Hope Springs

It's been a rough life for Ellie, Hannah, Josie and Shoo, four fabulous ex-cons trying to go straight. They're at the final stage of their long-held plan to start new lives in Barbados, courtesy of the millions they stole from Ellie's cheating gangster husband. But a cruel twist of fate sends them hiding in Hope Springs, a remote Scottish village. Can they hide their true identities and keep their heads down long enough to make a break for it?

Episode 1
Ellie Lagden is released from prison after serving four years for fraud and she's barely given chance to draw breath before her gangster husband Roy enlists her help for yet another dodgy deal: the sale of a stolen diamond necklace for £3,000,000. Roy waits for Ellie to exchange the diamonds, totally oblivious of the fact that his wife knows all about his secret girlfriend and their child and plans to gain her revenge by making off with his cash. Also in on the plan are three of Ellie's fellow ex-cons - Hannah Temple, Shoo Coggan and Josie Porritt - and with their help, the robbery goes off without a hitch. A tip-off to the police takes care of Roy, and with him now safely in custody, their plan to escape to Barbados is now surely only a plane ride away... that is until the woman in possession of their fake passports - another ex-con called Mandy Stringer - drops dead of a heart attack at the airport.
With their escape plans in tatters and Roy's vengeful hitman, Marius, hot on their tails, the girls travel north by train to Scotland where they eventually stumble across what seems like the perfect hideaway - a remote village called Hope Springs and a ramshackle hotel run by a cantankerous elderly local woman called Sadie Cairncross. Knowing they need to become legit if they're ever going to realise their Caribbean dream, Ellie decides that the gang should buy the hotel as cover. Hannah, Josie and Shoo are horrified, and they're not the only ones with doubts...
Sadie's pushy pregnant daughter, Ann Marie, is less than impressed by the newcomers, as is local lawyer, Euan Harries and his hot-headed son Ronan. Ellie's decision to allow Sadie to stay on as a sitting tenant has ruined Ann Marie's scheme to move her into a retirement home and sell the hotel to Euan who's been after the land for years. Euan is furious, and when Ellie sees straight through his attempt to turn on the charm, he orders Ann Marie to talk Sadie round, or else. When Ann Marie turns up at the hotel, the sparks between her and Ellie start to fly, but with Sadie continuing to stand her ground, Ann Marie definitely comes off the worst. If that wasn't enough, the girls also find themselves attracting unwanted police attention from local DI Gil Cameron, Ann Marie's fiancé.
Fearing that the locals will revolt towards their original plan to shut the hotel down and lie low, the girls are forced to about turn and run it as a legitimate business. Although Hannah and Josie happily get stuck into their respective jobs - pulling pints and cleaning glasses - a moody Shoo isn't happy. She's already had to deal with being bitten to death by midges, confrontations with the local wildlife and sharing a cramped caravan with Josie - not exactly the typical lifestyle of a multi-millionaire. Just when it looks like she's about to down tools, her head is turned by handsome local lad and part-time barman, Dean McKenzie. As the caravan starts rocking, suddenly life doesn't look so after all...
But when an argument breaks out between arch-enemies Ronan and Dean, the girls are shocked to discover that their Scottish hideaway is home to an ongoing murder investigation... the absolute last thing they need. Ellie feels that she and the girls have no choice but to abandon the hotel and move on. However, Ellie's earlier confrontation with Ronan may have put pay to their plans of a quick getaway when he decides to take his revenge by setting fire to the hotel. Luckily, Gil is on hand to rescue a trapped Ellie from her bedroom, while surprise hero Euan sets about tackling the flames, but it's much too late to save the bundles of cash hidden in Ellie's bedroom. As the girls gather around the charred remains of their ticket to an easy life in the sunshine, Ellie does her best to remain cheerful; after all, things could be worse... like the body lying underneath the floorboards in the bar for instance?

