The post office operators prosecuted in the Post Office Horizon scandal have “extraordinary dignity” after living 20 years in a “Hitchcockian nightmare”, according to actor Toby Jones.
Jones played Alan Bates, a former post office operator and leading campaigner for justice for staff wrongly blamed for accounting shortfalls caused by faulty software, in the ITV drama that put the scandal back in the spotlight.
The actor told the Hay festival: “I get to play someone I think of as a hero, someone who doesn’t seem to be subject to the same forces we all are. He can’t be bought: he’s asked to open Glastonbury, no thank you, he doesn’t want to do any of that – he says I’ve got work to do, to get that stuff done. He doesn’t want any honours until he finishes the job.”
This reflects his now “unfashionable” values of duty that “stand in stark contrast to what we’ve been living with in the government”, Jones noted.
He recalled how at the premiere of Mr Bates vs the Post Office, the post office operators in attendance were sobbing within 10 minutes. After the screening one said: “That was evidence of what it was like.”
One post office operator who shared a panel with Jones on the scandal had lived in his car, was excommunicated from his family, sectioned after a breakdown, and his parents were also accused of stealing after they took over the branch.
“They have this extraordinary dignity considering 20 years of living in a Hitchcockian nightmare, they have this incredible, humble, modest humility,” he said.
Jones also shared how he had attempted to get to know Alan Bates as part of his research for his role, and encountered an “extraordinary human being” who “isn’t impressed by the things other people are”.
Telephoning Bates, he was told: “I don’t know what you want to know, I’m not a character … I don’t feel emotions, I don’t have concerns in that area.”
Yet Jones “felt very responsible” to do Bates justice, and instead watched footage on YouTube of him and spoke to James Arbuthnot, the ex-Conservative minister who championed the plight of his constituents.
Jones teared up as he recalled Arbuthnot’s description of Bates: “Alan is dogged, determined, unbiddable … every minute I spend with Alan Bates is an improvement on my life.”
He recalled deciding how to play a scene in which Bates learns his wife has cancer. The director suggested he show physical affection, but Jones recalled how Bates “put his emotional life on the shelf” through his campaigning work, and opted not to touch her. “It’s more interesting to not have them cry and kiss. You begin to go, ‘Wow, they have to keep moving forwards, they have no other choice.’”
When the show came out he was working in the US and learned from co-star Monica Dolan that “it’s all gone a bit mental over here”. On his return, he found that Bates “was euphoric”.
“The response was so immense, it was like a tidal wave. I think ultimately he’s trying to surf this wave for as long as it will go,” Jones said. “Everyone involved in the show is trying to keep it going because there are people down the line who have to get damages, who have to get paid, be given redress.”
Asked why he thought the drama had such an impact, he said: “Computer software malfunctions aren’t an obvious thing to make a drama about.
“I think drama is fundamentally political, there’s a reason why revolutionary governments funded theatre projects. I think we now receive our news as stories rather than facts, and if a story isn’t compelling enough it drops from the news.
“In the old days we used to get facts; facts are somehow not enough not. We see it all the time in the news: ‘How did you feel?’ This is a drama about how people felt about an injustice.”