Toby Jones stars in the ITV drama, which is based on a true story.
Highly anticipated four-part drama Mr Bates vs The Post Office is set to air on ITV over the festive period, and we now have a first-look trailer giving us a sense of what to expect.
The series, which stars Toby Jones (The Long Shadow), Monica Dolan (Black Mirror), Julie Hesmondhalgh (Broadchurch) and Alex Jennings (The Crown), tells the story of how hundreds of innocent sub-postmasters and postmistresses were wrongly accused of theft and false accounting due to a defective IT system.
In the trailer, we see Jones’s Alan Bates say: “We are fighting a war against an enemy owned by the British government, while we’re just skint little people.”
You can watch the full trailer right here now.
The series also stars Ian Hart (The Responder), Lia Williams (The Capture), Will Mellor (Coronation Street), Clare Calbraith (Grace), Shaun Dooley (It’s a Sin), Amit Shah (Happy Valley), Lesley Nicol (Downton Abbey), Adam James (Vigil) and Katherine Kelly (Gentleman Jack).
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Over the four episodes, the show will track how many of the wronged postal workers were prosecuted and some were imprisoned, while also dramatising the landmark Court of Appeal decision which saw their criminal convictions overturned, and the continuing fight for justice.
Written by screenwriter Gwyneth Hughes – whose previous credits include Tom Jones, Honour and Vanity Fair – and helmed by Broadchurch and Vigil director James Strong, the four-part drama promises to tell “the story of one of the greatest miscarriages of justice in British legal history”.
Star Toby Jones said: “I am proud to be a part of this shocking, unsettling but ultimately inspirational drama.”
Mr Bates vs The Post Office will air on ITV1 and ITVX. For more, check out our dedicated Drama page or our full TV Guide and Streaming Guide.
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