Mr Bates vs. The Post Office is officially ITV's biggest drama in years, with millions of viewers tuning in to watch the four-part series.
It seems like everyone's talking about the gripping drama, based on the real-life post office scandal in the UK which saw thousands of Post Office sub-postmasters and postmistresses wrongly accused of theft, fraud and false accounting due to a defective IT system.
Toby Jones leads the cast as the titular Alan Bates, a man who formed the Justice For Sub-postmasters Alliance and fought to help those affected by the faulty Horizon system which left many people in debt, suffering from depression, and struggling to keep their jobs.
At the time of writing, the first episode has been watched by 9.2m viewers, with both the drama and the documentary series reaching 14.8m.
Meanwhile, on ITVX, the series has been streamed 12.3m times in just eight days, with many viewers choosing to watch the programme on demand.
Speaking about the success of the series, Kevin Lygo, Managing Director, Media & Entertainment at ITV said: "The unwavering success of Mr Bates vs. The Post Office demonstrates the undeniable power of TV, particularly public service broadcasting.
"Aside from it being a ratings hit, dramatising the story with such a high caliber of British actors has reignited the campaign for justice nearly 25 years on, for a group of ordinary people - and the entire nation is behind them."
The drama and documentary have had a huge impact, bringing the story to the public eye and resulting in former Post Office boss Paula Vennells handing back her CBE following backlash.
Polly Hill, Head of Drama ITV also spoke about the impact of Mr Bates vs. The Post Office, saying: "We commissioned this drama because it was a story that demanded to be told. Like everyone watching the show, I couldn’t believe what had happened. We all just wanted the drama to help get that story heard by as many people as we could.
“We are all proud and overwhelmed by the power our drama has had. Alan, Jo, Lee, Jess, and every sub-postmaster and sub-postmistress are being heard now, and it looks like they will finally get the justice they deserve. ITV is proud to have told this story and to support the sub-postmasters."
You can stream all four episodes of Mr Bates vs. The Post Office on ITVX now.