Episode 2
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. With Sadie out of hospital, Ann Marie wants to put her mother into a home but she's having none of it - she insists she'd rather be the sitting tenant in the Hope Springs Hotel. But the girls aren't exactly welcoming; convinced she's responsible for their financial strife. While Shoo is all for throwing the "old cow" out, Hannah and Ellie are trying to focus on the practicalities of their situation - i.e. how to run a hotel when you're down to your last barrel of beer and the electricity is about to be cut off. Hannah suggests that they should take advantage of their ‘legit' status to apply for a business loan. Ellie thinks it's a brilliant idea, unsurprisingly, Shoo thinks they're both nuts...
Euan berates Ann Marie for not taking proper advantage of Sadie's stay in hospital. He's still desperate to buy the hotel - and willing to pay Ann Marie a hefty commission for her assistance - but insists on taking vacant possession: nothing else will do. Ann Marie needs Euan's cash for the new life she's planning for her and Gil in Edinburgh, but with the girls in possession of the hotel and Sadie still refusing to budge, it doesn't look like she'll be going anywhere. She can't wait to get away from Hope Springs, and Euan. He pretends to be hurt by her attitude and reminds her that there's a chance it could be his child she's carrying, not Gil's. Meanwhile, back down south, Roy's henchman Marius is now working his way through a list of the women Ellie did time with. He pays a visit to Shoo's ex-boyfriend, Nathan, and to Hannah's ex-husband.
Taking money matters into her own hands, Shoo persuades Josie to help her rob the local bookies. However, before they can put their ill-conceived plan into action Gil arrives. When Josie sees Gil lead Shoo out of the bookies she assumes her friend is under arrest and calls Ellie who's furious that Shoo has needlessly drawn attention to the gang. There's more bad news when the bank refuse to part with any cash without seeing a business plan for the hotel. Now broke and desperate, it seems that their only option is to rob Sadie of the cash they paid her and pray that she doesn't notice it's missing from its hiding place inside her mattress. Although they're now solvent again, there's a growing rift between the girls. Shoo decides to take her cut of Sadie's money and run, but Josie and Hannah aren't quite so keen to leave Hope Springs and Ellie behind.
Sick of Shoo's hostility and feeling decidedly unwelcome at the hotel, Sadie has decided to find some alternative accommodation. She returns to the hotel on a high and stuns the girls with news of the luxury new flat she's just set her sights on - she's signed on the dotted line and now only needs to put down her cash deposit. The girls now have to find a way to stop her before she discovers her money's missing. Luckily for them, Sadie is someone who is very easy to distract. While Josie breaks out the champagne, Hannah heads down to the shop to buy a disposable camera...
Euan's over the moon when Sadie phones him with news of her purchase. Anne Marie less so: Sadie has just blown her inheritance and deprived her of Euan's commission! Back at the hotel, the girls get Sadie drunk. Ellie then goes to visit the salesman at the luxury development and shows him a photograph of her senile and alcoholic "mother". He tears up Sadie's contract and then phones her to tell her she's been ‘gazumped'. Despite Ann Marie's best efforts to persuade her otherwise, Sadie takes Ellie up on her offer to stay at the hotel. She also offers to pay her way by returning the cash the girls paid her. Ellie only just stops her going to get it and tells her to leave it where it is - they don't need her money!
After leaving Hope Springs behind, Shoo uses a borrowed mobile phone to call Nathan. She had planned to catch the first train back down to London, but he persuades her to head for Glasgow and book herself into a hotel - he'll make his way to her instead. Ensconced in a luxury hotel, Shoo's in her element... more so when Nathan turns up and shows every sign of wanting to rekindle their romance. However, after she discovers his plans to rob her, she knocks him out and makes a hasty return to Hope Springs. But an ex-boyfriend with a sore head is a dangerous thing and, unbeknownst to the women, Nathan's about to give Marius the lead he's been waiting for...

Episode 3
Back with her friends in Hope Springs, Shoo puts all thoughts of her double-crossing ex-boyfriend Nathan out of her head. The girls are delighted to have her back, but their idea to try to legitimately obtain new passports is proving trickier than expected. Oblivious to the fact that her business partners are only biding their time before they can leg it to Barbados, Sadie continues in her efforts to boost the hotel's takings. She suggests that they cater for Gil and Ann Marie's forthcoming wedding, an idea which leaves a bad taste in the girls' mouths and certainly isn't embraced by bride-to-be Ann Marie. In the meantime, there's a new guest at the hotel, the decidedly awkward Mr Laing.
Nathan meets up with Marius and does a deal: a substantial amount of cash in exchange for the number of the mobile phone Shoo called him from. However, Nathan's dreams of easy money come to a bloody end at Marius's hands. Blissfully unaware of Nathan's fate, Shoo refocuses her attentions on Dean. However, trouble comes calling when a jealous Ronan snaps after seeing them kiss. He brutally attacks Dean and only retreats when Josie hits him with a spade. As Shoo and Hannah tend to Dean's injuries, Ellie fumes - they're meant to be keeping their heads down. Convinced that Shoo's fling with Dean is potentially problematic, Ellie orders her to break it off with him before she gets in too deep. Shoo's devastated.
Shoo finds a mobile phone in Josie's vegetable patch and innocently uses it to call Dean, not realising that it belongs to his missing brother, Billy. Unfortunately, her discovery has serious consequences as Dean's phone rings while Gil is in the bar. He immediately arrests Dean and drags him down to the station, now convinced that he's lying about not knowing Billy's whereabouts. Ina is over the moon that Gil appears to be finally making progress in tracking down the prime suspect in her niece's murder, unaware that her son and her husband are the only ones who really know where Billy can be found. Euan immediately realises that a third party must have stumbled across the phone and does his best to calm a jittery Ronan down - as long as the police remained convinced that Billy is on the run, they're in the clear. However, Euan's air of confidence slips when Ronan reveals that he left threatening messages on Billy's phone.
There's a shock in store when Josie finds the phone and, despite Shoo's protests, hands it over to Ellie. However, it seems that the phone is the least of their worries when awkward guest Mr Laing turns out to be an Environmental Health Officer. Although he is overwhelmed with quite legitimate reasons to close the hotel down, Ellie suspects foul play. Her suspicions are proved correct when Mr Laing accepts a substantial bribe in exchange for a clean bill of health for the hotel. Euan is furious when this latest plot to close down the hotel falls through and resorts to confiding his ‘suspicions' about Ellie's background to Ann Marie. With Ellie distracted, Shoo steals the phone and, in an attempt to clear Dean's name, anonymously hands it in at the police station. Ellie's outraged by her stupidity - it's got their DNA all over it!
For different reasons, Ellie and Euan are both desperate to get their hands on Billy's phone. Fortunately, Ellie is that bit more organised and she and the girls manage to retrieve the phone from the police courier while Ronan lies in wait - oblivious - a bit further down the road. Gil can't believe it when he hears the news and his reaction pricks Ellie's conscience. While showing Gil the scene of the ‘accident', she drops the SIM card from Billy's phone so that a hugely relieved Gil finds it. Meanwhile, Euan is under the mistaken impression that Ronan was responsible for the theft of the phone and congratulates his son on a job well done. Ann Marie also has cause for celebration - she's been playing detective and has discovered something very interesting about Ellie's identity... or rather, her lack of one...

