I’m thrilled to be portrayed by Toby Jones – phone-hacking victims need his star power

For some people it is the offer of a gong. The government caved in, announcing they would clear all the hapless postmasters, Mr Bates became Sir Alan Bates – and he duly got married on Richard Branson’s private Caribbean island. So, you can imagine the thrill some months ago when it was whispered to me that Toby Jones might graciously consent to play yours truly in an ITV drama about the phone-hacking saga made by the very same team which had made Mr Bates vs The Post Office. But then it never occurred to me that Toby Jones – who by then was so famous he couldn’t walk down the Stockwell Road without people begging him to take up their personal crusades for justice – would deign to play me. “There was never a cross word between us.” And the production team would sigh and explain to Nick that drama has to be just a little bit – what’s the word?