A postmistress has accused the government of failing to pay back victims of the Horizon IT scandal in a new attack as Sir Alan Bates’s drama won three prizes at the National Television Awards.
Jo Hamilton, who was played by Monica Dolan in Mr Bates vs The Post Office, appeared on stage to accept The Impact award alongside actors, crew and other subpostmasters – and won acclaim for her impassioned words.
The ITV drama helped renew attention to the subpostmasters who were wrongly prosecuted during the Horizon scandal.
‘What I’d like you to know, is I went into Westminster a couple of weeks back, I saw the new minister, and trust me, nothing has changed,’ said Ms Hamilton.
‘These people behind me haven’t been paid yet. Out of the group of 555, more than 300 haven’t been paid yet, including Sir Alan Bates. They’ve offered him 30 per cent of his claim.’
The postmistress added: ‘I just want to say a massive thank you to the wonderful cast and crew of the drama, and all the people who helped make it.
‘And most of all, and honestly thank you to all my colleagues who are behind me, who without strength in numbers we wouldn’t have got to where we are. And the public who got behind us and literally changed everything.’
Jo Hamilton (centre) accepting the award at the National Television Awards tonight
Jo Hamilton (right) was played by Monica Dolan (left) in Mr Bates vs The Post Office. The pair are pictured at the NTAs tonight
Ms Hamilton spoke on stage to claim ‘nothing has changed’ as she accepted the award
Toby Jones secured the best drama performance gong at NTAs for his role in the series
People reacted to Ms Hamilton’s revelation on social media this evening
Toby Jones secured the best drama performance gong at NTAs for his role in the series.
Jones portrayed former subpostmaster Sir Alan Bates, one of more than 550 claimants who have brought legal action against the Post Office.
Collecting his gong during the annual awards ceremony at The O2 in London on Wednesday evening, the actor said: ‘This means an awful lot, not just to me but to the extraordinary people who inspired our show.’
He also used the opportunity to congratulate the real Sir Alan on his recent marriage to his partner Suzanne Sercombe and hailed the drama as an ‘extraordinary project’ to work on.
The four-part miniseries, which shone a light on the issue, is also nominated for the new drama prize alongside Netflix hit Baby Reindeer, romantic drama One Day and thrillers Fool Me Once and Red Eye.
Stacey Solomon picked up the first prize of the night for her reality show Sort Your Life Out.
It beat Clarkson’s Farm, Gogglebox, The Martin Lewis Money Show Live and The Yorkshire Vet in the factual entertainment category.
TV presenter Solomon thanked the families who opened up their homes and hearts to her for the show as she collected the prize.
Jo Hamilton and Monica Dolan at the National Television Awards this evening
Jo Hamilton is interviewed at the National Television Awards this evening
Ms Hamilton was played by Monica Dolan in Mr Bates vs The Post Office
Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly kicked off what could be another successful night by picking up the Bruce Forsyth entertainment award for reality series I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!.
Later in the show, Good Morning Britain star Kate Garraway will be hoping to secure a hat-trick in the best authored documentary category as she has been nominated for the prize again, this time for Kate Garraway: Derek’s Story.
Ahead of the ceremony, Garraway said it is ‘sad’ her late husband Derek Draper could not see her nominated for another NTA for a documentary about his health issues.
Speaking from the red carpet, she told the PA news agency: ‘The comments I’ve had and the emails and the letters have been so wonderful, and so obviously it’s been very sad in a way, because you’d love him to be here, or even if he wasn’t well enough to be actually here then to be going home to tell him all about it.
‘But on the other hand, he will be so happy, I think that the issues that he wanted raised are being raised and so hopefully that’s good.’
Garraway said he would have been ‘very proud of these two’, referring to their children Darcey and Billy, who ‘get very shy at these things but wanted to come’.
She added that it is ‘wonderful’ to have the ‘Draper gang’.
The programme followed the final year of Draper’s life, before he died in January aged 56, after a lengthy battle with the long-term effects of Covid.
Ms Hamilton and cast and crew accept the Impact Award for ‘Mr Bates vs The Post Office’
Ms Hamilton speaks alongside actors and colleagues as she accepts the award tonight
Toby Jones smiles in the audience during the NTAs 2024 this evening
It follows on from two other programmes about his battle with Covid and her struggles navigating the care system, which both picked up NTA gongs in the category in 2021 and 2022.
Garraway thought it was ‘very unlikely’ she would win against also shortlisted former England captain David Beckham and pop star Robbie Williams, who both made Netflix documentaries.
Contestants from the most recent season of The Traitors were hopeful for a win in their reality competition category, with disability model Mollie Pearce telling PA: ‘My mum’s a hairdresser. She’s been getting all her customers to vote.’
Asked what it was about the show that drew such an avid audience, Pearce said: ‘I think it’s just because everyone’s very normal and it’s all kinds of people, from walks of life, different places and you’re just thrown into this situation together.
‘It’s like fighting to the death.’
Fellow contestant Diane Carson added: ‘It was so obviously not scripted.
‘It was just human interaction.’
Speaking in the winners’ room after collecting his prize, Jones said it was ‘extraordinary’ to win the public voted award.
Ms Hamilton stands on stage and alongside crew and colleagues to accept the award
Toby Jones poses with the Drama Performance Award in the Awards Room at the National Television Awards
‘It’s a great opportunity to renew the pressure on the Government, the new Government, to recompense the postmasters before the end of the year,’ the actor said.
‘We’re still waiting for the Government to make a commitment to pay the compensation before the end of the year,’ he added.
‘I’m sure one of the reasons that the show had been so popular is because there’s popular will that that should happen sooner rather than later.’
Jones said that the show was ‘without a doubt’ one of the most important dramas he has ever been a part of.
He told reporters: ‘I’ve had so many messages in the last eight months from actors saying, ‘Oh, that’s what you dream of is to have an impact with a drama like this’, and it’s the first time for a lot of people that it’s led directly to parliamentary action.
‘Hopefully it’ll lead to more dramas having a direct impact on policy.’
Jones said Sir Alan was initially ‘sceptical’ about what a drama would be able to do but grew to be excited over what the show was able to help achieve.
‘Anytime something like this happens, and we’ve had a lot of awards attention so far this year, the first person I email is Alan,’ Jones said.
Collecting his gong during the ceremony, Jones congratulated Sir Alan on his recent marriage to his partner Suzanne Sercombe.