Episode 4
Egged on by Ann Marie, Gil confronts Ellie about her true identity but she throws him off the scent by claiming that she, Hannah, Shoo and Josie met in a hostel for battered women and that they came to Hope Springs to escape their violent pasts. Claiming that her husband would kill her if he ever found her - the only part of her story that is true - Ellie begs Gil to keep her secret. Having promised to do everything he can to protect Ellie and the girls, Gil heads home to spin a line for Ann Marie's benefit. She's not convinced by his claims that the girls - especially Ellie - are clean, but Gil believes she's just jealous. Little does he know that she has entered into an unholy alliance with Euan to rid the village of the newcomers. But Euan soon has more pressing issues on his mind: he is left reeling when Gil reveals that the police lab is now in possession of the SIM card from Billy's phone.
The news of Nathan's murder strikes fear into the heart of the girls, especially Shoo whose reaction is decidedly on the dramatic side. As a hyperventilating Shoo is dragged away, Ellie explains to a concerned Dean and an increasingly suspicious Sadie that she suffers from epilepsy. Once in the relative safety of the kitchen, the girls reflect on the fact that the net seems to be tightening in on them. It's time to pack up and leave Hope Springs for good, but with no money or passports, they must resort to stealing other people's identities. Unbeknownst to the girls, the net is tightening at a lightning speed... Marius has found the woman whose mobile phone Shoo borrowed and it's now only a matter of time before he catches up with them.
In search of dead people's identities, Hannah pays a visit to the local graveyard and comes across a very sombre Ina who is visiting the grave of her twin sister, Alison. It looks as though Hannah may have found her doppelganger and a new passport opportunity. Having learned that today is Ina and Alison's birthday, Hannah grabs a bottle of fizz from the hotel and pays her unwitting victim a visit. However, Hannah becomes distracted from her task when she notices a bruise on Ina's face. Concerned and angry, Hannah reveals that she too suffered from domestic abuse, but an anxious Ina denies Euan is guilty. Ina is adamant that Euan is a good husband, but Hannah's instincts tell her otherwise.
Ellie, Shoo and Josie visit the local cash and carry to put their own passport plans into action. After scouring the aisles in search of look-a-likes, Ellie spots a likely victim and then has to implement an elaborate plan to get her hands on her passport. Shoo and Josie have less luck and eventually decide to ‘borrow' the identities of two lusty holidaymakers who are staying at the hotel, meaning that Josie will now have to pretend to be a man! As the girls prepare to make their long-awaited getaway, doubts arise. Shoo realises that she's falling in love with Dean and Ellie shares an unexpected moment of weakness with Gil, but its Hannah who eventually scuppers their escape plans by refusing to leave Ina in her hour of need. The girls know how dangerous and unpredictable she can be and if she's left alone, Euan might not survive the night!
Hannah is still worried about Ina so Josie and Shoo decide to gain a bit of revenge on her behalf: while Shoo sets off his car alarm, Josie lies in wait with a length of scaffolding to teach him a lesson. Back at the hotel, the girls are cheered when they hear on the news that a local villain has been arrested for Nathan's murder - they're in the clear! They crack open a bottle of bubbly to celebrate, blissfully unaware that Marius was responsible for Nathan's murder and that he's now heading straight for Hope Springs. However, Marius now seems to be after the money to line his own pockets having lied to Roy about his progress. However, it turns out that Marius's imminent arrival is the least of their worries: Sadie has just gone to retrieve her money from under her mattress and has made a startling discovery...

