Actor Will Mellor has said his decision to play Lee Castleton in Mr Bates vs The Post Office was “scary”, as he knew the former subpostmaster would be watching. Mellor, 48, was speaking on BBC Breakfast alongside Stephanie Gibson, a victim of the Horizon IT scandal, who will feature in the Surviving The Post Office documentary, hosted by Mellor. Advertisement More than 700 workers were prosecuted by the Post Office and handed criminal convictions between 1999 and 2015, as Fujitsu’s faulty Horizon system made it appear as though money was missing at their branches.
Hundreds of victims are still awaiting compensation, despite the previous government saying those who have had convictions quashed are eligible for £600,000 payouts. Mellor said he had been inspired to host the documentary after he became “frustrated” that it took a drama series to bring the scandal to wide public attention. Advertisement Advertisement Lee Castleton, who was played by Will Mellor in Mr Bates vs The Post Office.
Photo: Yui Mok/PA. He said: “Playing a real person has its different challenges and it’s scary as well, because you know that the person is going to be watching it. “But we couldn’t have imagined the impact Mr Bates was going to have on the nation.
“I’m so proud to have been in it, and a bit frustrated that it took a drama to really make the difference, but I’m so happy that we’ve done it. Advertisement “There was a lot of pressure to do it, when we were reading t.