Casts & Crew
Also Directed by Gareth Gwenlan
High Hopes is a sitcom made in Wales, produced and directed by Gareth Gwenlan for BBC Wales and is set in a fictional area of the South Wales Valleys called Cwm-Pen-Ôl. It stars Margaret John as widow Elsie Hepplewhite, Robert Blythe as her son Richard Hepplewhite, Steven Meo as Hoffman and Oliver Wood as Charlie. It revolves around Elsie's son Richard and his dodgy business ventures, assisted by the two boys, who attempted to rob the Hepplewhites' house in the first episode. The pilot was shown on BBC all over the UK in 1999, with slight differences to future cast and plot. The series started in 2002, and in March 2007, filming began on its fifth series. The sixth and final series, consisting of six episodes, was first shown on BBC1 Wales weekly from Tuesday 11 November 2008. But, before it aired a report in the South Wales Echo, titled 'Welsh sitcom set to be axed', confirmed that: A three part 'Best Bits' special was shown on BBC1 Wales, starting 20 September, the third episode was on Sun 4 October 2009.
Harry Springer (Tim Healey) and Duggie Strachan (Clive Russell) are ex-Army pals who served in the Falkland Islands together. Duggie was an infantryman, up at the 'sharp end', while Harry was in the Catering Corps. Harry saved Duggie's life - at least, that's what Harry reckons. Nowadays, Harry is the proud owner of the seedy Olympic Hotel in Smethwick and Duggie, now a teacher, is one of his reluctant guests. The hotel is populated mainly by drunks, homeless people on Social Security, asylum seekers and illegal immigrants.
The Pub Landlord’s rules are a pint for the fella and a glass of white wine or fruit based drink for the lady. It might be the 21st century but the landlord’s gaff is the last bastion of all things normal. He ain’t interested in change. It’s just the way things are, and don’t you or anybody else go questioning it.
