where I praise 'ITV' it is a channel I rarely watch because frankly it shows very little of interest to myself these days but this could be said of a number of mainstream British Tv Channels these days.

They have little imagination...and...churn out the same Reality Tv Shows (most of which are rubbish), Game Shows, Quiz's & Soap Opera's... Imaginative, Original & Exciting and /or INTERESTING Television Series (that are not featuring Detectives / Police, Nurses / Medical shows) are few.

How I miss the 70's & 80's ERA those folks were given free reign to dream up all sorts of different scenario TV SERIES...Why can't they return to these different types of shows being aired during prime time on the main channels...rather than the usual stuff which lasts for 10, 20 even 30 years!!!

One thing they can still do well, at times is REAL LIFE DRAMA Accounts & to be fair ITV do this rather well & this one "Mr Bates (no sniggering back there) vs The Post Office" is right up there as ONE OF THE BEST....

In time to come (if not already) it will be seen as a superbly made account of what went on & helped open more people's eyes as to getting even more JUSTICE for these poor people.

One cannot even imagine how they got through it.

"THEY ARE BRAVE SOULS"

EVERYONE, ITV, the writers, the directors, producers, writers & ESPECIALLY THE ACTORS HERE (many of whom should be rightly PROUD of their WORK here for they have provided a terrific collective was at work here & this will go down as a terrific HISTORICALLY piece of TELEVISION... Which I'm sure in the long run will have HELPED these people in some way achieve JUSTICE & that must make ALL OF THESE ACTORS VERY PROUD, perhaps even their finest moment...and WHAT A GREAT ONE.

THANK-YOU Folks.

It was BOLD of ITV to take this on... And BOY has it paid off.

This will WIN AWARDS & rightly so but more importantly it will hopefully re-address (even more) the EVIL done to these people.

WHAT SHOULD CLEARLY HAPPEN NOW ?

There is talk of a BLANKET 'ALL' NOT GUILTY (even if a tiny few might have fiddled the system) & Yes this SHOULD HAPPEN right now, quickly, even if ONE LAW HAS TO BE MADE to make it 'RIGHT'

COMPENSATION? Oh YEAH, just a LOT.

Some did deals very early on...those BS paper deals should be RIPPED UP straight away.

TALK of £600, 000 for each person to start with.... I don't care if the numbers grow to 1,000, 2,000 or more postmasters that have been done...

YOU PAY THESE FOLKS 1 MILLION POUNDS EACH (TAX FREE) as well as ALL COSTS & LOSSES on top.

Fujitsu SHOULD PAY...but if they cannot & will not & QUICKLY (20 years ago this!!!!) then folks in power need to get your fingers out, admit the problems & that it was mainly YOUR FAULT & get them ALL FREED, PAID & SORTED.

It won't get back those 20 years of MISERY but it will HELP....and if Fujitsu do not do this then the GOVERNMENT should go after them & should never use them EVER AGAIN...

As for the POST OFFICE... Well, geez, we Brits know just how this MIGHTY Organisation has FALLEN... Prices for EVERYTHING regarding them continues to head UPWARDS whilst the service sadly heads DOWN.

The Post Office needs to be as it once was... A HAPPY HUB of a place, which is friendly & provides fair prices, not inflated one's done just to line the pockets of those few at the top we saw in this DRAMA & REAL LIFE...Yeah return your honour but KEEP the BONUSES!!! ??? WHAT?

Any HONEST individual would never keep such a thing but alas these folks are CLEARLY not honest.

THEY'RE TIME WILL COME.