Will Mellor reveals he was just hours away from quitting acting when he landed role in Mr Bates vs The Post Office – after it was named as ITV’s biggest new drama in a decade
Will Mellor has revealed he was just hours away from quitting acting before landing a role in ITV’s critically acclaimed drama Mr Bates vs The Post Office.
The miniseries has become ITV’s biggest new drama in more than a decade, after telling the story of a long-running campaign to expose the Horizon IT systems scandal, in which hundreds of post office workers were wrongly accused of theft and fraud.
Will, who has been acting for 35 years, has now revealed that he was considering giving up acting in favor of presenting work when he got the call offering him a role in the series.
Speaking on the Two Pints podcast with Will and Ralf, he said: ‘The day before I got the call from my agent about Mr Bates, I wanted to give up.
‘I swear on my life. I said to my wife, ‘I don’t think I want to continue acting. It just doesn’t happen.”
Will Mellor has revealed he was just hours away from quitting acting before landing a role in ITV’s critically acclaimed drama Mr Bates vs The Post Office
The actor said he was considering focusing on presenting work after a number of failed auditions when he received a call from his agent offering him the role.
“I’m presenting something called Cops Gone Bad and thought I might go in that direction and do more presentations and factual stuff.”
The actor starred in the series as Lee Castleton, a postmaster wrongly accused of fraud and theft, and he starred opposite Amy Nuttall, who played his wife Lisa.
He added: “It’s the biggest drama I’ve ever done and the biggest drama of the last ten years.
“You don’t know what tomorrow will bring, so don’t give up.”
“We knew people would talk about it because it was a true story. But you couldn’t even imagine how big it has become.”
Since his role in the series, Will has reprized his role as the villainous Harvey Gaskell in Coronation Street.
More than 700 Post Office employees were falsely prosecuted based on faulty data from the company’s Horizon computer system, which was developed by Fujitsu.
Some of these people were sent to prison after being convicted of false accounting and theft, some had their finances in tatters, and some will never see justice because they have since died. It is considered the most widespread miscarriage of justice in British history.
The actor played the role of Lee Castleton in the series, a postmaster wrongly accused of fraud and theft, and he starred opposite Amy Nuttall, who played his wife Lisa.
The series has now reached almost 14 million viewers after 28 days of catch-up and viewing on non-TV devices.
This means the program is the biggest drama across all channels since Line of Duty series 6 on BBC One in 2021.
It is the biggest new drama across all channels since Bodyguard on BBC One in 2018 and is ITV’s biggest drama since Broadchurch in 2017.
The four episodes are the most watched programs on any channel so far this year.
After it was announced earlier this week that Mr Bates vs. the Post Office was the most watched program of the year so far, Kevin Lygo, Managing Director, Media & Entertainment ITV, said: ‘The continued success of Mr Bates vs. The Post Office demonstrates the undeniable power of television, and in particular public broadcasting.
‘As well as being a ratings hit, dramatizing the story with such a high caliber of British actors has reignited the campaign for justice almost 25 years later, for a group of ordinary people – and the whole nation is behind them. ‘
Polly Hill, ITV’s Head of Drama, said: ‘We commissioned this drama because it was a story that needed to be told. Like everyone else who watched the show, I couldn’t believe what had happened. We all wanted the drama to make sure that story was heard by as many people as possible.
“We are all proud and overwhelmed by the power our drama has had. Alan, Jo, Lee, Jess and every sub-postmaster and sub-postmistress are now being heard, and it looks like they will finally get the justice they deserve. ITV is proud to tell this story and support the subpostmasters.”
It comes after it emerged the Post Office tried to interfere in the ITV drama about the Horizon IT scandal, the show’s producer claims.
Mr Bates vs The Post Office tells the story of the massive miscarriage of justice that engulfed hundreds of innocent sub-postmasters and sub-postmistresses as a result of the faulty Horizon IT system and subsequent cover-up.
The outrage caused by the show prompted the government this week to announce legislation that will “expeditiously safeguard and compensate” victims whose convictions have not yet been overturned.
Between 1999 and 2015, the Post Office prosecuted more than 700 sub-postmasters and sub-postmistresses based on incorrect information from the Horizon system.
Former postmaster Alan Bates led and won a legal battle after falling victim to the mistakes himself. His victory paved the way for dozens of convictions to be overturned.
Mr. Bates vs. the Post Office told the story of a campaign to expose the Horizon IT systems scandal, in which hundreds of Post Office employees were wrongly accused of theft and fraud
Mr Bates vs The Post Office producer Patrick Spence said executives at the beleaguered company tried to change the show’s script in return for their cooperation.
He told the Evening standard: ‘What they offered was to adapt our story to their purposes.
“They clearly wanted to change the story, but we had our facts and they couldn’t stop us.”
The script for the show is based on public documents and emails written by Post Office employees, including Paula Vennells, who was the company’s CEO until 2019.
This week she bowed to public pressure and announced she would give up her CBE following her role in the scandal.
Spence said The Post Office was “so litigious and horrific” that show bosses “couldn’t risk inventing anything for fear they would stop it from being broadcast.”
The Post Office has been contacted for comment.