User reviews

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.

It's true. All of it.

My dad was a victim. Turned up at his shop and demanded £54,000.

Ransacked my parents house and took away anything of value.

Forced my parents to sell their shop (to the post office!).

My parents had to leave their home behind, in disgrace, and try to start a new life elsewhere. They barely went outside for the next 20 years.

The people missing from this drama, are the investigators, who had a financial incentive NOT to investigate.

Their annual bonus was based on the amount of 'missing' money they could recover, so instead of investigating, they just demanded cash.

I was aghast watching this riveting but desperately sad depiction of true events that befell and still befalls over 3,500 subpostmasters in Britain from 2001 to date.

Superb performances from Toby Jones, Julie Hesmondhalgh, Will Mellor and Katherine Kelly but to name all who brought this drama series to life. Thank You.

My deepest sympathies and condolences to all who suffered and continue to suffer at the hands of an unquestionably evil British Post Office - and by extension, British government past and present - who treated and continue to treat some 3,500 people, their families and wider society with outrageous disdain, cruelty and pure evil. Shame on all those lawyers who sacrificed their souls by an egregious contempt of integrity, decency and honesty by hiding behind that of which is called law and justice, which to date, is no law or justice whatsoever.

Particular mention should be made of Paula Vannells, the former CEO of The Post Office, who acted dispicably and reprehensibly in never accepting any wrongdoing on the part of the Post Office, or her role as CEO. That the book was not thrown at her is an affront not just to that of law and justice themselves, but to the moral and ethical fabric of society itself. That she was 'out of her depth' is no shape or form a defence of her evil actions. She epitomises what is wrong with SO MANY so-called leaders in society today, be they in business, politics, sport, religious or charities. She is a poison that continues to poison and her role as a part-time priest is beyond nauseating.

I wept a number of times throughout this outstanding TV production and urge all to fight with all their breadth wherever and whenever injustice reigns. Because if you don't, you will allow people of the ilk of Paula Vannells and her cohorts, to continue to reign contempt and evil on all who never ever deserved such injustice against them...

A brilliant portrayal by Toby Jones, and a magnificent exposé of an appalling episode in British public life, one which has yet to be brought to a satisfactory conclusion, and probably never will.

We live in Australia, where of two recent Royal Commissions, one uncovered massive wrongdoing by the banks, which resulted in many ordinary people losing their homes and their life savings, and more recently a flawed computer system called 'Robodebt' punished hundreds of thousands of innocent and vulnerable people, and led to several suicides. But were these ever made right? Well, tragically you can't ever undo the suicides, but did people ever get back what they lost, and were the guilty ever punished?

Of course not! Don't be so silly!!!!

The guilty were bankers in case one and politicians and senior civil servants in case two. Not a single one was ever charged with a crime, let alone convicted. No banker ever did time, nor did any politician. You see, they and Paula Vennells belong to a different class from us, a privileged class for whom the law simply does not apply. They live their lives of luxury, draw their enormous bonuses, and eventually retire with huge hand-outs, while we all struggle down in the mire.

My prediction is that Sunak will say that it is not within his power to rescind the CBE of Vennells, and that it would not be "in the public interest" for her to be prosecuted and sent to jail for all she has done.

Nothing to see here, just let's move on.

That innocent postmasters did jail time, and some were driven to suicide, was just collateral damage in setting up a new 21st century digital post office, and Vennells will no doubt still be praised to the sky for all her wonderful achievements in doing so.

People in Britain were once ruled by feudal aristocrats and royals. Now they are ruled by feudal politicians and executives. Not a lot has changed in all these centuries.

This is not really a review, but it's hard to write one while feeling so angry.

So here's the review. Brilliantly acted, very tight script and screenplay to fit so many years into four episodes. Toby Jones for a top award.

10/10, and deserves 20/10.

This is a true story. Such is the title sequence of this series. Not 'this is based on a true story' but this is the truth. In that it differs from accounts where the events portrayed are rewritten or invented for dramatic purposes. We know it's the truth as much of what is portrayed has been examined in a court of law.

I can't say this was an easy watch. I was screaming at the TV at one point. But I want to thank those responsible for bringing this to the attention of the general public. It was absolutely riveting.

But any dramatisation was understated and let the tragic story tell itself. All of the actors were wholly believable even if the sorry tale left you incredulous. Even a cameo appearance by Nadhim Zahawi MP (playing himself) was utterly convincing and drew you into the very tense scene of the committee room.

Ultimately, this is a desperately sad but unfortunately real account of a frightening miscarriage of justice. People died, lives were destroyed as a result of decisions made by senior managers of a company wholly owned by the British Government.

