The Post Office tried to change the storyline of Mr Bates vs The Post Office, the man behind the hit ITV drama, right, has told The Londoner. Producer Patrick Spence said that when he approached Post Office execs with the dramatisation they offered to cooperate in exchange for script amendments. “What they offered to do was to change our story to suit their purposes,” Spence told us. “They were obviously keen to change the narrative, but we had our facts and they couldn’t stop us.”
The script relies heavily on public documents and emails written by Post Office employees, including the CEO at the time of the Horizon scandal, Paula Vennells, pictured. Spence said the Post Office was “so litigious and ghastly that we couldn’t take the risk of inventing anything for fear that they would stop it from being transmitted”.
The show tells the stories of sub-postmasters who were wrongly accused of theft and false accounting by the Post Office due to a faulty IT system. Public reaction to the series was so strong that Vennells handed back her CBE this week. But Spence believes this is a “sideshow” to the real issue — quashing convictions and paying compensation to wrongfully accused posties. “This story taps into a rage people in this country feel more generally,” Spence said. “Rishi Sunak is finally caving in.”
The PM has said he will rush through pardons. “These politicians who are jumping on the bandwagon to say look what we’re doing, they all had their chance for four years to do this, remember. If we hadn’t made the show, it wouldn’t be happening. Alan Bates’ view is it’s not over yet. It’s great what’s happening, but it’s not over yet.” Spence's series may be over but the fight continues: "The end of this story has to be they all get their money."
