Mrs Bates Versus the Post Office, 1 Jan 2024 to 4 Jan 2023, 9 pm, ITV

[studpuppet]

Nick Wallis' book is a hefty and comprehensive guide to the whole thing; I got the second edition this time last year but it was already somewhat behind the "where is it at now" with the myriad compensation schemes and the inquiry - a big addendum/new edition will surely follow. But deffo worth a read for the background.

His podcast that I linked to is slightly more up-to-date - started out as 10 parts, and is currently up to 17...

[Des Wigwam]

Tonight's episode is hard going. And I'm getting really pissed off with these ad ident things before and after each break. Police go to a tell that poor woman that her husband has killed himself and straight to a stupid and unfunny joke ad.

The idea that there could be any justice seems quaint after Covid.

The ad thing always reminds me of Frank Skinner talking about how jarring it is. Talks about a Coronation Street ep with a cot death or something and it's a silent credits followed by a jaunty Cadbury's sponsor animation: "here comes the chocolate van; come to collect the dead baby".

[A Hat Like That]

His podcast that I linked to is slightly more up-to-date - started out as 10 parts, and is currently up to 17...

The podcast is good, just onto part 11. all short chunks.

Wikipedia page is hilariously poorly put together.

[studpuppet]

Tonight's episode is hard going. And I'm getting really pissed off with these ad ident things before and after each break. Police go to a tell that poor woman that her husband has killed himself and straight to a stupid and unfunny joke ad.

Don't whatever you do, watch it on ITVx - sometimes there's same joke ad at the beginning and end of one ad break.* Surely someone can work out a way of randomising them better? Maybe they gave the contract to Fujitsu...


*And why, when you know you've got ITV dramas that are 1-1.5hrs long with multiple ad breaks, do you only write 4-5 different joke ads? It must eventually turn the viewer against your brand which is the total opposite of the result you're looking for.

[studpuppet]

One of the Whatsapp groups I am in for co-ordinating a hobby is largely full of boomers and therefore silenced. Just checked it and there's a post up asking to sign a petition to withdraw Vennells' CBE - there will probably be a lot of noise for a couple of months about this but I doubt much will happen.

The change.org petition just hit my 60-odd year old cousin's Facebook page...

https://www.change.org/p/government-post-office-horizon-scandal

[jobotic]

The documentary after the last episode was even more glaring in its refusal to mention Crozier.

Bates talked about people on huge amounts of money and no accountability ruining little people's lives. How many people lost their jobs and the post offices they relied on thanks to Crozier?

[lauraxsynthesis]

The petition to strip Vennells of her CBE went up by 100k signatures since last night.

https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/strip-paula-vennells-of-her-cbe

[thr0b]

It's quite striking that as a Woman Of Cloth, she didn't pay much attention to "thou shall not steal", isn't it?

[ros vulgaris]

I still cannot read anything about this case without getting angry. Fucking twats.

[Phoenix Lazarus]

The petition to strip Vennells of her CBE went up by 100k signatures since last night.

https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/strip-paula-vennells-of-her-cbe

Thanks for drawing this to my attention.  I've just signed it and shared it to Facebook.

[superthunderstingcar]

I think the more cunts with honours the better, shows the whole thing off for the racket it is.

[studpuppet]

I still cannot read anything about this case without getting angry. Fucking twats.

My wife isn't British, and when she first arrived, she had this idea of British institutions as unassailable pillars of the community (especially the Police). Twenty years later, and after we finished watching this she had two comments:

1. "Shouldn't they all be wearing masks?" (the trial judgement was in April 2021)
2. "What a total bunch of cunts they are."

[popcorn]

There is something grimly funny about opening an episode with masked men beating the shit out of a post office worker and nicking all the money and then cutting to the giant title MR BATES VS THE POST OFFICE

[thr0b]

There is something grimly funny about opening an episode with masked men beating the shit out of a post office worker and nicking all the money and then cutting to the giant title MR BATES VS THE POST OFFICE

The fact that this thread gets the name of the show wrong irks me.

