I was in Mr Bates vs the Post Office – it raises one very important question about the UK

We were lucky that the ITV drama finally forced the government’s hand to right this injustice, writes BBC special correspondent James Naughtie

The Post Office scandal forces us to ask the question: what kind of country do we want to be? (ITV)

It wasn’t exactly a weighty line from King Lear and there was no chance for a soliloquy. But the words had a certain ring: “We did ask the Post Office for an interview. No one was available.” We were in a mocked-up Today programme studio in a university building in London last summer, recreating an interview from about a decade ago for the now-celebrated drama, Mr Bates vs The Post Office.

I was the real-life straight man for Monica Dolan as the indefatigable subpostmistress Jo Hamilton, and Alex Jennings, playing the dogged Tory MP James Arbuthnot (now in the Lords). I knew perfectly well – with relief – that anyone reaching for a drink in front of the TV at the crucial moment would miss me, because after a couple of exchanges I’d have disappeared before they turned back.

Yet it was delicious. Reading Gwyneth Hughes’s script from start to finish beforehand was to be reassured by the power of diamond-sharp storytelling, even before a single actor had got hold of it and Toby Jones became the eponymous Mr Bates. “No one was available.” Real words from the interview, and a little downbeat, because we hear them so often. But in this context? A punch in the gut.