BBCThe night before Will Mellor was offered a part in a TV drama about a Post Office scandal, he thought about giving up acting altogether.
He has been a familiar face on British screens for decades, but work has since dried up.
However, the next day his agent called to offer him the role of former sub-postmaster Lee Castleton in ITV’s Mr Bates vs the Post Office.
He soon realized that it was more important than the part he had played before – and that it would come to change the course of his entire life.
ITVTwenty-five years after his first conviction for theft and fraud, the four-part drama has sparked public interest in the Post Office scandal like never before.
It describes the experience of several hundred sub-postmasters who were prosecuted because of incorrect information from the Horizon computer system, described as the most widespread miscarriage of justice in the UK in recent history.
The Post Office took many cases to court itself, prosecuting 700 people between 1999 and 2015.
Several innocent sub-postmasters were sent to prison and many were financially ruined.
Lee, a former sub-postmaster at Marine Drive Post Office in Bridlington, Yorkshire, is trying to defend himself in the High Court against charges of money laundering and theft. bankrupt when he lost the case.
“I barely knew about the scandal before I read the script,” Will said.
“Like many people I’ve read some things, I’ve heard some things – about broken computer systems and it’s not such a happy story.
“But if you look at the effects of this and understand how isolated these people are, how they feel alone, how innocent people are made criminals – not only by the Post Office, but sometimes by their community – I think the public really feels it and reacts as a result.
The Post Office told the BBC it was sorry for the distress it had caused to so many people, and was now working closely with postmasters and “committed to turning around the organisation”.
In a new BBC documentary Long live the Post OfficeWill examines the story that has been a big part of his life.
As part of the documentary he met people from all over England whose lives were blown up by the scandal and heard how they tried to move forward with their lives.
Many have never spoken about their experiences before.
One of them is the mother of Stephanie Gibson, a former Post Office clerk from South Pelaw in County Durham.
In 2007, Stephanie – then aged 28 – was charged and taken to court after she was wrongly accused of stealing money from the branch where she worked.
Her court case made the front page of the local newspaper, along with her picture.
After an eight-day trial, Stephanie was acquitted and was told by the judge that she could leave the court “without a stain on her character”.
“I should have liked it then,” Will said as he sipped his tea in the kitchen.
“I just want to go back to a normal life.
“It can’t be like that.”
In the evening, when he was putting his children to sleep, a brick was thrown at the window.
In the following days, the painter was dumped in a car, he was kidnapped on the street and ostracized by people in the local community.
Stephanie and her young family immediately moved out of the area, fearing for their survival.
As a result, Stephanie’s world is unrecognizably narrow – she is a recluse, leaving her new home only when absolutely necessary.
‘Physical response’
“What’s amazing about Stephanie is how much time has passed since she was released,” Will said.
“She’s still traumatized by everything and hasn’t been able to move on – it’s affected her life, her children’s lives, even where she lives.
“Imagine waking up every day and sitting on your side while everyone else is living their lives.”
After talking through her ordeal, Stephanie agreed for Will to drive her to the road she ran, her first return in more than 16 years.
“He was shaking in the car in the driveway, holding the door,” she said.
“It’s a physical response – I can see he’s still being tortured and still going through everything”
But an encounter with one of the street residents when he arrived, changed everything.
“A former neighbor came over and gave Stephanie a big hug,” he said.
“The emotion just came out of him, he was crying, it was a release he couldn’t have.
“It’s huge and I think it’s the first step in his recovery for him – I hope he can sleep better at night now and I’m really glad I was a part of that.”
The documentary also takes Will to Gainsborough in Lincolnshire to meet his sister Thomas and Katie Watson, the children of sub-postmaster Fiona Watson.
The family moved to the area when Thomas and Katie were eight and 10 years old.
He thrives in a new life at the heart of the local community living above the shop, supported by an award for Post Office of the Year.
But only a year later the Post Office auditor contacted – the money disappeared from the account.
An internal investigation and formal hearing are underway.
“The options the mother gave me were to plead guilty, be a criminal, have no job, no post office but still see your kids, or go to jail and you can’t see your kids,” Will said.
“What choice is that?”
It devastated the family, but more bad news was to come.
During the investigation, Fiona was diagnosed with lymphoma and died later, her young children by her side.
The family fell apart
Will said when he met his brothers, he could tell he was sick.
“It was written all over their faces. When they told their story, I knew this was a family that was falling apart.
“His mother died a criminal – she was never proven innocent in her lifetime.
“You can’t do it again and I can’t imagine what you’ve done.”
Thomas and Katie are pushing for a next-generation compensation scheme to compensate the children of the scandal’s victims.
The Department of Business and Trade told the BBC that sacking sub-postmasters and their suffering families is a priority of the new Labor government.
Describing the scandal as “appalling”, a spokesman for the department said financial losses were “taken into account in various compensation schemes” and that families could claim financial compensation if a postal official had died.
Groundswell of support
Will said the victims he met while touring England for the documentary Surviving the Post Office were never far from his mind.
“This story stays with me and I get angry every time I talk about it,” he said.
“People are losing their lives, people are losing their childhoods, their marriages, they’ve lost time they can’t get back.”
However, for all the horror, injustice and tragedy of the Post Office scandal, Will said he believes the groundswell of public support has the power to be transformative for those who have suffered.
“I know from talking to Lee Castleton that he’s been overwhelmed by the support from the community,” he said.
“And I still get it every day – every day someone stops me and says: ‘Well done at the Post Office’.
“Part of me feels guilty – I’m just a small part of it, I’m an actor doing my job and I’m just grateful and privileged to be able to do it.
“But I’m proud to have the opportunity to be a part of something positive, that can give hope to the victims of this scandal.”
Long live the Post Office available to watch on iPlayer from 22 July and on BBC One at 8.30pm BST.
accompanying podcast, Post Office Scandalwill be released on BBC Sounds on the same day.
