High Hopes (Welsh TV series)
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''High Hopes'' is a sitcom created by
Boyd Clack Boyd Daniel Clack (born 7 March 1951) is a Canadian-born Welsh writer, actor, and musician. He was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada to Welsh parents. At a young age, he emigrated with his family to Wales, where he grew up in Tonyrefa ...
, written by Clack and Kirsten Jones. Produced and directed by
Gareth Gwenlan Gareth Gwenlan (26 April 1937 – 8 May 2016) was a Welsh television producer, director and executive, best known for his work on shows such as ''The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin'', ''Butterflies'', ''To the Manor Born'', ''Only Fools and Ho ...
for
BBC Wales BBC Cymru Wales is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcasting, public broadcaster in Wales. It is one of the four BBC national regions, alongside the BBC English Regions, BBC Northern Ireland and BBC Scotland. Established in 1964, ...
, ''High Hopes'' is set in a fictional area of the South Wales Valleys called Cwm-Pen-Ôl (which is Welsh for 'Backside Valley'). It stars
Margaret John Margaret John (14 December 1926 – 2 February 2011) was a Welsh, BAFTA award-winning actress, known for her role as Doris O'Neill in ''Gavin & Stacey''. Early life Born in Swansea, as a child she wanted to be a nurse or vet, but she could ...
as widow Elsie Hepplewhite, Robert Blythe as her son Richard Hepplewhite,
Steven Meo Steven James Meo is a Welsh television actor from Coelbren in the Swansea Valley, Wales. He is known for playing Dwayne Hoffman in BBC Wales sitcom '' High Hopes'' (2002–2008), Grant in the BBC Three series '' Grownups'' (2006–2009), and Owe ...
as Hoffman and Oliver Wood (formerly Ben Evans) as Charlie. It revolves around Elsie's son Richard (known as Fagin) 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 #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
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'' (6 October 2008), titled 'Welsh sitcom set to be axed', confirmed that: :"''High Hopes'' will not be re-commissioned beyond 2009, a BBC spokesman confirmed. :He said: "The next series of ''High Hopes'' is due to go out this autumn. The series has not been re-commissioned for next year". :He added that ''High Hopes'' – currently in its fifth series – could return at a future date." A three-part "Best Bits" special was shown on BBC1 Wales, starting 20 September; the third episode was on Sunday, 4 October 2009. In December 2014 it was announced a one-off special would be screened in March 2015 as a part of the BBC Wales 'Real Valleys' season of programmes.


Series overview


Characters


Richard (Fagin) Hepplewhite

*Played by: Robert Blythe Richard Hepplewhite is a wannabe entrepreneur who lives with his mother in the Welsh valleys. Fresh from serving time for second-degree murder at
Strangeways Prison HM Prison Manchester is a Category A and B men's prison in Manchester, England, operated by His Majesty's Prison Service. It is still commonly referred to as Strangeways, which was its former official name derived from the area in which it is l ...
, he is
claustrophobic Claustrophobia is the fear of confined spaces. It can be triggered by many situations or stimuli, including elevators, especially when crowded to capacity, windowless rooms, and hotel rooms with closed doors and sealed windows. Even bedrooms with ...
and
agoraphobic Agoraphobia is a mental and behavioral disorder, specifically an anxiety disorder characterized by symptoms of anxiety in situations where the person perceives their environment to be unsafe with no easy way to escape. These situations can i ...
, running his business empire from his desk at the house. He takes the boys in during the first episode. In one episode, he is briefly cured of his agoraphobia after falling over, but he still lives in fear of being "sucked off by the sky".


Elsie "Mam" Hepplewhite

*Played by:
Margaret John Margaret John (14 December 1926 – 2 February 2011) was a Welsh, BAFTA award-winning actress, known for her role as Doris O'Neill in ''Gavin & Stacey''. Early life Born in Swansea, as a child she wanted to be a nurse or vet, but she could ...
Elsie is Fagin's mother whose husband was captured by Japan in
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
as a
prisoner of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of ...
. He died as a POW in Japan during World War 2 when Fagin was a young boy. So, she shares a dislike for the Japanese with Richard, she because of her husband's death, he because of their technological advances. Her grandfather died after swallowing a silver threepence that was in his
Christmas pudding Christmas pudding is sweet dried-fruit pudding traditionally served as part of Christmas dinner in Britain and other countries to which the tradition has been exported. It has its origins in medieval England, with early recipes making use of ...
, not before running down the road for one and a half miles (bearing in mind he was ninety-four!)


