Ilkley Literature Festival will take you behind the scenes of 'Mr Bates vs the Post Office' with Gwyneth Hughes, writer of the gripping ITV series about the biggest miscarriage of justice in British history.
The event at 7pm on Wednesday 15 May at All Saints Church in Ilkley, will also be available to watch via a live-stream.
Watched by over 13.5 million viewers, the four-part drama about the Post Office’s wrongful prosecution of more than 900 sub postmasters, ignited public interest on a global scale dominating news headlines upon its broadcast in January this year.
Join the Ilkley Literature Festival for this exclusive event as screenwriter Gwyneth Hughes talks about how the production was brought into being and how the audience reception united a nation. In conversation with journalist and media consultant Ruth Pitt, director of the Creative Cities Convention, hear how the power of Hughes’ storytelling succeeded in forcing political action where the legal system had failed.
Between 1999 and 2015, postmasters across the country were wrongly prosecuted for stealing because of incorrect information from a computer system called Horizon. The actions of the Post Office caused the loss of jobs, bankruptcy, family breakdown, criminal convictions, prison sentences and at least four suicides.
Despite years of campaigning by sub-postmasters, it took an primetime television drama to generate the immense public outcry needed to bring the injustice to light. Since then, ITV's biggest drama in 22 years has created shockwaves up and down the country and right through the heart of Westminster. With investigations and revelations ongoing, the story is far from over.
Don’t miss this opportunity to hear directly from a writer responsible for shaking the foundations of the UK’s biggest institutions through her words.
For more information and to buy tickets, visit www.ilkleylitfest.org.uk