The drama began broadcasting on August 25 to October 3, 2014, on TVB Jade channel during its 9:30–10:30 p.m. timeslot. In 2022, the drama was selected as one of ten classic TVB dramas being honoured for a new joint Youku and TVB programme.[1]
Plot
Set in Hong Kong, the drama follows the lives of Hong Kong Police's CIB undercover police agents who must live a double life in secrecy. Not knowing when they can return to their normal life, they must also endure the constant fear of being uncovered by those they are assigned to infiltrate. However, this time their lives are put in danger when it is discovered that a mole lives within the police force.
Cheuk Hoi (Michael Miu) is a Chief Inspector of Police (CIP) in Hong Kong Police's Criminal Intelligence Bureau (CIB) unit. He is a righteous supervisor that will resort to unofficial tactics in order to restore the identities of his undercover subordinates who have gone missing and deemed by the police department to have strayed to the criminal side. When he finds his friend Hong To Hang, a fellow Superintendent of Police (SP) in the CIB unit, thrown off a building under mysterious circumstances, he learns from Hong's dying words that there are moles within the police force working for the triads. In order to protect the lives of his five undercover agents, Hong has deleted their files from the police database, erasing their identities as police officers. Hong charges Hoi with the task of finding each lost undercover agent, but dies before he can tell Hoi any further information. Remembering Hong's warning against trusting anyone in the police force, Hoi keeps Hong's last words hidden from his superiors. Instead, he sets out on his own to find Hong's five undercover agents.
With clues left behind by Hong, Hoi finds undercover agent Ting Siu Ka (Charmaine Sheh) who fronts as an owner of a foot massage parlor, and assumes his role as her new handler. Siu Ka's only assignment under Hong was to gather intelligence but Hoi assigns her the task of helping him find the other four undercover agents. Siu Ka decides to get close to Sit Ka Keung (Raymond Lam), nicknamed Bao Seed who is part of an illegal gambling gang. He fronts as an ice deliveryman but is actually in charge of collecting unpaid gambling debts. Siu Ka previously clashed with Bao Seed and his partner Muk Sut when they went to her shop to collect a gambling debt but becomes friendly with them because she knows of their connection to a major triad organization.
Meanwhile, Kobe Lin Ho Kan (Sammy Sum), another undercover agent working for Hong, fronted as a crooked stock broker in order to go to prison and get close to triad boss Chum Foon Hei as the last assignment he received from Hong, but Foon Hei soon proved to be a cunning target. Unable to gain any traction with Foon Hei, Kobe believed he had failed his assignment. However upon Kobe's release from prison, Foon Hei asks Kobe to join his organization. In order for Kobe to follow through with his undercover assignment, Kobe sacrifices his relationship with ICAC officer Mok Sin Yan (Sharon Chan), who is unaware that Kobe is an undercover agent.
Yan investigates Hoi because she suspects that he is a dirty cop with connections to the triads because of his fast raise in the police force and all the cases he is assigned to as the Chief inspector gets foiled. With Yan tracking his every single move, it makes things complicated for Hoi to meet up with the undercover agents. In order to keep one step ahead, Hoi bugs Yan's personal belongings and overhears her personal life. Accidentally he discovers the abusive marital life of Yan's older sister Katie Mok Sin Ching (Elena Kong). While helping Katie to escape her abusive life, the two begin to get closer and eventually begin a relationship.
As Siu Ka continues to work with Bao Seed on missions for Foon Hei, she begins to develop feelings for Bao Seed. It is eventually revealed that Bao Seed is another undercover sent out by Hong. As the 3 undercover agents work together with Hoi, they start to suspect their handler is the mole; however, the 4th undercover, Ada (Skye Chan), was revealed and explained to them her relationship with Hong and Hong's intentions.
When Foon Hei's son dies from the karma of his bad deeds, Foon Hei began to change for the better. Hoi begins to suspect Yip Siu-leung (Patrick Tang) as the mole in the police force. Kobe warns Yan to be careful. At first Yan dismisses Kobe's warning as an act of jealousy; however, she decides to investigate on her own and finds evidence to confirm Hoi's suspicions. Siu-leung eventually finds Yan investigating him. Hurt and enraged, he decides to kill Yan who is saved by Kobe when he tackles Siu-leung off the roof of a building.
Police's Criminal Intelligence Bureau (CIB) Chief Inspector of Police (CIP) Then he is promoted to CIB Superintendent of Police (SP) Police Handler for undercover agents Katie Mok Sin-ching Boyfriend later Husband
Hung Ying Triad Leader after Sit Ka Keung Police Constable (PC) Undercover Agent Owner of a foot massage parlour Foster Daughter of Rose Fung, Nancy Lau and Susie Choi Sit Ka Keung Girlfriend died or missing at episode 30
Patrick Tang 鄧健泓 as Marco Yip Siu-leung 葉兆良, OCTB Chief Inspector of Police (CIP), becomes CIB Superintendent of Police (SP) in episode 18 and dirty cop.
Chung King-fai 鍾景輝 as Chin Shui-on 錢瑞安, former Hong Kong Secretary of Security, mastermind behind Mr. Song's group.
Stephen Huynh 黃長興 as James Pong Yin Ting 龐彥廷, also known as Mr. Song 宋先生.
Samantha Ko 高海寧 as Amy Lam Hei-mei 林希微, Undercover Agent and later turned black cop.
Sam Tsang 曾航生 as Kelvin Lok Kei 骆祺, a barrister who represents dirty cops and Mr Song's group members.
