Hope Springs (TV Series)
Encyclopedia
Hope Springs is a British television comedy-drama series following the lives of four female ex-cons in hiding following a multimillion pound robbery. Produced by Shed Productions
, the company behind Bad Girls
, Footballers' Wives
and Waterloo Road
, the 8-part series began airing on BBC One
on 7 June 2009 and finished on 26 July 2009. After a single series, the BBC cancelled Hope Springs, because it "did not find its audience in the way that [they] had hoped."
, situated in the Dumfries and Galloway
region, an ideal location chosen for its beautiful and tranquil scenery to provide the perfect backdrop for the programme. The interior scenes to be featured have been shot at the BBC Scotland
drama studios in Dumbarton.
), Hannah Temple (Siân Reeves
), Shoo Coggan (Christine Bottomley
) and Josie Porritt (Vinette Robinson
) – four sexy female ex-cons attempting to go straight. With the help of £3 million, stolen from Ellie's rich gangster husband Roy (Mark Frost
), they plan to head out to the sunny safety of Barbados to begin their new lives. However, when their long-thought-out plan goes wrong, they find themselves staying in the remote Scottish village of Hope Springs – a village set to change each of their lives forever.
The series ended with the text:
.
Shed Productions
Shed Productions, part of the Shed Media Group, is an independent UK television production company, specialising in contemporary, original drama programming and content...
, the company behind Bad Girls
Bad Girls (TV series)
Bad Girls is an award-winning British television drama series that was broadcast on ITV from 1999 to 2006. It is produced by Shed Productions, the company which later produced Footballers' Wives and Waterloo Road...
, Footballers' Wives
Footballers' Wives
Footballers' Wives is a British television drama surrounding the fictional Premier League Association football club Earls Park F.C., its players, and their wives. It was broadcast on the ITV network from 8 January 2002 to 14 April 2006...
and Waterloo Road
Waterloo Road (TV series)
Waterloo Road is an award-winning British television drama series, first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 9 March 2006. Set in a troubled comprehensive school in Rochdale, Greater Manchester, the series focuses on the lives of the school's teacher and students, and confronts social...
, the 8-part series began airing on BBC One
BBC One
BBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...
on 7 June 2009 and finished on 26 July 2009. After a single series, the BBC cancelled Hope Springs, because it "did not find its audience in the way that [they] had hoped."
Filming
Production on the series began in summer 2008 in the village of WanlockheadWanlockhead
Wanlockhead is a village in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland nestling in the Lowther Hills one mile south of Leadhills at the head of the Mennock Pass, which forms part of the Southern Uplands...
, situated in the Dumfries and Galloway
Dumfries and Galloway
Dumfries and Galloway is one of 32 unitary council areas of Scotland. It was one of the nine administrative 'regions' of mainland Scotland created in 1975 by the Local Government etc. Act 1973...
region, an ideal location chosen for its beautiful and tranquil scenery to provide the perfect backdrop for the programme. The interior scenes to be featured have been shot at the BBC Scotland
BBC Scotland
BBC Scotland is a constituent part of the British Broadcasting Corporation, the publicly-funded broadcaster of the United Kingdom. It is, in effect, the national broadcaster for Scotland, having a considerable amount of autonomy from the BBC's London headquarters, and is run by the BBC Trust, who...
drama studios in Dumbarton.
