Viewers have been shocked to see former Cabinet Minister Nadhim Zahawi’s appearance in the ITV drama Mr Bates vs The Post Office.
The TV series follows the true story of hundreds of subpostmasters wrongly prosecuted for theft by the Post Office due to a faulty IT system.
Mr Zahawi landed a role playing himself in the drama, in a move that has raised eyebrows with viewers and on set.
Taking to X as it was aired, watchers said ‘no way’ as they realised it was actually the MP, and not an actor who looks exactly like him.
‘Nadhim Zahawi is an actor now. Jesus wept,’ one wrote.
Viewers were surprised to see Zahawi playing himself in the TV series
Mr Zahawi landed a role playing himself in the drama, in a move that has raised eyebrows with viewers and on set
One viewer, expressing how he found the decision ‘odd’ to star a real MP wrote: ‘Enjoyed Mr Bates vs the Post Office. A good distilling of the v long, complex story of the appalling miscarriage of justice sub-postmasters endured.
‘But can we discuss the oddness of Nadhim Zahawi, a sitting MP, playing himself in a dramatisation of a select committee?’
‘Was shocked to see Nadhim Zahawi playing himself at the Select Committee,’ another said.
Another appeared confused over whether it was in fact Zahawi or just very good casting.
‘Me: oh my god that’s Nadhim Zahawi playing himself.
’10 seconds later: It can’t be. No way. They’ve found an actor who looks really, really like him. Well done casting.
’20 seconds later: oh my god it is actually Nadhim Zahawi.’
In Zahawi’s cameo, he is heard telling the Select Committee that the saga ‘sounds to me like a shambles’.
He also tells the actress playing ex-Post Office chief Paula Vennells: ‘You are the head of the organisation – will you provide the information – yes or no?’
One viewer said: ‘Can we discuss the oddness of Nadhim Zahawi, a sitting MP, playing himself in a dramatisation of a select committee?’
The TV series follows the true story of hundreds of subpostmasters wrongly prosecuted for theft by the Post Office due to a faulty IT system
The social media comments about the MP come after an actor, who asked to remain anonymous, said: ‘The idea of Nadhim Zahawi playing himself has left a lot of actors up in arms. To make matters worse he cannot remember a line of his own words!’
A spokesman for ITV previously said: ‘In factual dramas it is common for real-life figures – journalists, TV personalities and other public figures – to play themselves in small roles as a way of adding further authenticity to the series.
‘We have chosen to feature Nadhim Zahawi for this reason.’
has contacted Mr Zahawi for comment.
The ITV series, written by acclaimed dramatist Gwyneth Hughes, tells how hundreds of innocent Post Office employees had to battle to clear their name after they were wrongly accused of theft, fraud and false accounting because of a defective IT system called Horizon.
The drama also features Toby Jones, the star of the TV series The Detectorists, W1A actress Monica Dolan and Line Of Duty actor Will Mellor.
The scandal is considered the most widespread miscarriage of justice in British history, leading to the inquiry into what went wrong, and who was responsible.
Between 2000 and 2014, an average of one Post Office worker a week was prosecuted, for theft, false accounting and other offences, by the Post Office.
From a total of 736, many were jailed, bankrupted and suffered appalling stress and public shame.
For years Royal Mail and its computer partner Horizon – a system developed by the Japanese company Fujitsu – insisted that they were isolated cases.
The four-part series has received a mountain of praise since airing its first episode on New Year’s Day and its second last night.
Over 3.8million people tuned into the series on the first night, which continues on Wednesday and Thursday.