ITV announce Mr Bates vs The Post Office follow up

ITV has announced a new follow up to its hit drama Mr Bates vs The Post Office.

The four-part series told the true story of how more than 700 branch managers were wrongfully accused due to faulty software.

It became bigger than Downton Abbey with more than 12 million viewers watching the series earlier this year.

Now a new TV show, provisionally titled Mr Bates vs The Post Office: The Impact, is in the works.

This documentary will explore how the ITV drama series has influenced the lives of the subpostmasters it featured.

It will also offer an insight into their ongoing struggle for justice and financial redress.

The documentary will include Jo Hamilton, Jess Uppal, Noel Thomas, and leading figure Alan Bates, along with other subpostmasters who have come forward after the drama aired.

For many, this will be the first time they share their stories on television.

They reveal that without the public’s overwhelmingly positive reaction to the drama, they wouldn’t have had the courage to speak out about their involvement in the scandal and its impact on their lives.

Mr Bates vs The Post Office: The Impact will also highlight shocking moments from the Judge-led Inquiry, featuring testimony from Paula Vennells, Angela van den Bogerd, and Post Office investigators.

Subpostmasters have described these investigators as behaving like “mafia gangsters.”

Jo Clinton-Davis, ITV Controller of Factual, said: “The Post Office scandal became a genuine national talking point at the start of this year, striking at the heart of the public’s sense of justice.

“The reverberations have been felt ever since at a political level, but particularly in the lives of those directly affected. This film promises to tell the story of what has happened since in their lives, how their fight continues as well as illuminating new layers of this scandal.”