Mr. Bates vs. The Post Office rocked the Government. How do dramas like this make it to TV?

Few TV dramas have had such an instant seismic effect as ITV’s miniseries on the Horizon scandal, Mr Bates vs The Post Office. How do searing stories of miscarriages of justice make it to screen in a ruthless television environment? And what makes them so effective at concentrating public outrage and forcing change? Simon Heath, CEO and Creative Director of World Productions, was Executive Producer of Line of Duty and the acclaimed Hillsborough drama Anne. He tells Andrew Harrison what makes true-life drama work – and how it does the job that World In Action used to do. 

• “To be able to launch a drama while a public inquiry is still ongoing is just fantastic because you’re able to point the audience immediately toward a live political issue, and the two things feed on each other.” - Simon Heath

• “Some stories do lend themselves more readily to dramatisation, and there was something about the Post Office Scandal that you could essentially distil it down to the little people versus this out of control, faceless bureaucracy that was crushing them.” - Simon Heath

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Written and Presented by Andrew Harrison. Produced by: Eliza Davis Beard. Audio production: Jade Bailey. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Music by Kenny Dickinson. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production.

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