Law Lok-lam 羅樂林 as Keith Kwok Teng 郭正, Director of Public Prosecutions inside Department of Justice, and one of the masterminds of Mr Song's group.
Others
Ken Law 羅浩銘 as Ah Tong 阿棠
Kenneth Fok 霍健邦 as Ying Ka-moon 刑家滿
Doris Chow 周麗欣 as Ho Wan-ying 何韵
Steven Ho 何啟南 as Richard Cheung Wing-kuen 張永權
Gemma Choi 蔡慧欣 as Richard Cheung's mistress 張永權之情婦
Alvin Lau 劉彥夆 as Chum Long Sing 覃朗星
Development and casting
The sales presentation clip was filmed in October 2013. The original 57 second clip featured Michael Miu, Charmaine Sheh, Raymond Lam, Sharon Chan, Elena Kong, Sammy Leung and KK Cheung.[2][3] The sales presentation clip was unveiled on November 7, 2013, for 2014 drama sales pitch.[4][5]
Movie king Tony Leung Ka-fai was originally cast in the drama, but had to withdraw due to a rib injury sustained during filming of Horse Play.[6] A whole new script was written as a result.
Costume fitting was held on February 28, 2014.
The blessing ceremony took place on February 28, 2014, 2:00 p.m. at Tseung Kwan O TVB City[7]
Sammy Leung was originally cast to play the role "Lin Ho Kan", but had to withdraw during the middle of filming for health reasons. Sammy Sum replaced him, while Patrick Tang took on Sammy Sum's original role "Yip Siu Leung". With Sammy Sum taking over the role of "Lin Ho Kan", Sharon Chan had to re-film scenes with Sammy Sum that she had already filmed with Sammy Leung which caused production to be pushed back for a month.[8]
Joe Ma was rumoured to have been offered the role of "Lin Ho Kan". Once it was confirmed that the role was given to Sammy Sum, Joe released a statement on his Weibo account and stated during an interview with a reporter that he had turned down the role because "it was not fitting" for him. However, producer Man Wai Hung later clarified that he never contacted Joe about the role and did not understand where such a rumour came from.[9]
On March 18, 2014, while filming a motorcycle scene, Sammy Sum fell and landed on his right hand which resulted to a wrist fracture. Medical attention was required and Sum was admitted to the hospital for surgery on March 21. Filming was delayed by a few weeks while Sum recovered.[10]
On March 24, 2014, an extended trailer of the drama was previewed at FILMART 2014.[11]
Reception
The series has received overwhelming critical acclaim since its release particularly for the suspenseful plot, buzz-generating episodes, performances by the casts, and direction. It is also one of the highest rated TVB series of the year, and is the most watched TVB drama of the year. The click rate of this drama has hit 2 billion online in Mainland China, breaking the record of Triumph in the Skies 2 and becoming the highest click rate TVB drama in Mainland China. The series has won Singapore's Media Favourite Series in StarHub TVB Awards 2014, Most Favourite Series in TVB Star Awards Malaysia 2014 and Best Drama in Hong Kong's TVB 48th Anniversary Awards 2014.
The starring cast also won multiple awards for their performances in this drama. Charmaine Sheh was highly praised for her role as "Ting Siu Ka" (丁小嘉). She won both Best/Favourite Actress and My Favourite TV Character at the TVB Anniversary Awards 2014, the TVB Star Awards Malaysia 2014 and the StarHub TVB Awards 2014 in Singapore. This is her second time to be crowned double TV Queen of the year at the TVB Anniversary Awards. The character "Chum Foon Hei" (覃歡喜) was very liked by the audience and "Foon Hei Gor" (歡喜哥) has become a new nickname for Benz Hui. He won My Favourite TV character in Hong Kong and in Malaysia. At Singapore's TVB award show, he won My Favourite Supporting Actor. Other cast members, like Raymond Lam, Michael Miu, Sharon Chan and Sammy Sum were also awarded at the different TVB Award shows. The subtheme "Love Is Not Easy" (越難越愛), sung by Jinny Ng, won the first Most Popular Series Song at the TVB Anniversary Award.
The series' success has led to two TV sequels and two spinoff movies.
Viewership ratings
Week
Episodes
Date
Average Points
Peaking Points
1
1–5
August 25–29, 2014
25
28
2
6–10
September 1–5, 2014
27
28
3
11–15
September 8–12, 2014
27
31
4
16–20
September 15–19, 2014
29
33
5
21–25
September 22–26, 2014
28
30
6
26–29
September 29 – October 2, 2014
29
35
7
30–31
October 3, 2014
30
35
Awards and nominations
TVB Anniversary Awards 2014
Best Drama (won by 61.90%)
Best Actress: Charmaine Sheh (won by 78.60%)
My Favourite Female Character: Charmaine Sheh as Ting Siu Ka 丁小嘉 (75171 votes)
My Favourite Male Character: Benz Hui as Chum Foon Hei 覃歡喜 (62705 votes)
Most Popular Series Song: "Love Is Not Easy" 越難越愛 by Jinny Ng (42935 votes)
Nominated – Best Actor: Michael Miu (Top 15)
Nominated – Best Actor: Raymond Lam (Top 15)
Nominated – Best Supporting Actor: Benz Hui (Top 15)
Nominated – Best Supporting Actor: Oscar Leung (Top 15)
Nominated – Best Supporting Actress: Sharon Chan (Top 15)
Nominated – Best Supporting Actress: Elena Kong (Top 15)
Nominated – My Favourite Male Character: Michael Miu (Top 15)
Nominated – My Favourite Male Character: Raymond Lam (Top 15)
