Toby Jones took a pay cut to make ‘Mr Bates vs the Post Office’.
Toby Jones took a pay cut in order to make Mr Bates vs the Post Office
The 57-year-old actor, who has appeared in the ‘Harry Potter’ movies, stars in the new ITV drama as former subpostmaster Alan Bates, and documents his campaign for justice during the Post Office scandal, which saw innocent people receive prison sentences because of the faulty computer system Horizon.
Explaining to The Times why he took a reduced fee for the programme, he said: "There is a huge possibility that shows like Mr Bates will not be made in the future. Not because TV commissioners don't want them, but because they can't afford them. The financial pressures are too great.
"These kinds of four-part, very British, thoughtful dramas are massively at threat because distributors worry that it is less likely that they will recoup their investment than they would from an international thriller with lots of episodes.”
The ‘Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny’ star also appeared on ‘The Graham Norton Show’, and explained that he wanted to make the show in order to bring more attention to the victims of the scandal.
He said: "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.
"I hope that this drama and the documentary that goes with it will also mobilise the general population again and make people feel like this has got to be sorted. Maybe even turning into an election issue."
Tagged in Toby Jones