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.