I won't spoil anything but watch it. Watch it closely. Then write to your MP.

It's very rare for me to binge watch an entire five-part series in one night, I started to watch Mr Bates versus the post office at around 10 o'clock and finish the last episode at three in the morning! Needless to say I'm feeling very tired this morning. But boy was it worth it.

I had been vaguely aware of the Post Office scandal involving a new computer system that had been installed in all the UK Post offices. What I wasn't aware of was how these poor people who had lost there jobs there integrity and in some cases their lives had to fight to clear their names and their reputations and at least get some sort of compensation for what has happened to them.

This is a classic David and Goliath story of the small man taking on the massive corporate Conglomerates in this case the post office and Fujitsu computer company who installed the system. At times this is a truly heartbreaking story of how honest hard-working people are made to look criminals and thieves when they clearly weren't.

This has a top-notch cast headed by soon-to-be National treasure Toby Jones who is perfect for the role of Mr Bates.

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.

For me, there was a complete lack of focus on those who where responsible for the Sub-Post Masters' scandal. There are hints., such as the evidence in court that Fujitsu were employing staff to fix the data while the Sub-Post Masters slept. But who authorised it, and why did nobody seemingly question that? And what were Fujitsu doing to fix the problems wasn't even mentioned. As to the dramatic part of the show, top marks for everyone. The acting and writing we excellent. They certainly made me cry, even though I already knew the key facts, but making it all about the people affected by the scandal made it all so much more real. I predict a Bafta or two.

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 ...

The reviews on here are quite incredible; the marks dished out are up there with the greatest cinematic and televisual artworks of the 21st and 20th centuries!

Yes, it's a shocking story - and it was when it first began to be reported upon more than ten years ago. And surely it's a story that should get anyone annoyed, that should get people demanding justice for the underdogs. And it certainly has brought this story to a much wider audience with the result that some of those responsible are beginning to get a bit hot under the collar. Good!

But that aside (the real world, in other words) is this this TV program any good? No, it really isn't. It's a ridiculously syrupy sweet confection. The second village we see is straight out of Camberwick Green. The acting is so overdone that it makes River City look like a class act. Show not tell? No no, this is mass audience stuff so everything must be told. Camilla Long in the Sunday Times quite rightly called it out. Get real!

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!

This was riveting and we binge watched the 4 episodes and then the seperate Mr Bates the true story . The latter shows how accurately was the depiction of a true (and ongoing) story.

Really well made and acted

A shocking example of how corporate management will protect their brand image. That they can do no wrong and therefore cannot admit any mistakes or errors.

No matter who has to suffer as a consequence.

And when an organisation like the post office has the power to investigate itself and is virtually a law unto itself how the senior executives abuse that power.

The lengths the post office executive would go to try to cover up software mistakes was shocking.

Even more shocking was there has been no. Prosecutions of the post office management nor Fujitsu, (The post office CEO Paula Vennells was even awarded a CBE in 2020 )

You really feel the injustice to hundreds of sub-post masters who were persecuted, prosecuted and sacked. Which went on for years, despite the fact there was plenty of evidence something was wrong and post masters themselves had been saying so for years.

The issue was described as the biggest miscarriage of justice in Brtish history (and it is still yet to be resolved)

A vivid real life example of how big companies can never be trusted to 'do the right thing'. They will always follow profit and self interest.

How chief executives when allowed to be a law unto themselves abuse this power and the arrogance that they do not have to answer to anyone. (nor have they to date)

Riveting watch.

First Class - Superbly written and cast, Toby Jones is just brilliantly cast and is so believable you forget your watching an actor and believe he's a Sub-postmaster! The entire 4 parts are excellent and will bring a tear to your eye more than once. The supporting cast are also superb and you will be as shaken as you will be entertained that such a thing could happen, yet it somehow it did. The sadness of those that died and did not see justice is terrible, and was well weaved into the storyline and not forgotten. Well done to everyone involved in this, from the writers to the cast to the directing and producers, I'm sure you're all very proud of this, quite excellent, piece of work!

2024 is less than a week old, but I confidently predict I will not see a better TV drama series this year. It is a dramatic reconstruction of one of the biggest miscarriages of justice in British history.

It tells the story of the little people, village postmasters, against one of the biggest institutions in the UK, the Post office. Toby Jones plays Alan Bates as the stubborn Post master who refuses to give up the fight against his employer, the PO, as they accuse him of fraud, while he insists it's the new computer system, Horizon, that is at fault. He is the only one one that has this problem the PO says.

