I'm not planning to watch the drama as I won't know for sure what's fact and poetic license. I'll watch this thread and if people report it being a good watch I'll tune in. It's hard to believe that this isn't complete fiction. How could someone do what she did with the consequences there have been? Despicable.
It is a good watch...www.itv.com/watch/mr-bates-vs-the-post-office/10a0469, IMO.
I look at the cast and the fact that it's ITV and think....ugh. But I'll give it a go. Thanks.
Originally Posted by PickleB
Signed.
A couple of links to encourage you (even if you're not a fan of the Guardian):
Edit: I don't often come across 9.0 ratings at imdb
Last edited by PickleB; 3rd January 2024 at 16:07.
I enjoyed those, thanks a lot.
Private Eye have been covering the story for years. It has been grim reading the injustices heaped on the Postmasters.
A subscription is well worthwhile to know what the MSM are failing to report.
Do so. It’s equally compelling and sad. It doesn’t feel like there’s much poetic license being used. And it’s not like any of the bad guys are moaning either. Heads down more like because they know it’s accurate.
Wrongly jailed postmaster praises TV drama:
A wrongly jailed former sub-postmaster says a new TV drama about the Horizon Post Office scandal is important in getting the story to a wider audience.
Noel Thomas, 77, from Anglesey, was one of more than 700 convicted in the miscarriage of justice.
"I think it's going to bring it home for a lot of people," said the man sent to prison for false accounting in 2006, whose conviction was quashed in 2021.
ITV's Mr Bates vs The Post Office tells the tale of the lives that were ruined.
Responding to the programme the Post Office said it "sincerely apologises to the victims".
Mr Thomas, from Gaerwen, said the four-part series, which stars Detectorists actor Toby Jones, was hugely important in securing a bigger voice for victims.
"We've been a small unit of about 500 of us but it hasn't really got out there until now, and hopefully this programme will get to reach more viewers.
"It's been 18 years for me and it's been hell for a lot of people."...
I've signed the petition, although for some reason the TV programme seems to be portraying Venells as somebody who was simply out of her depth, and under significant pressure (the Royal Mail's business has been shrinking massively as a result of email and online shopping) in making the decisions that she did.
That's somewhat different to how she has been described by Computer Weekly and Private Eye, both of whom were running the story long before any other media was interested.
Hopefully the postmasters/postmistresses affected will receive appropriate compensation, although it's still dragging on (and how do you compensate somebody who has been wrongly imprisoned, or has taken their own life?). And the chances of any of the culpable, whether at the Post Office or at Fujitsu, being punished is sadly vanishingly small.
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote