THE effect has been extraordinary. Last week, ITV broadcast Mr Bates vs The Post Office. The four-part drama series, written by Gwyneth Hughes and starring a stalwart cast of British character actors, tells the story of some of the postmasters caught up in the Post Office Horizon scandal and their fight for justice.

Even before it was broadcast, the fact this show was being produced challenged widespread media disinterest in how the Post Office treated hundreds of its former ­postmasters and the impact their aggressive demands for money, their baseless allegations of dishonesty and their prosecutions visited on at least 700 people.

But Hughes’s human treatment of the postmasters’ stories seems finally to have struck a chord not only with the public – but with editors and programmers. Having been turned from fact into fiction, the Post Office scandal is finally news.

The tale has several features we know British audiences can relate to. This ­scandal was experienced on a human scale by ordinary people. Reputation, home, ­society, standing, liberty – these are basic needs any one of us can relate to. Losing them? There but for the grace of God go I, you might think.

In the hands of a talented ensemble cast, Mr Bates vs The Post Office becomes an underdog story with a well-realised villain, significant suffering along the way, real jeopardy about whether right would prevail – but with an ultimately redemptive story arc bending towards justice.

The effects of the drama don’t seem to end there. The fiction has given the ­reality – and unfinished business – of the scandal new public and political salience. ­Ministers are being asked about it. ­Politicians are ­being challenged for what they have done – and have not done – for their ­constituents who were affected.

Their historic roles are being scrutinised. An online petition to strip ex-Post Office boss Paula ­Vennells of her CBE for public service has been signed by almost 700,000 people. Off the back of the programme, the real Alan Bates has asked members of the public to write to their MP, demanding proper and timely ­compensation for those affected. I’d ­encourage you to do so too.

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