Mr Bates vs The Post Office, the ITV drama which renewed attention on the subpostmasters who were wrongly prosecuted during the Horizon IT scandal, has added another National Television Award to its list of achievements.
The four-part miniseries picked up the new drama prize at the annual awards ceremony at The O2 in London on Wednesday evening, seeing off tough competition from Netflix hit Baby Reindeer, romantic drama One Day and thrillers Fool Me Once and Red Eye.
Toby Jones also secured the best drama performance gong for his role as former subpostmaster Sir Alan Bates, one of more than 550 claimants who have brought legal action against the Post Office.
More than 700 subpostmasters were prosecuted by the Post Office and given criminal convictions between 1999 and 2015, as Fujitsu’s faulty Horizon IT system made it appear as though money was missing at their branches.
Collecting the award, actress Monica Dolan, who played Jo Hamilton in the series, said: “We were so grateful and proud (of) the audience response to this drama anyway, so to win this award is absolutely incredible.”
Dolan thanked the team behind the ITV drama, the actors and the subpostmasters for “trusting us to tell their story”, adding that it has been “the privilege of our lives”.
It was announced last week that the ITV drama had been awarded the NTA impact award for creating a “huge cultural shift”.
Former subpostmistress Ms Hamilton called out the Government for the lack of action on the scandal as she collected the award surrounded by fellow victims, saying: “I went to Westminster a couple of weeks back and saw the new minister and trust me, nothing has changed.
“Almost all of these people behind me haven’t been paid yet. And out of the group of 555, more than 300 haven’t been paid yet.”
Article continues at top link