The British public postal service is carried by the public body The Post Office, but management is like a private company. At the end of the 20th century, it implemented a computer system, called Horizon, developed by the British branch of Fujitsu in a multi-billion contract.

In addition, the heads of the post offices were not direct mail personnel, but were working in a kind of franchise: according to the contract, any loss of money that was responsible was in the post office’s accounts and, for any reason, had to personally respond to that loss.

The IT system started operating around the year 2000 and problems were soon encountered in rounding accounts in several post offices. And not for a few pounds, because there was a small difference in the end-of-month accounts, but because allegedly thousands of pounds were missing in the post offices.

Hundreds of postal officers tried to clarify that it could not have been their fault to accumulate so many dead negative accounts. But The Post Office gave them the same answer: it only happens to you. And then, you had to do what the contract said, you had to do the losses personally. And, irrespective of whether or not the debts are settled, Correos initiated judicial proceedings scientifically against those responsible for the post.

The series narrates the struggle of some postal managers in few cases. As Mr. Bates (Alan Bates) began protesting Wales, he first joined 150 affected for a negotiation and, after 555, to bring to judgment Postal (a counter-settlement, after all those suffered by those affected).

But more than that hundred people affected were:

• The Post Office accused 3,500 post officers of alleged economic damage caused by the Fujitsu Horizon system.
• In the trials initiated, 700 were found guilty.
• 236 people went to jail.
• 93 of these sentences have already been rejected and the Government has paid £600,000 to the defendants, but hundreds of cases remain.
• Of the 555 that Alan Bates represented at the trial, 18 died without seeing justice or compensation.
• There has also been the suicide of 4 postal officers.

No one from The Post Office or Fujitsu therefore has personal responsibility. The Post Office says it has paid £130 million to the victims and the process and research continues.

Where did the money allegedly stolen by the post managers go? It is not clear in the series, but it is suggested that the thousands of pounds remained in an accounting limbo and that in the end, by unifying the accounts, they probably became part of the Mail’s benefits.

Mr Bates vs. The Post Office is a production of the British chain ITV (the image of this article is made with the actors of the series). The series cannot be seen at the moment in the platforms of Euskal Herria Sur or Norte, but can be found in BitTorrent with four episodes and an additional documentary. In the United Kingdom it was broadcast on open television at the beginning of January, and the issue that appeared in the media for the first time, has become a prime informational point of interest, with government appearances, additional statements from The Post Office, and calls to analyse in particular the role of Fujitsu.