ITV plans huge follow-up to Mr Bates after hit drama blows Post Office scandal wide open
IT was the biggest new drama in over a decade for ITV, so there’s no surprise that ITV are planning a follow-up to Mr Bates vs The Post Office.
The documentary series will tell the real-life stories of the hundreds of sub-postmasters coming forward with their own injustices since the four-part series aired earlier this month.
Mr Bates vs The Post Office was the dramatisation of one of the biggest miscarriages of justice in UK history, which saw innocent staff wrongly accused of theft, fraud and false accounting due to the defective computer system called Horizon.
The drama averaged 9.8million viewers per episode, beating ITV big-hitters like Downton Abbey and competing with Line Of Duty’s finale season.
Its popularity saw it air in full twice, with ITV shifting the schedule to repeat the drama over four nights last week, boosting its online streams to 16.6million.
While Toby Jones played chief campaigner and show lead Alan Bates on the show, it is co-star Will Mellor at the helm of this spin-off show.
The Coronation Street star, who played Lee Castleton across the four episodes, plans to meet with former staff in the new documentary.
Will revealed on his podcast Two Pints With Will and Ralf Little: “I’m making a documentary about what’s going on because changes are being made.
“Now there’s been about 700 people that have come forward.
“Mr Bates vs The Post Office is making history — we couldn’t have imagined how big it has gone.
“The victims just wanted to be heard and have a voice, but nobody was listening, and now they have been given that voice, and more people are coming out to talk about it.
“It’s amazing because it shows you what you can do in this country when we come together and say, ‘This is wrong, we need to get justice for these people’.”
Bruno means buzzness
BRUNO TONIOLI has already been causing havoc on the set of Britain’s Got Talent.
Shortly after filming kicked off yesterday, the former Strictly Come Dancing judge was hitting the golden buzzer so hard he broke it.
Bruno sent dance act The Phoenix Boys straight to the live shows after an emotional performance.
He said: “I almost cried because it reminded me of me at their age.
“People don’t understand how hard it is to succeed as a dancer, you do it for nothing, you do it for love. I felt the love. It came from my heart. I had to do it.”
Earlier, Bruno was seen arriving for the auditions at The London Palladium along with show co-host Ant McPartlin and fellow judges Simon Cowell and Amanda Holden.
BGT returns to ITV later this year.
Vicky: My shocker on set
VICKY McCLURE has revealed she was left stunned during filming for the second series of Trigger Point.
The actress, who plays bomb disposal expert Lana Washington in the ITV1 series that returns on Sunday, chose to experience being tasered.
The electric shock from the handheld device used by police was to make sure her reaction was realistic.
She tells The Sun’s TV Mag, free with the paper on Saturday: “I had to get tasered at one point and I’ve never done that before – either in acting or real life, thankfully.
“I didn’t want to look like an electrocuted cat in a cartoon, so it was trying to get the movements right and not make it look too comical.
“There was no chance of me using a stunt double.”
The drama about officers from the Met Police’s bomb squad is back after a successful first series in 2022.
EMMA WILLIS will be back on screen delivering babies this summer.
Two years after her last shift in 2022, the presenter heads to Watford General Hospital to take on the role of a maternity support worker.
She said: “I have a nervous excitement about continuing my training at a new hospital.”
RuPaul’s got Rich pickings
RU PAUL is upping the ante for the new series of Drag Race UK Vs The World – by inviting one of our best-known actors on to the judging panel.
Saltburn star Richard E Grant will help Mama Ru in crowning the best queen from the latest line-up, who have flown in from across the globe.
Motsi Mabuse will follow in sister Oti’s footsteps by appearing on the panel during the new BBC Three series, which starts on February 9.
Other stars due to make an appearance alongside regular judges Alan Carr, Graham Norton and Michelle Visage include comedian Katherine Ryan singer Kim Petras and Olympic diver Tom Daley.
Strictly’s Janette Manrara and Aljaz Skorjanec join as dance coaches.
FIRST Dates is to screen a Valentine’s Day special on February 13.
The ultra loved-up episode will include newsreader and former Celebrity Big Brother housemate India Willoughby, who goes on her first date since transitioning, overseen by show host Fred Sirieix.
Stalker trauma shared
LOUIS THEROUX’S production company will tell how people fell victim to the country’s most prolific cyberstalker.
Can I Tell You A Secret? follows the real-life story of serial online predator Matthew Hardy and drops on Netflix on February 21.
Hard was jailed for nine years after creating fake social media accounts.
He snared 63 victims by claiming to have sensitive information about their lives.
The two-part documentary, made by Louis’ company Mindhouse, uses the testimonies of three of his female victims.
It follows the release of the company’s Tell Them You Love Me, on Sky on February 3, and recent series Lockerbie.