Toby Jones made huge sacrifice for Mr Bates vs the Post Office drama to happen
ITV star Toby Jones has revealed how he made a huge sacrifice for ITV's Mr Bates vs the Post Office drama to make it to the small screen.
Mr Bates vs The Post Office: Toby Jones stars in ITV drama
Toby, who has also appeared in huge films such as Harry Potter, took a pay cut so producers could meet its estimated £8 million budget. He says he was passionate about bringing it to the small screen.
The ITV series is a dramatisation of the British Post Office scandal. Between 1999 and 2015 there was a miscarriage of justice in which hundreds of sub-postmasters were wrongly prosecuted privately and publicly for theft, false accounting or fraud.
It was caused by a glitchy software system that incorrectly showed money missing from accounts. Talking with the Radio Times, he spoke of the threat to the arts industry in television. Toby explained it was down to “investment” worries.
"There is a huge possibility that shows like Mr Bates will not be made in the future."
Before adding: “Not because TV commissioners don't want them, but because they can't afford them.
“The financial pressures are too great."
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In her opinion, factual dramas usually cost more as they require extensive research.
"It isn't like a normal fictional drama where you can just sit at your desk and make it all up," she pointed out.
The shocking series has sparked chatter across the country.
It tells the tale of one of the biggest miscarriages of justice in British legal history.
Toby stars as Alan Bates who played a huge role in the campaign.
Appearing on The Graham Norton Show, Toby spoke about the scandal and the terrible injustices that went on.
He said on the BBC programme: "Some of them went to prison, some of them lost their minds and some of them committed suicide and this huge tragedy still goes on because they haven't been paid compensation or anything.
“The really cynical thing was that people were told they were on their own and no one else was experiencing problems with the IT system."