Dwayne Hoffman

*Played by:
Steven Meo Steven James Meo is a Welsh television actor from Coelbren in the Swansea Valley, Wales. He is known for playing Dwayne Hoffman in BBC Wales sitcom '' High Hopes'' (2002–2008), Grant in the BBC Three series '' Grownups'' (2006–2009), and Owe ...
Hoffman (his first name Dwayne is rarely used) is a teenage petty criminal whose best friend is Charlie. He and Charlie are apprentices to Fagin's business. Hoffman enters many scrapes, like stealing an iconic Welsh painting "Dafydd ar y Twmp" (or Dafydd and his Hump, according to Hoffman), and trying to escape the clutches of a randy policewoman!


Charlie Jenkins

*Played by: Ben Evans (2002–2006), Oliver Wood (2007–2008) Charlie is the second teenager in the household. He seems not to be brighter than Hoffman, and once made a collage of
Charlotte Church Charlotte Maria Church (born Charlotte Maria Reed, 21 February 1986) is a Welsh singer-songwriter, actress, television presenter and political activist from Cardiff. Church rose to fame in childhood as a classical singer before branching in ...
with no clothes on (or, Charlotte Church's inverted head atop a
page three Page 3, or Page Three, was a British newspaper convention of publishing a large image of a topless female glamour model (known as a Page 3 girl) on the third page of mainstream red-top tabloids. '' The Sun'' introduced the feature, publishi ...
girl's body), and also entering a romance with a Victor (who was eventually discovered to be a girl named Victoria – to Charlie's relief).


Other characters

Other characters include Mrs. Coles, the local shopkeeper (''
Little Britain Little Britain may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Little Britain'' (sketch show), a British radio and then TV show ** ''Little Britain USA'', an American spin-off * "Little Britain", a song by Dreadzone from the 1995 album ''Second Light'' * ...
'' regular
Di Botcher Diane Botcher (born 2 June 1959) is a Welsh actress. She has starred in several British television sitcoms and dramas, including the Sky comedy drama ''Stella'', BBC comedies '' Little Britain'' and ''Tittybangbang'' and the ITV period drama ' ...
), PC Claude Cox (
Keiron Self Keiron Gareth Self (born 1971 in Newport, Wales) is a British actor and writer best known for playing Roger Bailey, Jr. in the BBC sitcom '' My Family''. His other acting credits include ''Casualty'', ''Lucky Bag'' and playing PC Claude Cox i ...
), a friend of the family, with a fondness for cake, plastic
sex doll A sex doll (also love doll, fuck doll or blowup doll) is a type of anthropomorphic sex toy in the size and shape of a sexual partner. The sex doll may consist of an entire body, or just a head, pelvis, or other body part ( vagina, anus, mouth, ...
s and
pornographic film Pornographic films (pornos), erotic films, sex films, and 18+ films are films that present sexually explicit subject matter in order to arouse and satisfy the viewer. Pornographic films present sexual fantasies and usually include erotic ...
s. Also present is show co-writer
Boyd Clack Boyd Daniel Clack (born 7 March 1951) is a Canadian-born Welsh writer, actor, and musician. He was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada to Welsh parents. At a young age, he emigrated with his family to Wales, where he grew up in Tonyrefa ...
who plays Sergeant Ball.


Pilot and series comparison

The pilot and the series in general can be compared: *In the pilot, the boys knew Fagin already, but in the series, Fagin met them and their knowledge of each other developed very quickly, although he knew them it was not as if he had known them for long. *The whole of the UK (including Wales) saw the pilot, whereas the series was originally shown only in Wales, but was repeated on
BBC2 Wales BBC Two Wales is the national variation of BBC Two for BBC Cymru Wales. It is broadcast from Central Square in Cardiff with live continuity provided by a team of announcer/directors. The channel opts out from the main BBC Two schedule. From 5 ...
in 2006, which was also available to
BSkyB Sky UK Limited is a British broadcaster and telecommunications company that provides television and broadband Internet services, fixed line and mobile telephone services to consumers and businesses in the United Kingdom. It is a subsidiary of ...
viewers outside Wales as well. *Different actors played Hoffman, Charlie and PC Claude Cox. The series' theme tune is an
instrumental An instrumental is a recording normally without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through semantic widening, a broader sense of the word song may refer to inst ...
version of the 1959 song " High Hopes" played on a Welsh harp by Dai Brown. The backdrop village seen on the opening and closing credits is
Fochriw Fochriw () is a village located in Caerphilly County Borough, Wales, United Kingdom. It was well known for its neighbouring collieries, which employed nearly the entire local population in the early 20th century. It lies within the historic cou ...
.


References


External links

* * * * {{Media in Cardiff 2000s British sitcoms 2000s Welsh television series 2002 British television series debuts 2009 British television series endings BBC television sitcoms BBC Cymru Wales television shows Television shows set in Wales