Cast
| Character | Actor | Reference |
| Ellie Lagden | Alex Kingston Alex Kingston Alexandra Elizabeth "Alex" Kingston is an English actress. She is most widely known for her roles as Dr. Elizabeth Corday on the NBC medical drama ER and as River Song in Doctor Who.-Early life and education:... |
|
| Hannah Temple | Siân Reeves Sian Reeves Siân Reeves is a British actress, most famous for playing the role of Sydney Henshall in the BBC drama Cutting It, and for playing villain Sally Spode in Emmerdale.-Early life:... |
|
| Shoo Coggan | Christine Bottomley Christine Bottomley Christine Bottomley is a British actress.She is best known for her regular roles as Melanie in the BBC comedy series Early Doors and Susie Ward in Heartbeat.-Life and career:... |
|
| Josie Porritt | Vinette Robinson Vinette Robinson -Background:Vinette Robinson was born in Bradford. She attended the former Intake High School and took a BTEC. She initially wanted to train as a barrister but changed her career plans at the age of 13 after performing a Charles Causley poem at a poetry festival.-Career:Robinson attended a child... |
|
| Sadie Cairncross | Annette Crosbie Annette Crosbie Annette Crosbie, OBE is a Scottish character actor.-Life and career:Crosbie was born in Gorebridge, Midlothian, Scotland, to Presbyterian parents who disapproved of her becoming an actor. Nevertheless, she joined the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School while still in her teens... |
|
| Ann Marie Cairncross | Ronni Ancona Ronni Ancona Ronni Ancona is a Scottish actress, impressionist and author. Ancona won the Best TV Comedy Actress award at the 2003 British Comedy Awards for her work in Big Impression.- Career :... |
|
| Gil Cameron | Paul Higgins Paul Higgins (actor) Paul Higgins is a Scottish actor. He has appeared onstage in Paul, Black Watch and in the film Complicity.... |
|
| Euan Harries | Alec Newman Alec Newman Alec Newman is a Scottish stage, television and film actor. He was born in Glasgow on 27 November 1974. Prior to joining the National Youth Theatre in London at age 17, he considered becoming a professional footballer... |
|
| Ina Harries | Lorraine McIntosh Lorraine McIntosh Lorraine McIntosh is the female vocalist, with the Scottish pop band, Deacon Blue, and is married to lead singer Ricky Ross. They have three children... |
|
| Dean McKenzie | Richard Madden Richard Madden Richard Madden is a Scottish stage, film, and television actor, known for his work in theatre and for his roles in both film and television.- Background :... |
|
| Ronan Harries | Tony McGeever | |
| Roy Lagden | Mark Frost | |
| Marius Gruber | Clint Dyer | |
| Nathan Donovan | Oliver Gomm | |
| Rita Khan | Belgit Gill | |
| Mo Khan | Sanjeev Kohli Sanjeev Kohli Sanjeev Singh Kohli is a Scottish Asian comedian, writer and actor. He is most famous for his role as Navid Harrid in the sitcom Still Game and as Rajesh Majhu in the radio sitcom Fags, Mags and Bags.- Early life :... |
|
| David Allan | Gregg Munroe | |
Plot
The 8-part first series is set around the lives of Ellie Lagden (Alex KingstonAlex Kingston
Alexandra Elizabeth "Alex" Kingston is an English actress. She is most widely known for her roles as Dr. Elizabeth Corday on the NBC medical drama ER and as River Song in Doctor Who.-Early life and education:...
), Hannah Temple (Siân Reeves
Sian Reeves
Siân Reeves is a British actress, most famous for playing the role of Sydney Henshall in the BBC drama Cutting It, and for playing villain Sally Spode in Emmerdale.-Early life:...
), Shoo Coggan (Christine Bottomley
Christine Bottomley
Christine Bottomley is a British actress.She is best known for her regular roles as Melanie in the BBC comedy series Early Doors and Susie Ward in Heartbeat.-Life and career:...
) and Josie Porritt (Vinette Robinson
Vinette Robinson
-Background:Vinette Robinson was born in Bradford. She attended the former Intake High School and took a BTEC. She initially wanted to train as a barrister but changed her career plans at the age of 13 after performing a Charles Causley poem at a poetry festival.-Career:Robinson attended a child...
) – four sexy female ex-cons attempting to go straight. With the help of £3 million, stolen from Ellie's rich gangster husband Roy (Mark Frost
Mark Frost
Mark Frost is an American novelist, television/film writer, director, who is best known as a writer for the TV show Hill Street Blues and co-creator of the show Twin Peaks.-Personal life:...
), they plan to head out to the sunny safety of Barbados to begin their new lives. However, when their long-thought-out plan goes wrong, they find themselves staying in the remote Scottish village of Hope Springs – a village set to change each of their lives forever.
