Postal scandal: the power of docudrama to achieve justice

Image source, ITV
By Alex Taylor and Yasmin RufoBBC News
The million dollar question in journalism , while little known outside the industry, is "cut through" - how to craft a story to not only reach an audience, but keep them hooked.
It's a challenge that investigative journalist Nick Wallis, one of the leading voices who first exposed the postal scandal at the turn of the millennium, knows all too well.
Her work helped give a voice to more than 700 workers. sued after faulty postal software, known as Horizon, made it appear money was missing.
The fight for justice in the decades that followed saw Wallis publish his own book about the scandal (published in the Daily Mail), alongside the investigations from BBC Panorama, Computer Weekly and Private Eye among others.
But 25 years after the first convictions for theft and fraud, it is the four-part ITV television series, Mr Bates vs The Post Office, which has renewed the interest of the general public. in the scandal like never before.
Watched by nine million viewers so far according to ITV figures, the mini-series centers on the story of Deputy Postmaster Alan Bates. , played by actor Toby Jones, who led and won a legal battle paving the way for dozens of convictions to be overturned.
Postal Scandal: Critics Praise Real-Life Drama.

Entertainment Jan 10, 2024 0 23 Add to Reading List

Postal scandal: the power of docudrama to achieve justice

The promotional image of all the cast of the ITV Post Office scandal drama

By Alex Taylor and Yasmin RufoBBC News

The million dollar question in journalism , while little known outside the industry, is "cut through" - how to craft a story to not only reach an audience, but keep them hooked.

It's a challenge that investigative journalist Nick Wallis, one of the leading voices who first exposed the postal scandal at the turn of the millennium, knows all too well.

Her work helped give a voice to more than 700 workers. sued after faulty postal software, known as Horizon, made it appear money was missing.

The fight for justice in the decades that followed saw Wallis publish his own book about the scandal (published in the Daily Mail), alongside the investigations from BBC Panorama, Computer Weekly and Private Eye among others.

But 25 years after the first convictions for theft and fraud, it is the four-part ITV television series, Mr Bates vs The Post Office, which has renewed the interest of the general public. in the scandal like never before.

Watched by nine million viewers so far according to ITV figures, the mini-series centers on the story of Deputy Postmaster Alan Bates. , played by actor Toby Jones, who led and won a legal battle paving the way for dozens of convictions to be overturned.

Postal Scandal: Critics Praise Real-Life Drama.