Mr. Bates vs. The Post Office: Patrick Spence, Gwyneth Hughes, and Nick Wallis on Dramatizing the UK’s Biggest Scandal

About this episode

The episode explores the British Post Office scandal and the impact of the series Mr. Bates vs. the Post Office on public justice.

Host Gabe González introduces us to the shocking true story of the British Post Office scandal, and how the Peabody Award-winning series Mr. Bates vs. the Post Office led to real-world justice for the victims of this horrific abuse of government power. Jeffrey Jones sits down with the show’s Executive Producer Patrick Spence to understand the scandal, what it took to bring this story to screens, and the real-world impact the series had on public outrage and calls for justice within British politics. Gabe then sits down with journalist Nick Wallis to share his decades-long journey of bringing the story to light and keeping it in the spotlight via his website, articles, and a podcast. Finally, Gabe speaks with screenwriter Gwyneth Hughes about how she was able to earn the coveted “this is a true story” designation, reserved for TV series that adhere to a strict factual code, all while still bringing the deep emotional core of the subpostmasters’ tragic stories to life in this riveting dramatization.

People in this episode

Host: Gabe González

Guests: Patrick Spence, Nick Wallis, Gwyneth Hughes

Topics covered

• British Post Office scandal
• dramatization
• real-world justice
• government abuse
• media impact

Keywords

• Post Office scandal
• Patrick Spence
• Nick Wallis
• Gwyneth Hughes
• dramatization
• government power
• real-world impact

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: British Post Office

Books & works: Mr. Bates vs. the Post Office

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