Will Mellor’s new BBC documentary about real-life Post Office scandal victims airs tonight

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A new BBC documentary about real-life victims from the Post Office scandal fronted by Will Mellor is hitting TV screens tonight.

As the country finally starts to wake up to the full scale of the Post Office scandal – which involved the British postal service pursuing thousands of innocent subpostmasters for apparent financial shortfalls caused by faults in an accounting software system between 1999 and 2015 – actor Will Mellor is on a mission to find out what happened to the real-life sub-postmasters in this new BBC documentary.

The Stockport-born actor famously played the part of Lee Castleton in the ITV drama, Mr Bates vs the Post Office, and says he feels a “real affinity” will the families he spoke to for the programme.

For the new documentary and accompanying five-part BBC Sounds podcast series – which is titled Surviving the Post Office – Will actually speaks to Mr Castleton himself, as well as four other affected people and their families whose lives have been “torn apart”.

Will Mellor has fronted a new BBC documentary about real-life Post Office scandal victims / Credit: ITV

Surviving the Post Office ventures to all four corners of England, including East Yorkshire, County Durham, Lincolnshire, West Sussex, and Cornwall, as Will discovers that many of the sub-postmasters want to “take back control of their lives”.

According to the BBC, for some facing the past, that proves to be a “troubling experience”, while for others, it ends up being a “liberating” step forwards.

As well as exploring the financial losses for many, including the people featured in the documentary and podcast series, Will also gets to find out how they are coping with their emotions, trying to move on from the whole ordeal, and how the victims are finding support in unexpected ways.

“I feel a real affinity with these families, so it was a privilege to hear their stories for this documentary and podcast,” Will said ahead of the documentary airing on BBC One.

“What shocked me the most after meeting so many sub-postmasters is just how far the impact and trauma has spread – the effect it’s had on people’s health, their children, and their whole communities has been massive.”

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Surviving The Post Office is airing on BBC One tonight (Monday 22 July) at 8.30pm, and will be available to watch any time on BBC iPlayer.

Featured Image – BBC