Episode 5
It's the day of Ann Marie and Gil's wedding but mother-of-the-bride, Sadie, will miss the celebrations - Ellie, Hannah, Shoo and Josie are keeping her locked up as a prisoner in her own bedroom. The girls have spun a story about Sadie going on holiday to Australia and are even forcing her to write postcards to Ann Marie to allay any suspicions. Hannah in particular is upset by the whole situation - locking up pensioners and catering for police weddings, could it get any worse? Meanwhile, would-be groom Gil is having second thoughts about his impending marriage. The kiss with Ellie is still playing heavily on his mind, but when he confronts her about it, she brushes him off, downplaying its significance.
Euan smugly reveals his plans to Ronan to manipulate Gil into giving him information about Billy's SIM card. And with Sadie apparently on holiday in Australia, Euan also plans to turn on the charm with Ellie, sure that he'll be able to persuade her to sell the hotel to him. Euan definitely thinks he's got it all sussed, in fact, he's so intent on his plans that it seems to slip his notice that Ronan is a trouble soul on the edge. Back at the hotel, Sadie is convinced that the girls have dubious plans for her and so decides to escape. Shoo puts an end to her first attempt and in her frustration, Sadie resorts to mind games. Does Shoo really think that Dean would want anything to do with her when he finds out she's an ex-con? In desperation, Shoo gives Dean a heavily edited version of her criminal past. He reassures her that he still loves her, so much so that he wants to marry her.
A sense of foreboding continues to haunt Gil but he's a man of principles and won't let Anne Marie down. However, the celebrations threaten to be short-lived when Ellie overhears Euan and Ann Marie arguing over the paternity of her unborn baby. Ellie is delighted by the news and plans to wipe the smug smile off Ann Marie's face by telling Gil that he may have been tempted down the aisle under false pretences. Hannah desperately tries to stop her, but then Shoo and Dean arrive and announce their surprise engagement. The girls are less than impressed, but Shoo's love life is soon the least of their problems when uninvited guest, Marius, turns up, bringing along his gun for company.
Gil is immediately suspicious when he comes across Ellie being threatened by Marius. With Marius threatening to kill Gil, Ellie is forced into desperate measures to get rid of him and drops the bombshell about Ann Marie. As Gil storms off to confront his wife, Marius forces Ellie down into the cellar at gunpoint. Back upstairs, Ann Marie has no option but to reveal the truth to a devastated Gil. She begs him for another chance, but he tells her it's over. Now with nothing left to loose, Ann Marie grabs a microphone and makes an announcement to her stunned guests. No-one is more stunned than Ina, especially when Gil marches in and punches Euan in the face. As the drama continues downstairs, Shoo makes a shock discovery upstairs: Sadie has escaped!
Back down in the cellar, Ellie's desperate attempt to give Marius the come on fails and before long she and the rest of the girls, plus a recaptured Sadie, are all being held at gunpoint. He threatens to kill everyone unless Ellie hands over the £3,000,000. Of course, the money is long gone, and all Ellie can do is lead him upstairs to the safe and then delay him until she can find a way out of the mess. Back downstairs, the girls manage to lift Sadie to safety out of the cellar window. She runs into the kitchen, sword in hand, just as Marius is preparing to shoot Ellie.
Down in the cellar, the girls hear a gunshot and fear the worst. But then they discover that Marius is dead, and that Sadie has killed him. Now there's a dead body to dispose of and more reason than ever to flee to Barbados. But they struggled to find four passports, how the hell are they going to get their hands on five now that Sadie's coming with them? The girls are stunned when Sadie announces that she has a Lithuanian contact who might well be able to help...

Episode 6
With pieces of Marius's car washing up at the lochside, the women are under pressure to get out of Hope Springs - fast. Ellie urges Sadie to get in touch with Bronius, her dodgy Lithuanian contact to organise some fake passports. Bronius is happy to oblige, but it'll cost the women double the money they've already agreed if they want early delivery. Having run out of cash, Ellie tempts Bronius with a game of poker in the hope of winning the passports and some bonus cash. But if they're going to hit the jackpot, Ellie knows they'll have to fix the game so Hannah, Josie and Shoo set about installing hidden cameras and secret microphones in the bar - Bronius is a sitting duck!
Facing the realisation that this could be their last day in Hope Springs, the women plan their goodbyes. At first, reconciliation seems to be in the air as Shoo and Dean happily kiss and make up. But then Sadie tries, but fails, to make amends with an angry and emotional Ann Marie who's still reeling from the fallout of her wedding day. Forgiveness is also the last thing on Ina's mind. She's had enough of her cheating husband Euan and wants a divorce. Knowing that a divorce will mean he'll lose access to Ina's trust fund, Euan urges Ann Marie to tell Ina she lured him into sleeping with her - in return there'll be the added bonus of scamming Ellie out of all of her money at the poker game.
After his disaster of a wedding, Gil has come to the realisation that he can't face the idea of seeing Ann Marie every day, not to mention Ellie, so he announces his intention to leave Hope Springs as soon as he can arrange a transfer. Ina is distraught when she hears the news - if Gil goes, Katie's killer will never be caught. However, it's Hannah who causes him to reconsider by pointing out just how selfish he's being. Back at the station, Gil refocuses on the murder investigation and tries to make sense of the transcripts from Billy's mobile phone. He calls Ronan and Ina into the station and starts asking questions. As Ronan reacts defensively, Ina grows uneasy and Gil begins to suspect that Ronan knows more than he's letting on.
Back at the hotel, the poker game is in full swing and with Hannah and Josie sitting in a bedroom with a full view of everyone else's cards; Ellie and Sadie are soon in the money. However, unbeknownst to them, they're not the only ones who aren't playing by the rules - even eagle-eyed Hannah doesn't notice Ann Marie sneaking an Ace to Euan under the table. By this time, Hannah has been deserted by Josie. She's spotted Ronan's dog, Nash and follows him down to the loch where she finds Ronan getting ready to throw himself in. Josie wrestles him away from the edge just in time and his further shocked when he confesses to killing Billy.
Over at the station, Gil is still studying the transcripts from Billy's phone. One particular coded message from Katie about someone called ‘ue' is puzzling him. Then he's hit by inspiration - ‘ue' must stand for ‘Uncle Euan'! Back at the hotel, the stakes are suddenly raised when Euan bets £200,000 and Ellie responds by dropping the keys to the hotel in the pot. Upstairs, Hannah is convinced that Ellie can't lose and so everyone is stunned when he lays down his hand - he's cheated them out of the hotel! Euan's celebrations are brought to a premature end when Gil arrives to question him about his whereabouts on the night of Katie's murder and then even worse, when Ronan turns up and confesses to Billy's murder.
Despite his shock, Euan is still on the ball enough to prompt Billy into telling Gil that he dumped Billy's body in the loch. The girls are left reeling when they realise that Ronan's confession means that the police will drag the loch. Surely it's now only a matter of time before they discover Marius's remains. There's only one thing left to do, and that's to catch the first plane to Barbados. Then a bloody Shoo staggers into the hotel - Bronius has beaten her up and made off with their money, and the passports. Could things get any worse? Apparently so... outside, Ann Marie agrees to give Euan an alibi in exchange for the hotel...