Dogged Mr Bates seeks out other Post masters and gradually more and more come forward with their stories which include finanacial ruin, prosecution, prison and four suicides. The cast are brilliant and believable and it is hard to hold back the tears in this very moving story which spans over 20 years and is still not fully concluded. Nobody has ever been prosecuted for this appalling corporate behaviour, but I understand a police investigation has now commenced. It should have started years ago.

The CEO of the PO at the time, Paula vennells played by Lia Williams, has recently received a CBE for services to the Post Office. You couldn't make it up. She should hand her award over to Alan Bates.

Well done ITV for this superb docudrama.

An important drama about the widest miscarriage of justice seen upon the British isles in recent memory. A story that demanded to be told, and has rightly enjoyed a huge cultural impact.

The fact it has proved to be such a cultural touchstone, beyond the fury-inspiring subject, is entirely a testament to the quality of the acting on display - from trusted old-hands like Toby Jones to previously under-utilised gems like Will Mellor, all of these real people are brought to heartbreaking, hard-to-watch reality. The show is nothing without them.

The writing, on the other hand - ugh. Just; when did this become the norm for ALL ITV drama? Everything spelt out in condescendingly broad strokes, and some scenes were so overwhelmingly (yet avoidably, with even a little imagination) cheesy & hackneyed, it sucked me straight out my suspended disbelief. How is this the same network who produced the seminal Cracker? And WHY are ALL of their dramas like this now? Where are they finding these writers? Is it nepotism? Is it laziness? Is it active pandering?

Sorry, that turned into a rant - great story, brilliantly performed. Badly written. Or maybe that's the point. I don't know.

That's all.

This isn't a ten out of ten show. It's telling a story of a huge miscarriage of justice. One that it seems many people were unaware of somehow. It was regularly on local news.

I think peoples hearts are ruling their heads. They've seen all the good the show has done into bringing this story to the publics attention on a mass scale, and are rating it so high because of that.

It was a good show. It was fairly slow paced, but this storyline wasn't going to be anything but that. Toby Jones gives yet another brilliant performance. The rest of the cast played their part really well. Go and give it watch. Don't let the ten ratings get your hopes up too much.

Yes, I know, we're all incredibly outraged - even though if we really cared, and paid attention, we wouldn't need a TV show to tell us about this and it could all have been sorted out years ago. The whole country is up in arms, delighted I think that for once we can all agree about hating someone (or some number of people - it's going to be hard to know where to stop). We all luuurve the chance to be sanctimonious. But actually, purely as TV, this isn't great. It's clunky, it's obvious, it's simplistic, it's ALL IN CAPITALS. In fact it isn't really a drama at all, it's a 'dramatisation' - like those segments you get in a doco about Cleopatra. The cast is decent, Toby Jones is of course always great, although Ian Hart is miscast as a posh civil servant type.

From a political angle, it's a depressing example of government by TV; but I suppose it does prove that, contrary to what some say, there is plenty of life left in traditional telly - if only they could come up with stuff we want to watch. Ironic in a way that it coincides with both BBC and ITV beginning to switch off their SD channels altogether.

One other little point: a white male hero and a woman villain! Never in fiction - only in fact.

Edit: I notice that, if you read between the lines, the media reviews quoted by ITV in their own trailers are saying pretty much what I'm saying. They say it is 'meticulously crafted' - which I suppose means 'true to its subject matter' - and that it's a great cast. They want to be nice about it, without saying that it is a great show - because it isn't.

Honestly had to pause it from crying so much, I cannot believe I don't ever remember seeing any of this in the news.

The acting is phenomenal.

The courtroom scenes in "Mr. Bates vs. The Post Office" are a masterclass in tension and drama. The writing skillfully navigates through legal intricacies, presenting them in a way that is accessible to the audience without compromising on authenticity. The courtroom becomes a battlefield of ideas and arguments, and the viewer is kept on the edge of their seat as the legal teams spar in their pursuit of truth. The pacing is impeccable, ensuring that every revelation and twist is delivered with maximum impact.

ITV seem to excel at these real-life dramas. They manage to tell the story in a 'straight' yet entertaining manner without the need for getting woke nor preachy (as another famous broadcaster does). The story is probably familiar to most by now, but nonetheless shocking when you see how it wrecked careers and lives. The Post Office and it's management don't come out of this well at all. But that didn't stop the government awarding their CEO a CBE. Absolutely disgraceful! The The cast all give riveting performances that perfectly capture the toll inflicted on hapless postmasters across the country. This production is a real credit to ITV who set the standard for such dramas.