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National TV Awards 2024: Mr Bates vs The Post Office Wins Best New Drama

mr bates vs the post office tv series poster

Mr Bates vs The Post Office: Best New Drama at the National TV Awards

We are so happy to hear that Mr Bates vs The Post Office (ITV Studios, Little Gem) has won Best New Drama at the National TV Awards! 🏆

Not only that, but it also received the coveted Impact Award for creating, in the words of host Joel Dommett, a “huge cultural shift”. Toby Jones also received Best Drama Performance award for his portrayal of wronged subpostmaster Sir Alan Bates.

These are fantastic achievements and can only stand to emphasise the power of bringing authentic lived experiences to the forefront of entertainment. As noted in OKRE’s brand new report, Delivering Social Impact in Entertainment Content, “the dramatisation of the Post Office scandal prompted political action, despite the issue being public knowledge for years.” Without these powerful stories being brought to the nation’s screens, the reversal of these wrongful convictions might never have happened.

đź”— Curious to learn more? Click here to read our brand new Delivering Social Impact in Entertainment Content report…

 

“What we’ve been able to show people today is the power of a good drama and how it can impact on the way that we think about stories”

Patrick Spence

Managing Director, AC Chapter One, Executive Producer Mr Bates vs The Post Office

“This is a true story..."

What is so rare about Mr Bates vs The Post Office is the fact that it is a true story, and is labelled as just that. In the words of producer Patrick Spence:

“There are 3 different ways you can start a factual drama…

  1. “inspired by” means you probably use the name of the character in the right city and you made the rest up.
  2. “based on” is the next level up, and incredibly hard to get based on true story. You have to go through very rigorous compliance process, stand up every scene and prove [that] where you invented stuff, it’s in the spirit of the true story – and then the gold standard…
  3. “this is a true story”… very few dramas get to do that.

Mr Bates started with the card “this is a true story”. And there is very simple reason for that – the post office are so ghastly and so litigious that we were determined to only use real facts and we only needed to because that’s how bad their behaviour was, and that’s how great the suffering was of the people whose lives we were featuring”

The saga continues...

As a result of the huge social impact of the series, the NTA Impact Award was accepted by Post Office victim Jo Hamilton. We had the privilege of hosting Jo at the OKRE Summit 2024, where she contributed to a highly praised and insightful panel discussion on the miniseries. She delved into the lasting impact of the drama and how the awareness it generated elevated her and her fellow subpostmasters to recognisable public figures. She also emphasised that – with up to 400 victims remaining unpaid – there is still plenty of work to be done.

đź”— Watch the OKRE Summit 2024 panel discussion here.

đź“ş Watch Mr Bates vs The Post Office streaming on ITV here.

“I think it has made everybody feel that drama can make an impact. And a TV show can make change, can create change. And I think for the subpostmasters, who are the most important people in all of this, they feel that people have understood what’s happened to them and that they’ve been listened to, and that the kind of shame that has walked with them for all these years has now gone.”

Natasha Bondy

Co-Founder, Little Gem, Executive Producer Mr Bates vs The Post Office

Opening Knowledge Across Entertainment

At OKRE, we believe in the power of storytelling to drive social impact. Our mission is to connect the entertainment industry with researchers and lived experience to create content that inspires change and offers genuine insights into real-world issues, without losing that all-important enjoyment factor.

Caroline Old

Senior Copywriter & Content Manager, OKRE

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