Episode 7
As the new owner of the Hope Springs hotel, Ann Marie wants a quick sale to fund her dream move to Edinburgh. Relegated to living in the caravan, Ellie, Hannah, Shoo and Josie bury their resentment towards their new boss, agreeing to work for an early pay day in exchange for being nice to the potential buyers - Ann Marie's flamboyant friend Flavio and his partner David. The girls aren't the only ones to be put out by Ann Marie's plans - Euan's horrified at the thought of potential new owners for the hotel and offers to outbid them, much to the delight of Ann Marie who's happy to play along.
Already irked by the city slickers' pushy presence, Sadie's further enraged when the pair announce their plans to transform the hotel into a ‘destination restaurant'. Knowing there will be no place for the locals under the new regime - and fearing that the heart will be ripped out of the village if the hotel closes - the women devise a series of unfortunate incidents to show the incomers the perils of country living. Dead rats planted in the kitchen don't seem to do the trick, and so Josie takes a spanner to the septic tank. However, even a jet of raw sewage in the face doesn't seem to faze Flavio. As a last resort, Ellie and Sadie set about stirring up animosity amongst the villagers... it's time for a peasant's revolt!
A loved-up Shoo and Dean make plans to move into their own little rented cottage. Knowing Ellie won't be best pleased, Shoo keeps the move hush hush, but that's not the only secret she's hiding from the others and Ellie is furious when Dean turns up with a handful of passports he's just found in Shoo's bag - the same passports that Bronius supposedly refused to hand over! Shoo meanwhile has bigger things to worry about and skulks off in search of a pregnancy testing kit. Back at the hotel, Gil hopes to rustle up some home-cooked food but finds more than he bargained for in the kitchen. Hannah is upset at the prospect of leaving Hope Springs and as he offers her a friendly shoulder, Gil realises that he doesn't want her to leave either.
Down at the lochside, Ronan is assisting Gil with the search for Billy's body but frustratingly, his vague information proves unhelpful. Just as hope begins to fade, Gil receives good news - a submerged car has been found and there's a severed arm in the boot. Back up at the hotel, Shoo faces the wrath of Ellie. As she tearfully admits that she hid the passports because she wanted to stay in Hope Springs, Josie and Hannah also voice their misgivings about leaving. However, Ellie is resolute and when news of Gil's gruesome find reaches the hotel, it becomes clear that they need to leave Hope Springs before Marius' identity is discovered.
At least the news of this latest murder - the third in the village - manages to scare off Flavio and David. However, Ann Marie makes it clear that she holds Sadie, Ellie and the rest of the girls responsible for their sudden attack of cold feet and not only sacks them, she refuses to pay the wages she owes them. Ann Marie now has no option but to agree to Euan's terms, however, their plans hit a brick wall when Ina finally puts her foot down - Euan won't be getting any more money from her, in fact, the only thing he'll be getting is a set of divorce papers. Ann Marie and Euan now have nowhere else to turn but each other.
Ann Marie returns to the hotel and tries to turf Sadie and the girls out with only £15 in back pay. The girls however have other ideas and after tying her up and locking her in a cupboard, they take all the money they're owed. Outside, Shoo makes a last ditch attempt to get Ellie to change her mind about leaving by announcing that she's pregnant with Dean's baby. Josie and Hannah also plead with Ellie to reconsider, but then Gil arrives. Realising that he knows about Marius, the women pile into the Land Rover, but they're too late. Unbeknownst to them, Gil is the least of their worries as the past is about to catch up with them in the shape of Ellie's vengeful husband, Roy...

