New ITV drama based on devastating true story leaves viewers’ ‘so, so angry’-Rachael O'Connor-Entertainment – Metro

Mr Bates Vs The Post Office has devastated viewers (Picture: ITV/Rex/Shutterstock)

New ITV drama Mr Bates Vs The Post Office has seen a huge reaction from viewers following its release.

The four-part series has been released in its entirety on ITVX, and single episodes will air over the next four days, finishing on Thursday January 4.

Starring Toby Jones and Julie Hesmondhalgh tells the true story of a major scandal where more than 700 Post Office branch managers were given criminal convictions when faulty accounting software made it look as though cash was missing from their sites.

Dozens of innocent people were sent to jail for theft and fraud and others were driven to bankruptcy and suicide, before a group led by Alan Bates took the Post Office to the High Court.

The series has devastated viewers, who were left furious and bewildered at what was allowed to happen.

Audiences flocked to X to share their thoughts – and many said the same thing.

The star-studded drama features Toby Jones and Julie Hesmondhalgh (Picture: ITV/Rex/Shutterstock)

As the first episode aired on ITV, Amanda Coleman wrote: ‘Already my blood is boiling. The importance of listening and questioning.’

Junior ones said they were just on the first episode and ‘already my blood is boiling … to think some people actually killed themselves and today some people haven’t been compensated is outrageous.’

User trainfanmatt said they were 20 minutes in to the first episode and agreed ‘my blood is boiling,’ slamming the ‘utterly abhorrent and disgusting’ way the subpostmasters were treated.

Hundreds of innocent people were affected by the scandal (Picture: ITV/Shutterstock)

Gemma Champ was on episode one and was ‘already so so angry and stressed,’and user Tincansqat said their ‘blood pressure has gone through the roof

Sam Cook watched the series in full and said he felt ‘immense frustration,’ warning ‘there are several scenes in this that will break your heart … much like me you’ll probably feel shocked and angry that this injustice actually happened.’

It was ruled in the High Court case that the missing money was the fault of computer errors and the Post Office was ordered to pay £58million in compensation for the false prosecutions.

The real Alan Bates has insisted his fight against the Post Office is not over (Picture: ANL/Rex/Shutterstock)

But after their legal costs were paid, the group were left with only £12million, which totalled to around £20,000 each, far less than some had lost.

By 2020, the government had initiated an independent inquiry, which was then converted to a public one the following year, looking into whether the Post Office and software supplier Fujitsu knew about the faults in the IT system.

It was intended to be completed a few months ago but is still ongoing.

The real-life Alan Bates says in documentary Mr Bates vs the Post Office: The Real Story that he is not finished with his fight against the Post Office.

Mr Bates vs the Post Office is airing across four nights from January 1 at 9pm on ITV1. Also airing on January 4 is Mr Bates vs the Post Office: The Real Story at 10.45pmon ITV1.

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