[thr0b]

Amazing what a prime time drama can do.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2024/jan/05/post-office-criminal-investigation-potential-horizon-accounting-fraud?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

[jobotic]

Everyone who deliberately caused death so that they could make huge profits from Covid next please.

As if.

[Rankersbo]

It's quite striking that as a Woman Of Cloth, she didn't pay much attention to "thou shall not steal", isn't it?

It's more like "Thou shalt not bear false witness."

[Rankersbo]

I still cannot read anything about this case without getting angry. Fucking twats.

My only reference is the podcast, and even that I've had to switch off sometimes.

[Milo]

I wonder if there are any genuine thieving postmasters who are hoping they'll now get away with it.

[gilbertharding]

I wonder if there are any genuine thieving postmasters who are hoping they'll now get away with it.

There was a detail in a news report I heard in the last few days which was definitely skated over, where out of the numbers who'd had their convictions quashed following appeals, several were upheld.

I mean - I don't know the rights or wrongs of that - but presumably if there's a blanket pardon (or whatever mechanism they use), a few actual criminals will indeed get away with it.

[thr0b]

Well, hopefully it won't be a pardon. As that's just a way of saying "you're still guilty, you did it, but we're letting you off now."

Basically, with a pardon, you're still a convicted criminal.

[Milo]

Well, hopefully it won't be a pardon. As that's just a way of saying "you're still guilty, you did it, but we're letting you off now."

Basically, with a pardon, you're still a convicted criminal.

Alright Blanco.

[jobotic]

Much as I despise the man I did grin when Lee Anderson referred to "that man. That Ed Davey"

[Beagle 2]

I haven't watched this, it's a bit depressing seeing it all over the news as my mum was involved, to a minor degree at least. She worked at the local post office with one other woman and ran it solo a couple of days a week. It all went tits up after this system came in, she was never criminally investigated or anything, but the stress about the shortfalls and late nights trying to rectify the figures really affected her and she ended up resigning over it, basically she thought it was all her fault because she was too old and thick to work the system. It was her last job and she died a few years afterwards. I think I'd rather not have known that it wasn't her fault to be honest. 

[madhair60]

i indeed once masturbated versus the post office

[Des Wigwam]

I haven't watched this, it's a bit depressing seeing it all over the news as my mum was involved, to a minor degree at least. She worked at the local post office with one other woman and ran it solo a couple of days a week. It all went tits up after this system came in, she was never criminally investigated or anything, but the stress about the shortfalls and late nights trying to rectify the figures really affected her and she ended up resigning over it, basically she thought it was all her fault because she was too old and thick to work the system. It was her last job and she died a few years afterwards. I think I'd rather not have known that it wasn't her fault to be honest.

Really sorry to hear that @Beagle 2 - as I said in my first-ish post on the thread I thought it was going to be too stressful and just for that reason: people desperately trying to reconcile the unreconcilable into the small hours. I can't imagine the dread of closing time approaching.

I'm doing that think of bumping my chest with my fist as a sign of solidarity but I am a round middle aged white man so it looks awkward.

[Phoenix Lazarus]

i indeed once masturbated versus the post office

If you competed against the management in that, they no doubt won, as they're patently a bunch of total wankers.

[madhair60]

oh yeah no i got demolished, primarily due to my sad biological reality which is this; i cannot cum

[DelurkedToHelp]

People thinking petitions actually make a difference and people praising ITV as if they primarily made this drama for public interest and not ratings/awards (on top of the Crozier omission that's been mentioned here already). Two dreadful results from this, regardless of the genuinely good results that may arise for the affected postmasters.

The likes of Kelvin McKenzie getting thousands of likes for suggesting that Alan Bates be elevated to the House of Lords is also hard to stomach. The House of Lords, like the honours system, is full of Vennells types. You'd be using someone like Bates to legitimise a rotten institution.

The CWU are also grandstanding over this despite them being complicit in the decline of Royal Mail. I suppose we'll have to wait until ITV or the BBC fancy getting a few BAFTA nominations for themselves by making a drama about that, a few thousand redundancies later, before people start caring about that.

[popcorn]

The beeb should make one where Steve Coogan plays the Post Office.