Mr Bates vs The Post Office fans break down at ‘disgusting’ finale – fuming ‘no show has ever made me this angry!’
MR Bates vs The Post Office fans admit they broke down in tears after watching the “disgusting” series finale while and have voiced their anger about how terribly the subpostmasters were treated by the Post Office.
The four-part series starring Toby Jones, Julie Hesmondhalgh and Monica Dolan concluded on ITV last night.
Mr Bates vs The Post Office chronicled the true story of the massive Post Office scandal, where more that 700 branch managers, known as subpostmasters, were convicted of stealing. However, it was actually a faulty software called Horizon which was making it look as though cash was missing from their branches because it was unknowingly duplicating transactions.
Many of the workers were subsequently convicted of theft, went into debt and lost their homes. 236 of them went to prison, and tragically others died and four people took their own lives as a result.
The ITV drama follows a group of subpostmasters, led by Alan Bates (portrayed by Toby Jones) as they appeal their criminal convictions and fight for justice.
Thursday night’s finale revealed that after years of struggling and a harrowing court case, the subpostmasters were awarded just £20,000 after legal fees.
The money was far less than had been lost in many cases and viewers were left devastated by the scenes, calling the whole ordeal a “huge miscarriage of justice.”
After watching, viewers took to X, formerly Twitter, to share their shock over the emotional series.
“Not a dry eye in this house at the end of Mr Bates vs The Post Office,” one fan observed.
“I’ve cried for everyone involved,” added another fan.
A third ITV fan said they were “horrified” by “the pain and suffering inflicted on these working people.”
A fourth commented: “the whole country is behind these postmasters, everyone I’ve spoken to disgusted by this story.”
Viewers united in their “outrage” at what happened to the innocent subpostmasters, and criticised those involved, saying they have “blood on their hands.”
“Never ever has a TV series made me as mad as this has,” another TV fan said.
“How awful for all those people falsely accused. The Post Office should be begging for forgiveness and giving them all compensation and their good names back,” urged another viewer.
The truth about Horizon’s faulty software came to light in 2020, at which time the government initiated an independent enquiry before it became public the following year.
The inquiry looking into whether the Post Office and software supplier Fujitsu knew about the faulty system was scheduled to be completed in 2023, however; it is still ongoing.
The real-life Alan Bates says in the documentary Mr Bates vs the Post Office: The Real Story that he is not finished with his fight against the Post Office.
And the scenes depicted in the drama were just one part of a larger battle. Only 93 convictions have been overturned to date and hundreds more subpostmasters are waiting for their apples to be overheard.
In 2021, after the inquiry was made public, the former Post Office CEO Paula Vennells who oversaw the organisation at the time, said that she was “truly sorry” for the “suffering” caused to subpostmasters who were wrongly convicted of offences.
At the same time, a petition was launched to strip her of her CBE. It reached 1,000 signatures before the ITV series premiered, but has now soared about 300,000.
Mr Bates vs The Post Office is available to stream in ITVX now.