AN ACTOR from Llandudno who appeared in the ITV series charting the Post Office Horizon scandal has shared what it was like meeting the real Alan Bates.
Former restaurant owner Bobby Sirrah, who has founded his own film company, Pact 16 Productions, starred in Mr Bates vs The Post Office. He played the role of one of the Post Office executive managers.
During filming, Bobby met Mr Bates along with his partner Suzanne.
He said: "She [Suzanne] pretended to be annoyed with us when she found out which characters we were playing and informed us that, despite enjoying our performances, the real event was much more intimidating. I think that really put into perspective just what they endured in their battle against the Post Office.
"Mr Bates was lovely and was really talkative about the local area once he realised I was a local and he and I reminisced about the businesses in Craig-y-don."
Bobby, who used to run Bistro Bach in Craig y Don, from 2016 until November 2022, with business partner Craig Jones, also talked with Julie Hesmondhalgh who played Suzanne.
"It’s natural to have doubts in yourself as a performer but working alongside Toby [Jones] and Julie, I’ve never felt so reassured in my life," Bobby said.
"The performers that I had grown up watching now truly felt like colleagues.
"While I didn’t get a chance to talk directly to Toby beyond the occasional greeting, Julie was the total opposite. Toby would often withdraw between takes to focus on what he would need to do next whereas Julie wanted to talk to everyone on set and she personally thanked all the performers for their contributions. She was almost like the on-set mum.
"When there was a lull in filming, while they reset the lighting for example, Julie went around dishing out snacks and sandwiches to the cast and crew and made sure everyone was well fed."
Bobby, 35, a former Ysgol Aberconwy pupil, had been contacted on Facebook about four or five months prior to production by someone involved with the ITV production.
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He said: "They were looking for a venue to convert into the old Post Office and wondered if the restaurant, that I used to co-own, was still available for production. Sadly, we had shut down the business three months prior and no longer had it.
"A couple of months after that, I was working on the new Sigourney Weaver film and got talking to one of the crew members. Coincidentally, it turned out this crew member recognised me and revealed himself to be the one who had contacted me on Facebook regarding converting the restaurant into the old post office.
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"He revealed that it was ITV doing a limited series detailing the events of the Horizon scandal. I offered my services to him for additionally crew and didn’t really think much of it beyond that."
Hundreds of subpostmasters were wrongly convicted of stealing after the company’s defective Horizon accounting system made it appear as though money was missing at their branches.
Some victims were sent to prison or financially ruined, others were shunned by their communities, while some took their own lives.
The long-running battle for justice accelerated dramatically after the ITV drama aired earlier this month.
Mr Bates, a former Llandudno subpostmaster, has led the decades-long fight to expose the Horizon IT scandal.
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