5 Reasons Mr Bates vs The Post Office is a Can’t-Miss MASTERPIECE

You may not be familiar with Britain’s notorious Post Office scandal yet, but don’t let that keep you from watching Mr Bates vs The Post Office, a true David vs. Goliath story for the 21^st century, one that has everyone talking—and is making history in real time. Watch in utter disbelief the true story of just a few of the ordinary British shopkeepers/Subpostmasters who unjustly lost their good names, their livelihoods, their health—and for some, their freedom—at the hand of a powerful British government institution. Discover—and share—five reasons not to miss Mr Bates vs The Post Office, premiering Sunday, April 7, at 9/8c on MASTERPIECE on PBS.

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   Everyone’s Going to be Talking About It

   When Mr Bates vs The Post Office aired in January 2024 in the UK, no one could have anticipated that it would end up ranking as one of the UK’s most watched premieres since the launch of Downton Abbey! And certainly, no one could have anticipated that it would so dramatically stir an outraged British public that more than a million people would be moved to sign a petition demanding justice—or that it would inspire the British government to announce a new law.

   Now, get ready for a repeat response here in the US. Because of its astonishing revelations about a real-life miscarriage of justice against hundreds of Subpostmasters, Mr Bates vs The Post Office will have you urging friends, family, coworkers—and maybe even strangers!—to tune in so that you can talk about the show’s brave characters, the appalling actions that were taken against them, and their fight back.

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   It’s a David vs. Goliath Story

   

   In the UK, the post office isn’t like our USPS. There, the Royal Mail delivers the letters and packages, and the Post Office is usually a secured corner of a charming local shop or general store in the heart of a village, where bureaucratic matters such as passports, drivers’ licenses, social security, and pensions are handled. The Subpostmasters who run them aren’t federal or post office employees; they’re self-employed shopkeepers and small business people under contract with the Post Office who often want to have a role at the heart of their community. The Post Office is a private company fully owned by the British government—a company with the power to privately prosecute people in a criminal court on its own authority.

   Now, imagine a good, honest person in your own life, someone just trying to pay the bills, raise a family, contribute to the well-being of their community. And then imagine them being falsely accused of stealing from that community, and being prosecuted without any recourse by the full weight of a government institution. That is the story of Mr Bates vs The Post Office, and in classic David vs. Goliath fashion, you will be rooting for the underdogs as they unite to recoup their losses and clear the good names the Post Office had robbed them of.

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   It’s a Story of Community

   

   As each Subpostmaster sinks deeper into debt assigned by the Post Office’s faulty Horizon computer system, they are told that no one else has complained or sought help for a similar experience. And as they’re falsely accused of theft and fraud, they feel alone…until former Subpostmaster Alan Bates brings a group of fellow accused Subpostmasters together in a church hall in a sleepy Warwickshire village in the summer of 2009. There, together, they find support and hope and strength to take on the powerful Post Office.

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   It’s Packed with Talent You’ve Seen on MASTERPIECE

   

   Mr Bates vs The Post Office is so riveting, you won’t have time to wonder “Where have I seen that actor before?” so here’s a heads up about some of its talented cast members you’ve likely watched on MASTERPIECE. Starring as unassuming everyman hero Alan Bates is Toby Jones, who was Sherlock Holmes’ evil arch enemy Culverton Smith in the Sherlock episode “The Lying Detective,” and has had numerous MASTERPIECE roles over the years in dramas and mysteries including The Old Curiosity Shop, The Way We Live Now, Poirot, and Cadfael. Alex Jennings, playing MP James Arbuthnot,  was King Leopold in Victoria, and one of the chief suspects in Season 3 of Unforgotten. Leslie Nichol, Downton Abbey’s Mrs. Patmore, plays Subpostmaster Pam Stubbs; Clare Galbraith, of Downton Abbey and Home Fires, plays a Subpostmaster’s wife, as does Amy Nutall—also of Downton Abbey, and more recently of All Creatures Great and Small. MASTERPIECE viewers may also recognize John Hollingworth, playing lawyer James Hartley, as Ross’ right-hand-man in Poldark, Katherine Kelly, playing Post Office executive Angela van den Bogerd, as Mr. Selfridge’s indomitable Lady Mae, and Pip Torrens, appearing as Mr. Justice Fraser, as Poldark’s notorious Cary Warleggan.

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   It’s a Show That Actually Has Changed Things

   It took well over a decade of relentless outreach, forensic accounting, and investigating for the wrongly accused Subpostmasters to finally get their day in court. But within a week after Mr Bates vs The Post Office’s UK premiere in January of 2024, over a million people had signed a petition demanding justice for the accused, and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was before Parliament promising a new law to seek swift exoneration and compensation for the victims.