It was the TV event of the week. The ITV 1 drama Mr Bates vs The Post Office got some of the highest ratings of the week.
But it also made a far deeper impact.
The story of the Horizon scandal was revisited by many newspapers and became a national talking point.
More than 700 sub-postmasters were wrongly convicted of false accounting, theft and fraud. It was actuality caused by faulty software.
On Sunday, Rushi Sunak said measures were being considered by the government to clear the names of the victims.
Yet again, the power of mainstream linear television has been demonstrated.
It is hard to imagine a programme on any channel other than ITV 1 or BBC One having quite this kind of impact.
It is what happens when large, diverse audiences watch the same programme together.
No doubt many who missed the programme will now be catching up on ITV X. But the initial impact came from the overnights.
The good overnight ratings stand in contrast with those of another excellent ITV 1 drama recently.
Nolly, the story of Noele Gordon, dropped on ITV X almost a year ago. By the time it made it on to the linear channel recently, most of those who’d wanted to see it had already seen it. The show gained less than 1m in the overnights.
Commercial broadcasters are in a difficult position.
Linear advertising spend is going down and some of the people advertisers most want prefer on-demand.
Research by Ofcom demonstrates that it isn’t just the young who have been turning away from linear.
But a whole host of programmes – live TV and so-called event TV – show there is life in the old dog yet.
And the impact of Mr Bates vs The Post Office shows what would be lost if major linear channels were legacies.
Remember – the typical streaming service can never dream of the numbers who watched Wheel of Fortune or The Masked Singer on ITV 1 on Saturday.
And if Mr Bates was quietly dropped on ITV X months ago, would its impact have been the same?
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PICTURED: Mr Bates vs The Post Office opening titles. COPYRIGHT: ITV plc.