Episode 8
Secrets and lies are revealed as Ellie, Hannah, Shoo and Josie are forced to face up to their criminal pasts. Having discovered that the severed arm in the loch belongs to Marius - who Gil believes is Ellie's ex-husband - Gil questions the shamed women, demanding to know the truth. Ellie makes the shocking confession that she and the others are ex-convicts on the run from her real husband, Roy, whom they conned out of £3million and framed for handling stolen goods. Meanwhile, in prison, Roy strikes a deal for a quick release. He's determined to take revenge on his double-crossing wife and her friends. Hope Springs, here he comes.
Back at the hotel, Gil is overwhelmed by the women's confessions, especially when Sadie admits to killing Marius in self-defence, but Ellie reassures him that he finally knows the whole truth - they have nothing more to hide... or do they? Gil is furious when he discovers that the gang are holding Ann Marie hostage in a cupboard and promptly arrests them all, including Sadie. At the station, Gil quickly corroborates the women's stories, but then things are further complicated when he learns that two Scotland Yard detectives are on their way to Hope Springs to investigate a possible link between the women and Marius's murder.
Having drawn up a quickie divorce settlement, Euan visits Ina with the papers. He's relieved when she agrees to his terms, but he's soon left reeling from a bombshell - Ina has visited Ronan and convinced him to come clean to the police. Realising that he has to dispose of Billy's body, Euan scuttles back to the hotel where Ann Marie is playing the victim. Euan convinces her to go to bed and rest and once she's safely out of the way, he goes to work. However, unseen by him, Ann Marie makes her way downstairs and witnesses him dragging Billy's body from underneath the floorboards. Horrified, she goes into premature labour.
Ina is shocked to discover that Sadie, Ellie and the others have been taken into custody and heads up to the police station with Rita, Mo and Dean where she makes a poignant plea for Gil to turn a blind eye - after everything Hannah has done for her, she and the rest of the women deserve all the help the village can give. Although reluctant at first, Gil comes through when the Scotland Yard detectives arrive and he and the rest of the locals quickly rally round to protect the gang's identities. Leaving Hannah to get reacquainted with Gil, Sadie, Ellie, Shoo and Josie head back to the hotel, and just in the nick of time - Ann Marie is in a bad state and it's now down to Ellie to help deliver her arch-rival's baby!
Ann Marie is only able to mutter incoherently about "floorboards" and so Euan's secret is still safe as she and her newborn son are finally bundled into an ambulance... or is it? Ellie has just spotted drag marks on the floor and, putting two-and-two together, follows the trail out to the shed where she makes a grim discovery. Things then take an even nastier turn when Euan catches her and makes a shocking confession - he's a double murderer - the deaths of Billy and Katie are both down to him! He is on the verge of becoming a triple murderer when Ellie's salvation arrives in the unlikely form of Roy. Ellie has been pulled out of the frying pan, only to be plunged straight into the fire!
As Hannah, Shoo, Josie and the locals celebrate in Ina's house; Ellie finally finds herself alone with Roy, and his gun. She confesses to the loss of the £3million and pleads with him not to kill her, but it turns out that she needn't have worried - Roy needs her fingerprint to access a stash of £15million in the Cayman Islands, and so all is forgiven. Hannah is stunned when she walks into the bar to find Ellie and Roy in each other's arms, and even more so when Ellie practically drags her into the kitchen and throws her out the back door. Back at the party, Hannah is livid - it's now obvious that money is the only thing Ellie cares about - but Josie's not so sure. What if Ellie was asking for their help? They burst into the hotel kitchen just as Ellie knocks the gun from Roy's hand. There's a mad scramble for the gun and in the struggle, Roy is shot.
At the hospital, a recovered Ann Marie tells Sadie about Euan and the dead body under the floorboards. Sadie calls for a nurse, convinced her daughter is hallucinating and overwrought from her ordeal. Ann Marie responds by discharging herself from the hospital and heads back to the hotel with Sadie in tow. She expects to find Billy's body and instead, walks into the kitchen and finds Roy's. Sadie is quick to remind Ann Marie that she and the baby would have died if it wasn't for Ellie and so she agrees to go along with their plan. Part 1 sees Euan's arrest for Katie and Billy's murders, part 2 involves Ann Marie informing a heartbroken Dean, Ina, Gil and the rest of the locals that Sadie and the women have left Hope Springs for good.
Ellie, Sadie, Hannah, Shoo and Josie fly to the Cayman Islands with Roy's severed finger packed in ice. There's £15million waiting for them in a high security vault and it's their ticket to the good life. As Ellie and Hannah go to the bank, the others wait anxiously in the car park, wondering what's taking so long. Inside the bank, Ellie and Hannah finally gain access to the vault with Roy's finger. Ellie uses her key to open Roy's safety deposit box - the £15million is theirs... for all of five seconds, until the alarm starts to sound and the metal gates swing shut...