The series ended with the text:
Episodes
| # | Episode | Writer | Director | Original airdate | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Episode One | Ann McManus, Maureen Chadwick & Liz Lake | Sheree Folkson | 7 June 2009 | |
| When the girls' long-held plan to start a new life in Barbados - courtesy of £3million stolen from Ellie's gangster husband Roy - goes awry, they head north for Scotland. Their escape plans in tatters and Roy's vengeful hitman, Marius, hot on their tails, the girls stumble across what seems like the perfect hideaway - a ramshackle hotel in a remote Scottish village called Hope Springs. | |||||
| 2 | Episode Two | Ann McManus, Maureen Chadwick & Liz Lake | Sheree Folkson | 14 June 2009 | |
| Their millions burnt to a cinder following the mysterious fire, Ellie, Hannah, Shoo and Josie face the harsh reality that their Barbados dream is all but over. Broke and desperate, it seems that their only option is to rob Sadie of the thousands they paid for the hotel but, feeling decidedly unwelcome, Sadie sets her sights on buying a luxury new flat. The girls need to stop her before she discovers her money's missing. Elsewhere, Ann Marie and Euan meet to discuss a secret venture but it is clear there's more to their relationship than just business. | |||||
| 3 | Episode Three | Ann McManus, Maureen Chadwick & Liz Lake | Ian Barnes | 21 June 2009 | |
| Back with her friends in Hope Springs, Shoo puts all thoughts of her ex-boyfriend out of her mind, focusing her attentions on new beau Dean. However, trouble comes calling when a jealous Ronan snaps after seeing Shoo kiss Dean. A fight erupts between the feuding local lads until an enraged Josie breaks it up. | |||||
| 4 | Episode Four | Ann McManus, Maureen Chadwick & Liz Lake | Ian Barnes | 28 June 2009 | |
| The news of Nathan’s murder strikes fear into the hearts of Ellie, Hannah, Shoo and Josie. Believing the net is tightening in on them, the girls decide to leave Hope Springs, but with no money or passports they must resort to stealing other people’s identities. As they all prepare to make their long-awaited getaway, doubts arise, and then events take a dramatic turn after Sadie makes a startling discovery, forcing them to take drastic action. | |||||
| 5 | Episode Five | Ann McManus, Maureen Chadwick & Liz Lake | Dermot Boyd | 5 July 2009 | |
| It’s the day of Ann Marie and Gil’s wedding but mother-of-the-bride, Sadie, will miss the celebrations – she’s a prisoner in her bedroom having discovered that Ellie, Hannah, Shoo and Josie are ex-cons on the run! Convinced they might have dubious plans for her, Sadie decides to escape, but she soon becomes the least of the girls' concerns as an uninvited guest, hitman Marius, turns up at the Hope Springs Hotel, bringing along his gun for company. | |||||
| 6 | Episode Six | Ann McManus, Maureen Chadwick & Liz Lake | Dermot Boyd | 12 July 2009 | |
| With bits of Marius’ car washing up at the lochside, the women are under pressure to get out of Hope Springs, fast. Sadie's dodgy Lithuanian contact is happy to supply them all with fake passports, but at a price. Having run out of cash, Ellie tempts Bronius with a game of poker in the hope they can win their passports and make some money. Their situation becomes even more desperate when the police start to drag the loch. It's only a matter of time before they discover Marius' remains. | |||||
| 7 | Episode Seven | Ann McManus, Maureen Chadwick & Liz Lake | Brian Kelly | 19 July 2009 | |
| As the new owner of the Hope Springs Hotel, Ann Marie wants a quick sale to fund her dream move to Edinburgh. But when she decides to sell-up to a pair of flash city boys, the women hatch elaborate plans to put them off. Meanwhile at the lochside, Ronan assists Gil with the police search to find Billy’s body but, frustratingly, his scant information proves unhelpful. Just as hope begins to fade, Gil receives good news – a submerged car has been found in the loch with a severed arm in the boot. | |||||
| 8 | Episode Eight | Ann McManus, Maureen Chadwick & Liz Lake | Brian Kelly | 26 July 2009 | |
| Secrets and lies are revealed as Ellie and the others are forced to face up to their criminal past. Having discovered the dead body is hit man Marius, policeman Gil questions the shamed women – he wants the truth. Ellie makes the shocking confession that they’re ex-convicts on the run from her vengeful husband, Roy. Meanwhile, in prison Roy strikes a deal with the police for a quick release and heads straight for Hope Springs, determined to take revenge on his double-crossing wife and her friends. | |||||
Ratings
| # | Air date | BBC One | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Viewers (millions) | Audience share | ||
| |
7 June 2009 | |
|
| |
14 June 2009 | |
|
| |
21 June 2009 | |
|
| |
28 June 2009 | |
|
| |
5 July 2009 | |
|
| |
12 July 2009 | |
|
| |
19 July 2009 | |
|
| |
26 July 2009 | |
|
| |
|
|
|
DVD release
The 3-disc DVD box set of Hope Springs was released in the UK on the 27 July 2009, distributed by Acorn Media UKAcorn Media UK
Acorn Media UK is a DVD publisher which distributes and sells home video products with a particular focus on British television.- Company history :The company was founded in 1997 when Lesley Fromant set up a branch of parent company Acorn Media in the UK....
.
Further reading
- Park, Brian (13 May 2009). "TX: Hope Springs". Broadcastnow (Emap Media). Retrieved on 15 May 2009.
External links
- Hope Springs Official Site
- Shed Media. Official Shed Site.
- Hope Springs at the British Comedy Guide
- Shed Insider, fan-site of Shed Media' programs.