Not only is the series the most-watched show of 2024 so far<\/a> but it has also now been announced that Mr Bates vs The Post Office is ITV\u2019s biggest new drama in over a decade, beating the launch of Downton Abbey<\/a> in 2010.<\/p>\n The four-part series has now averaged a staggering\u00a09.8m viewers across its episodes, which includes seven day viewing across all devices plus pre-TX viewing.<\/p>\n Including post-seven day viewing, the first three episodes have now all been watched by over 10.6m viewers, with the launch currently averaging 10.9m after ten days of catch up.<\/p>\n To put it in terms of other popular shows and channels, Mr Bates vs The Post Office is the biggest drama across all\u00a0channels since BBC\u2019s Line of Duty<\/a> season 6 in 2021. The same goes for it being the biggest new drama across all channels since BBC\u2019s Bodyguard<\/a> in 2018.<\/p>\n As for ITV, it\u2019s their biggest drama since Broadchurch<\/a> in 2017.<\/p>\n The magnificent feat of the series continues to dominate headlines, namely because of the impact of the drama on real-world decisions. After premiering, former Post Office chief executive Paula Vennells<\/a>\u00a0agreed to hand back her CBE with immediate effect amid the fallout from the Horizon IT scandal.<\/p>\n Similarly, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced that victims of the Post Office scandal will be \u201cswiftly exonerated and compensated\u201d.<\/p> The new drama tells the story of the British Post Office scandal which saw hundreds of subpostmasters and mistresses falsely accused of theft, fraud and false accounting<\/a> following a malfunction of their IT system. The scandal was a well-known one but the ITV drama brought the issue to the fore, shining a light on the injustices and stories of those impacted by the chilling true story.<\/p>\n The cast was led by The Long Shadow<\/a>\u2018s Toby Jones as Alan Bates, joined by the likes of Julie Hesmondhalgh, Monica Dolan<\/a> and more. The success of the show has also led to the broadcaster airing repeats of episodes, just two weeks after the original broadcasts.<\/p>\n Read more:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Upon the announcement earlier this week that the four-part drama is the most-watched show of the year so far,\u00a0Kevin Lygo, managing director of media and entertainment at ITV, said: \u201cThe unwavering success of Mr Bates vs The Post Office demonstrates the undeniable power of TV, particularly public service broadcasting.<\/p>\n \u201cAside from it being a ratings hit, dramatising the story with such a high calibre of British actors has reignited the campaign for justice nearly 25 years on, for a group of ordinary people \u2013 and the entire nation is behind them.\u201d<\/p> ![\"Toby](\"https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2023\/12\/mrbatesvsthepostofficeep113-f76f667.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413\" "\\"mr_bates_vs_the_post_office_ep1_13\\"\/")
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