Directed by Ian Barnes, Dermot Boyd, Sheree Folkson, Brian Kelly
Written by Maureen Chadwick , Liz Lake, Ann McManus
Produced by Spencer Campbell
Original Music by Nick Green, Tristin Norwell
Cinematography by Jono Smith
Film Editing by Chris Blunden, David Cresswell
Costume Design by Trisha Biggar

Ann Marie Cairncross
Played by
Ronni Ancona
Immaculately turned out, self-seeking Ann Marie is the local wannabe china doll and village sweetheart - but she's brittle with it. Owner of the local hair salon and beauty parlour, The Kiss Kurl, Ann Marie knows how to make the most of herself in the looks department. But, despite all this, she still has a deep rooted sense of insecurity - not least because of a guilty secret she is harbouring. Although she's engaged to nice-guy cop, Gil Cameron - Anne Marie had a drunken one-night stand with dirty-dealing lawyer, Euan Harries. Now she's pregnant and doesn't know for sure who the father is. All she wants is for Gil to get a promotion that will take them to Edinburgh - far away from Euan - and with a lump sum of her mother, Sadie's, money to fund her new city-slicking life. Unfortunately for Ann Marie, Ellie and the gang pitch up and put a rather large spanner in the works.
The women have a bitter rival in Ann Marie. In fact, she could be described as their nemesis. She develops serious doubts about their true identity which grow into obsession the more they threaten her plans for a perfect future. Not only have they ‘stolen' her mother, and scuppered her chances of getting an early inheritance, but when she senses Gil growing ever closer to Ellie - she sees red.
Ann Marie is the villainess of Hope Springs, but she's also vulnerable and misunderstood. She has aspirations and illusions of grandeur, so consequently feels trapped and suffocated in Hope Springs. Surprisingly, it's through the women that she will eventually realise it's her dishonesty which is suffocating her - and happiness may be closer at hand than she thinks.

Sadie Cairncross
Played by
Annette Crosbie
Local fount of all knowledge (and gossip), Sadie's life gets entangled with the women's soon after their arrival in the village when they turn up at her hotel looking for a bed for the night. At 70 years of age, running The Hope Springs Hotel is no mean feat, even if Sadie could be bothered to make the effort to do it properly. It's infested with mice and the cobwebbed bar hasn't seen a duster in living memory, so when Ellie and the girls pitch up and offer to buy Sadie out, she sees them as guardian angels (or stupider than they look) - paving the way to a very happy retirement. They can take on all the responsibility and do all the hard work whilst she'll carry on living in the pub, enjoying their company - and drinking their booze. For Sadie, it's a win/win situation. Little does she know...!
But Sadie's no fool and can play the con as readily as these crims from down South. Like them, Sadie's a survivor. She's also wily, opinionated, idle and - contrary to what she'd have everyone believe - fit as a fiddle. Sadie soon positions herself as part of the gang and, together with Ellie, Hannah, Shoo and Josie, she finds a true family.
This is in stark contrast to her antagonistic relationship with her own daughter Ann Marie. Ann Marie sees her mother as difficult and troublesome; Sadie sees Ann Marie as manipulative and a user - not realising she's been taught by a master! Hurt by Ann Marie's apparent rejection, it's through the women that Sadie's lonely life is transformed.

Gil Cameron
Played by
Paul Higgins
The local nice-guy, policeman caught between two...then three women! Handsome detective inspector Gil Cameron is a troubled man whose sense of failure over the unsolved murder of a local girl - Katie Watson - haunts him. A man of high moral integrity, Gil is generally respected by the locals, has a deep hatred of any injustice and trusts his own judgement of character above everything else. Katie's murder eats away at him, and he is determined to do right by her and track down her murderer.
Gil is engaged to the village ‘sweetheart' Ann Marie, but theirs is not a perfect relationship. She seduced him when he was feeling lonely and, in spite of now being possessive to a tee - Ann Marie had her own secret affair with local bad boy Euan Harries. Now Ann Marie's pregnant and Gil, naturally assuming he's the father, has done the honourable thing and proposed. Deep down he knows he doesn't really love Ann Marie but he pushes his doubts aside - relishing, instead, the thought of becoming a dad. Then Ellie and Hannah walk into his life and knock Gil sideways...

Shoo Coggan
Played by
Christine Bottomley
Street savvy, repeat offender Shoo is a young woman with more front than Blackpool. Having spent her early life in uncaring care homes, the one thing she yearns for is a family. Shoo is vulnerable and childlike in spite of her ballsy in-yer-face attitude. She's been through the mill, ‘nobbing and robbing' to make ends meet, but now, as part of Ellie's gang, she finally feels she has the motivation to sort her life out. In spite of all her best intentions, however, this is no easy task. Streetwise she may be, but Einstein she ain't. More often than not she just opens her gob and says what she thinks, leaving the women to deal with the consequences - yet, somehow or other, they always end up forgiving her. The baby of the group, Shoo has finally found her much longed for (albeit somewhat dysfunctional) family: motherly Ellie, bossy Aunt Hannah, protective sister Josie and even a grandma in Sadie.
But the resilience Shoo needed to survive her emotionally-deprived upbringing falters when it comes to men. Shoo not only has a penchant for bad blokes and losers, she also uses sex as a way to feel loved. Put the two together and you've got a dangerous mix. However, when Dean McKenzie arrives on the scene, at last meets - and falls for - a boy who really likes her for herself.
Initially Shoo is the most gutted of the women when the Barbados plan falls through. However, once she starts to get her head around being in this funny little place - she realises it's become the home she never had.

