After a computer system upgrade, money started to seemingly disappear from British post office branches, and the managers were blamed -- accused of theft, fired, and many charged and sent to prison -- leaving lives, marriages, and reputations in ruins. When Alan Bates was fired, he refused to accept the blame, instead bringing together a group of other wrongly-accused sub-postmasters to form an alliance to fight one of the greatest miscarriages of...

Newcomer Gabriel Cochrane arrives in Candleford with a vendetta against the evil banker Steerforth, who he feels has tricked him into losing his business. Elsewhere, Dorcas makes an ill-judged intervention, Minnie becomes worried that Alfie might fall out of love with her, and Emma is left in a precarious financial position.