Mr Bates vs The Post Office: ITV, January 2024, four-part TV drama written by Gwyneth Hughes, directed by James Strong, with ensemble cast lead by Toby Jones and Monica Dolan

TY - JOUR

T1 - Mr Bates vs The Post Office

T2 - ITV, January 2024, four-part TV drama written by Gwyneth Hughes, directed by James Strong, with ensemble cast lead by Toby Jones and Monica Dolan

AU - Dinesson, Kajsa Elisabeth

PY - 2024/2/29

Y1 - 2024/2/29

N2 - The ITV drama Mr Bates vs The Post Office has brought unprecedented public attention on what has come to be referred to by many as one of the greatest miscarriages of justice in British history. The four-part series dramatizes how the Post Office prosecuted hundreds of subpostmasters over shortfalls wrongly reported by faulty accounting software Horizon, supplied by Fujitsu. The series begins with the prosecutions starting in the early 2000s and follows the efforts of those wrongly accused and convicted of fraud, theft, and false accounting to fight back and to find justice. The series has had a clear impact in galvanizing action and has given rise to important discussions and questions about law and justice – the artistic treatment and implications of which merit scholarly attention. In this review, I offer a brief overview of the series and reflect on its portrayal of the justice process and private prosecutions in particular. As I do so, I comment on the impact the show has had and reflect on how themes and questions it raises are now playing out in discussions about the road ahead: about the slow pace of the ‘usual’ justice process and the need for an unusual solution; what justice looks like now, from exonerations and compensations to the allocation of blame and responsibility; and the future of private prosecutions.

AB - The ITV drama Mr Bates vs The Post Office has brought unprecedented public attention on what has come to be referred to by many as one of the greatest miscarriages of justice in British history. The four-part series dramatizes how the Post Office prosecuted hundreds of subpostmasters over shortfalls wrongly reported by faulty accounting software Horizon, supplied by Fujitsu. The series begins with the prosecutions starting in the early 2000s and follows the efforts of those wrongly accused and convicted of fraud, theft, and false accounting to fight back and to find justice. The series has had a clear impact in galvanizing action and has given rise to important discussions and questions about law and justice – the artistic treatment and implications of which merit scholarly attention. In this review, I offer a brief overview of the series and reflect on its portrayal of the justice process and private prosecutions in particular. As I do so, I comment on the impact the show has had and reflect on how themes and questions it raises are now playing out in discussions about the road ahead: about the slow pace of the ‘usual’ justice process and the need for an unusual solution; what justice looks like now, from exonerations and compensations to the allocation of blame and responsibility; and the future of private prosecutions.

U2 - 10.1080/17521483.2024.2323357

DO - 10.1080/17521483.2024.2323357

M3 - Book/Film/Article review

SN - 1752-1491

VL - 18

SP - 137

EP - 142

JO - Law and Humanities

JF - Law and Humanities

IS - 1

ER -