Euan Harries
Played by
Alec Newman

Solicitor/estate agent Euan Harries is a snake in a smart suit, with nerves of steel and reserves of masculine charm. Euan wants his cake and to eat it - keeping up his respectable front with his frightened and subservient wife, Ina, while having secret affairs, both sexual and financial, on the side.
Euan dominates all his relationships, from his bullied wife Ina and son Ronan, to his clients and business cohorts. Euan prides himself on keeping his head about him when all others are losing theirs - that's his public face: cool, calm and capable. And it will take the likes of ex-cons Ellie and Hannah to unmask him...

Ellie Lagden
Played by
Alex Kingston
Feisty, sexy, shrewd, yet big-hearted, Ellie's very much the leader of this pack of ex-cons. Married to bad-boy mobster Roy Lagden, she has spent most of her adult life as a gangster's wife, believing that happiness was a life of luxury and bling. She also loved Roy enough to take the rap for him and serve four years in jail for fraud. But four years at Her Majesty's pleasure means she's discovered all that glitters is not necessarily gold. Whilst inside, she discovered that Roy was hiding a massive secret from her - his girlfriend and their child.
A lengthy stretch in prison has given Ellie clarity of thought. She realises that if she wants to change her life she'd better do it now and she's not going to rely on any bloke to get there. Ellie now knows that the friends in her life - fellow cons, Hannah, Shoo and Josie- are her new future. Together, they hatch a plan to escape to Barbados and start a new life, courtesy of £3million stolen from Roy. But things don't quite go according to plan and they end up in hiding in a remote and slightly eerie Scottish village called Hope Springs. Now stranded, and in danger of being found out, mother hen Ellie takes the burden of responsibility for the women, their wellbeing, and their determination to go straight...even if she has to bend the rules to do so.
Ellie is strong yet vulnerable; impulsive yet thoughtful; steely yet emotional - and, overall, accountable for the safety of her three friends. Hope Springs teaches Ellie that these friendships are more valuable than money - and that, surprisingly, not all men are bastards!

Josie Porritt
Played by
Vinette Robinson
Life in Hope Springs offers Josie the unexpected possibility of finally being at peace with herself after years of feeling like an outcast. A temperamental yet free spirit, she grew up feeling like an outsider in her middle-class, religious family home. On learning his daughter was gay, Josie's preacher father arranged for an exorcism and her violent reaction saw her parents have her sectioned, then disown her. Abandoned, rejected and angry - Josie set fire to her parents' church one night, and was soon spending a long stretch in Holloway for arson. In spite of her crime - or, perhaps, because of it, Josie is intensely moral - hating all the more the hypocritical ‘morality' preached by users and bullies.
Whilst in prison, Josie was able to spread her wings, and found a bessie mate in non-judgemental and game-for-a laugh Shoo. Josie and Shoo came to Ellie as a double act; desperately trying to stay out of trouble, but inevitably falling back into it out of habit or stupidity. Still and all - the ever-positive Josie always picks herself up and dusts herself down.
After the confinement of prison, Josie is reinvigorated by the outdoor life she's now got on offer in Hope Springs. Refurbishing the local hotel and pub is a challenge she's more than happy to rise to, she loves the physical effort required and finally feels she's found a place where she could truly belong. Despite her gung-ho approach to life, Josie has, perhaps, the softest, most intuitive heart of all the women.

Hannah Temple
Played by
Sian Reeves
Hannah was a middle class Stepford wife who snapped one day and stabbed her abusive and controlling husband, leaving him crippled. Having married young, with no family of her own and no career prospects, Hannah's husband Jim had been her entire world. Suddenly her world was Holloway women's prison. To start with going to prison was a relief, because it meant she could get away from that horror of being on tenterhooks for every second of the day. But it wasn't long before the reality of the situation sank in - Hannah, the perfect homemaker; compulsively organised; paragon of moral virtue, had ruined her life... or had she? Meeting Ellie and the others, changed Hannah's outlook - gave her the friends and the closeness that had previously been denied her by Jim, and showed her she could actually have control of her own life.
In her own mind, Hannah's not a ‘real' criminal - stabbing Jim was a matter of self-preservation. Nevertheless, it was a shock for her to realise how much anger she had repressed as a result of the constant oppressive tension within her marriage. What she likes about Ellie, Shoo and Josie is that everything's very black and white. For once she knows where she stands.

A coiled spring of buried emotions, Hannah masks this with her sensible demeanour and wry wit. She has a cautious, rational approach to problem solving, something which is in complete contrast to top dog Ellie's impetuous, intuitive, school-of-life knowledge. In the village, Hannah works hard to ensure that the word "legitimate" becomes part of the girls' vocabularies. For her, the thought of being banged-up again is truly unthinkable. As well as Hannah's analytical abilities, she has practical domestic skills which are sorely lacking in her three friends. These skills give Hannah a new-found sense of purpose and self-esteem as she finds her place within their new hotel business venture.