It exposed a scandal that shocked the nation – and now Mr Bates vs The Post Office has topped the Radio Times’ TV 100 list which lauds the most influential people in television.
The four-parter in January, with Toby Jones as subpostmaster Alan Bates, was the most viewed programme of the past year, and ITV’s most popular drama of the last three years.
It laid bare how hundreds of subpostmasters had been wrongfully accused of theft and fraud because of a faulty computer system and led to Rishi Sunak introducing a new law to quash their convictions.
The series, also starring Julie Hesmondhalgh as Jones’s wife and Monica Dolan as another of the victims, is the first ensemble production to top the Radio Times list.
The drama laid bare how hundreds of subpostmasters had been wrongfully accused of theft and fraud
Claudia Winkleman, 52, host of The Traitors and Strictly Come Dancing, is seventh after winning a Bafta for the reality show last year
Runner-up in the list is Kieran Culkin , 41, who played Roman Roy in HBO’s Succession
Morgan Jeffery, executive editor of RadioTimes.com, said that because it ‘demonstrated the power that television truly has to shape the world that we live in, there could only ever be one winner’.
Runner-up in the list is Kieran Culkin, 41, who played Roman Roy in HBO’s Succession, with the drama’s screenwriter Jesse Armstrong, 53, in ninth spot. Sarah Lancashire, 59, comes third for her ‘phenomenal performance’ in Happy Valley on the BBC, with the drama’s writer and producer Sally Wainwright coming sixth in the list for ‘creating strong and complex female characters’.
Bella Ramsey, 20, is fourth for ‘showcasing versatility on screen’ in HBO’s drama The Last of Us. Ncuti Gatwa, 31, who topped the Radio Times list last year, is now fifth for his ‘ground-breaking performance’ in Doctor Who.
Claudia Winkleman, 52, host of The Traitors and Strictly Come Dancing, is seventh after winning a Bafta for the reality show last year.
The success of the Disney+ series The Bear sees Ayo Edebiri, 28, debut in eighth place, while Ted Lasso star Hannah Waddingham rounds off the top ten.
