Fight is 'not over yet', say writers of Mr Bates Vs The Post Office as gripping real-life drama wins Bafta

11 May 2025, 21:59 | Updated: 11 May 2025, 22:04

The writers of Mr Bates Vs The Post Office said the fight is "not over yet" after it won the Bafta TV Award for limited drama.

The four-part series focuses on the subpostmasters who fought to clear their names in the wake of the Horizon scandal, which wrongly convicted them of offences such as fraud because of the faulty software.

Creators of the show including actor Toby Jones who played Sir Alan Bates, writer Gwyneth Hughes and producer Patrick Spencer, hopes the Bafta win will keep the scandal at the forefront of the public's mind as subpostmasters continue to wait for compensation.

"It's not over yet. It's a complicated situation. There's several different compensation schemes going on," Ms Hughes said at a winner's press conference shortly after receiving the award.

"They're all mired in different parts of the government. Nobody seems to know what's happening.

"Our main characters have not been paid. They haven't got their compensation. It's been going for 25 years.

"If we're on front pages tomorrow waving our very heavy statuettes, then that's bound to get it back in people's consciousness and get people to make an effort."

She also said it was "very distressing" when she realised the scandal was happening in Britain comparing the situation to something that might occur in a country where "little people don't have any power".

"It's a British story. I couldn't believe it was happening in my country. When I first heard about it, I thought that can't be true, that can't be right," she explained.

Kevin Lygo, managing director of ITV Studios, received the Special Award at the Baftas for commissioning Mr Bates Vs The Post Office, and urged all TV corporations to continue making series to "make power to account".

"It really falls to us to remember that these are incredibly important things that must continue to be learned," he said on stage at the Royal Festival Hall.

"At a time when funding is tricky but not impossible, the ITV and the BBC must continue to make power to account, institutions like the post office to account.

"It is part of a long tradition on TV of these genres that true stories that shine a light on corruption, criminality, miscarriages of justice... but nothing, I think, has had quite the effects Mr Bates' has had."

He urged for those in power to speed up the compensation process for the subpostmasters still waiting to receive payment.

"It's been successful in every way, except one, which is that they still, many of them, have not got their compensation," he said.

"So I say to anybody who's in charge of sorting out the compensation, will you hurry up and pay these people what they do?"

Star of the show Jones described the series as being representative of the "state of the world now".

Speaking at the winner's press conference, Jones said: "I think that there's something archetypal about the story that keys into the state of the world now.

"It's not just the postmasters, there's a general sense of disenfranchisement of people feeling cut off from their dreams, cut off from just a lifestyle, cut off from living their lives."

The show's producer Patrick Spence has called for the media to continue "spreading the message" and raise awareness about the Horizon scandal.

"I think we've done our bit. We carried the baton for a bit. We need you guys to spread the message that they haven't been paid yet," he said.

"It's not over, and they're being bamboozled with bureaucracy, so please, we beg you, don't make us make another drama.

"Get the message out and tell them seriously if there are still people in abject poverty waiting for compensation."