Roush Review: Rooting for the Everyman in ‘Mr Bates vs the Post Office’

When Mr Bates vs the Post Office, an engaging and enraging David-vs-Goliath docudrama, first aired in the U.K. earlier this year, viewer response was so fierce that Parliament took action to speed the wheels of justice. (Isn’t it nice to know that sometimes TV can have a truly positive impact on society?)

You’ll soon understand why when you fall under the spell of Masterpiece‘s four-part presentation, which depicts the plight of working-class sub-postmasters who are inexplicably accused of theft, branded as criminals in towns and villages where they were previously heralded as local pillars of the community. Their nemesis: a monolithic post office that refuses to concede that a software glitch in the fancy new computer system is the actual culprit.

Frank Capra (of Mr. Smith Goes to Washington fame) would have loved this everyman-against-the system fable that happens to be true.

Grounding the story in appealing and sympathetic human terms is the marvelous Toby Jones (Detectorists, a memorable Truman Capote in Infamous), starring as Alan Bates, a postmaster who spends some 20 years doggedly compiling evidence and seeking out other unjustly blamed victims who also were falsely told by superiors that they were the only ones experiencing these shortfalls. (Among his co-stars in the crusade for justice are familiar British TV character actors including the brilliant Monica Dolan and Downton Abbey‘s own Mrs. Patmore, the combustible Lesley Nicol.)

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We are made throughout to feel their humiliation, shame and anger as bank accounts, reputations, and lives are ruined, with hundreds of post-office contractors reportedly prosecuted over 15-plus years for theft and fraud. Their collective pain brings an investigating forensic accountant (Ian Hart) to tears. “The more of you people I meet, the less I know how you’re all still standing,” he declares, wiping his eyes.

The odds are that, like me, you’ll weep with him. And cheer on Mr. Bates and his fellow everyday soldiers as they fight for their day in court.

Masterpiece: Mr Bates vs the Post Office, Series Premiere, Sunday, April 7, 9/8c, PBS (check local schedules)