Between Love & Desire (Chinese: 完美叛侶; literally "Perfectly Betrayed Companion") is a 2016 Hong Kong television romance legal drama produced by Au Yiu-hing for TVB, starring Moses Chan, Maggie Shiu and Ben Wong as the main cast. It premiered on Hong Kong's TVB Jade and Malaysia's Astro On Demand on July 4, 2016, airing every Monday to Friday on Hong Kong's TVB Jade and Malaysia's Astro On Demand channels during its 8:30-9:30 pm timeslot, concluding July 29, 2016 with a total of 20 episodes.[1]

Between Love & Desire
Official poster
Also known asPerfect Traitor
完美叛侶]
GenreModern, Romance, Legal
Created byHong Kong Television Broadcasts Limited
Written byLam Chung-bong
StarringMoses Chan
Maggie Shiu
Ben Wong
Rachel Kan
Roxanne Tong
Brian Chu
Theme music composerDamon Chui
Opening themeThe Last Breakup (最後一次分手) by Jinny Ng
Country of originHong Kong
Original languageCantonese
No. of episodes20
Production
Executive producerCatherine Tsang
ProducerAu Yiu-hing
Production locationHong Kong
EditorLam Chung-bong
Camera setupMulti camera
Running time45 minutes
Production companyTVB
Original release
NetworkJade
Release4 July (2016-07-04) –
29 July 2016 (2016-07-29)
Between Love & Desire
Traditional Chinese完美叛侶
Simplified Chinese完美叛侣
Cantonese YaleYùnméih Buhnléuih
Literal meaning"Perfect Companion"
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinWánměi Pànlǚ
Bopomofoㄨㄢˊㄇㄟˇ ㄆㄢˋㄌㄩˇ
Yue: Cantonese
Yale RomanizationYùnméih Buhnléuih
JyutpingJyun4mei5 Bun6leoi5
IPA[jy̏ːn.me̬i̯ pùːn.lɵ̬y̯]

The drama centers on the plot of how an unbalance work-personal life can change a person and break apart their family life.

Synopsis

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The once mild mannered Hugo Ngo Pak-yin (Moses Chan) is driven to become a lawyer who seeks justice and fairness after witnessing the injustice and prosecution of his father who was falsely framed for a crime he did not commit. However, his quest for perfection in his profession slowly turns him into a power hungry, cold, ruthless and inconsiderate of others, human being. Due to his workaholic behavior, he neglects his marriage and his long suffering wife Rebecca Tsang Bo-lam (Maggie Shiu) no longer sees him as the man she loved and married. When Rebecca reconnects with her childhood friend Patrick Lui Wing-hang (Ben Wong), she finds the courage to finally leave Hugo.

Patrick, who is also a lawyer, but unlike Hugo, is a kind and compassionate person who seeks no gain when he defends his clients. Now a widower, Patrick hopes his long-time friendship with Rebecca will turn romantic when she decides to leave Hugo, since he had always had romantic feelings for her. On the day Rebecca leaves Hugo she is coincidentally attacked, she suspects Hugo is behind this attack. Hugo realizes the wrong of his past and tries to salvage his marriage.[2]

When Hugo's younger brother Fred is falsely accused of rape by a rich man's mistress to hide her infidelity with the man she truly loves. Hugo is reminded of his reasons of becoming a lawyer. Hugo's boss demands he drops his brother's case in order not to offend the rich man. Hugo however, further realizes that his career and power is nothing without loved ones in his life and defies his boss's demand. Hugo goes out of his way to seek justice for his brother and Rebecca soon recognizes Hugo re-becoming the man she once loved.

Cast

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Main cast

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Rebecca Tsang's husband. Ngo Gwan's son and Fred Ngo's older brother. A powerful and ruthless attorney who starts to question his path in life when his wife decides to leave him because of his changing personality. He believes in order to have a perfect life he must succeed in his career. His wife Rebecca starts to despise the person he has become and decides to leave him.
Hugo Ngo's wife. Lau Man-giu's daughter. Patrick Lui's childhood friend. She married her husband before he became a lawyer, when he was a kind and understanding person but starts to despise him when his personality changes due to him being career minded. Seeing her husband is no longer the man she married and once loved, she finds the courage, with the help of Patrick, to leave Hugo.
  • Ben Wong as Patrick Lui Wing-hang (呂永恆)
Wong Hiu-ting's widowed husband and Haley Wong's former brother in-law who still looks out for her. Rebecca Tsang's childhood friend who he grew up with in Indonesia and had always had feelings for. He is a lawyer who fights for justice instead of profits. When he sees Rebecca in an unhappy marriage he gives her strength to leave her husband.

Wong, Ngo & Cheng Law firm

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Ngo family

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Lui family

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Development and production

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  • Between Love & Desire is producer Au Yiu-hing's first project with TVB.[3]
  • The costume fitting ceremony was held on September 7, 2015 12:30 pm at Tseung Kwan O TVB City Studio One.[4]
  • The blessing ceremony was held on October 27, 2015 3:00 pm at Tseung Kwan O TVB City Studio Thirteen.
  • Filming took place from September till December 2015, entirely on location in Hong Kong.

Viewership ratings

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Timeslot (HKT) # Week Episode(s) Average points Peaking points
Mon – Fri
(8:30-9:30 pm)
20:30–21:30
1 01 – 08 Jul 2016 1 – 5 23 25
2 11 – 15 Jul 2016 6 – 10 23 25
3 18 – 22 Jul 2016 11 – 15 24 --
4 25 – 29 Jul 2016 16 – 20 23 27
Total average 23.25 27

Awards and nominations

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Year Ceremony Category Nominee Result
2016 StarHub TVB Awards[5] My Favourite TVB Male TV Character Ben Wong Nominated
My Favourite TVB Theme Song "The Last Breakup" (最後一次分手) by Jinny Ng Nominated
TVB Star Awards Malaysia My Favourite TVB Actress in a Leading Role Maggie Shiu Nominated
My Favourite TVB Actress in a Leading Role Maggie Shiu Nominated
Ben Wong Nominated
TVB Anniversary Awards Best Series Between Love & Desire Nominated
Best Actor Ben Wong Nominated
Best Supporting Actress Roxanne Tong Nominated
Most Popular Series Song "The Last Breakup" (最後一次分手) by Jinny Ng Nominated

References

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  1. ^ [1] TVB新劇《完美叛侶》劇情介紹(1﹣20集大結局)ihktv.com (in Chinese). Retrieved Aug 1, 2016
  2. ^ [2] Synopsis of TVB’s “Between Love & Desire”. Retrieved Aug 1, 2016
  3. ^ [3] 【完美叛侶】陳豪試探邵美琪(in Chinese). Retrieved Aug 1, 2016
  4. ^ [4] 《完美叛侶》 "Perfect Traitor" Costume Fitting. Retrieved Aug 1, 2016
  5. ^ [5] Archived 2016-09-15 at the Wayback Machine StarHub TVB Awards 2016 Nominations. Retrieved September 10, 2016
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