Under the Veil (Chinese: 無雙譜; Jyutping: Mou4 Soeng1 Pou2; Cantonese Yale: Mòuh Sēung Póu; literally "Have no equal in this world" etymology from Chinese idiom 舉世無雙) is a 2015 Hong Kong period, fantasy, comedy drama produced by TVB, starring Wayne Lai, Bosco Wong, Raymond Wong Ho-yin, Sonija Kwok, Kristal Tin and Eliza Sam as the main cast.[1] Filming took place from January to April 2014. The drama was broadcast on Hong Kong's Jade and HD Jade channels from September 28 through October 23, 2015 every Monday through Friday during its 8:30-9:30 pm timeslot with a total of 20 episodes.
| Under the Veil | |
|---|---|
 Official poster | |
| Also known as | Double Fantasies |
| 無雙譜 | |
| Genre | Period drama, Romance, Fantasy |
| Created by | Hong Kong Television Broadcasts Limited |
| Written by | Cheung Chung-yan |
| Directed by | Leung Yiu-kin, Cheng Wing-kei, Kwow Ka-hei, Lui Sui-lun |
| Starring | Wayne Lai Bosco Wong Raymond Wong Sonija Kwok Kristal Tin Eliza Sam Katy Kung Joseph Lee |
| Theme music composer | Alan Cheung |
| Opening theme | One and Only (獨一無二) by Vincy Chan |
| Country of origin | Hong Kong, China |
| Original language | Cantonese |
| No. of episodes | 20 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer | Catherine Tsang |
| Producer | Law Chun-ngok |
| Production location | Hong Kong |
| Editor | Siu Lei-king |
| Camera setup | Multi camera |
| Running time | 45 minutes (without commercials) |
| Production company | TVB |
| Original release | |
| Network | TVB Jade, HD Jade |
| Release | 28 September – 23 October 2015 |
| Under the Veil | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chinese | 無雙譜 | ||||||||||||
| Literal meaning | "Double Fantasies" | ||||||||||||
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The drama is the second of TVB's four 2015 grand anniversary dramas to be broadcast.[2]
Under the Veil is a remake of TVB's 1981 drama Double Fantasies (無雙譜), starring Louise Lee, Maggie Li, Andy Lau, Kent Tong.[3]
Synopsis
editThe drama is told in three separate folktales about love, lust, vanity, greed and selfishness.
- Changing Pins
Male and female fraternal twins, with the same appearance, fall in love with different people. The older male twin has an affair with a Princess of the Liao Kingdom, while the female twin falls in love with a poor scholar with amnesia.
Duen Fung-Sam and Duen So-Sei are boy-girl twins from the royal Duen Family. Fung-Sam is the older of the twins who grew up with prince Sing-Chi. Sing-Chi suspects the old General Song Dak and his son are planning a rebellion against the emperor and are secretly contacting the Liao Kingdom. Sing-Chi ask Fung-Sam to help them gain evidence of their treachery by going undercover as a spy in Liao.
Fung-Sam gets close to the princess of Liao to gather intel and falls in love with her. After his success, the princess commits a suicide as an apology to her kingdom.
Fung-Sam returns with evidence: a secret letter written by Song-Dak to the king of Liao which states that if Song-Dak became the emperor, he would contribute the 16 States of Yanyun to Liao. Fung-Sam passes the evidence to prince Sing-Chi by using the flood-control system to avoid Song-Dak's spying.
When Sing-Chi and Fung-Sam are coming back to the capital by ships, they come under attack from Song-Dak's son, General Song-Lit. After the attack, only Fung-sam and the prince survives. However, Sing-Chi gets trapped in a cliff, and Fung-Sam comes back to the capital badly injured.
Meanwhile, So-Sei has been pretending to be her older brother to cover up his disappearance while he was in Liao and being treated for his injuries. So-Sei asks her master, who is also Fung-Sam's master, to save Fung-Sam. She falls in love with her childhood friend Yuen Sam-Yeung who is a poor artist.
Shi Loi-Fung, is a bird that used to be a princess of the Kucha Kingdom which used to pray to a devil. However, when the devil asked their group to contribute ten virgin boys and girls as sacrifices, they refused. In response, the devil destroyed the kingdom, with Princess Lap-ka surviving in the form of a statue. When the prince of the Song Dynasty, Chiu Sing-Chi, attempts to rescue her, Lap-ka transforms into a bird. She is renamed Shi Loi-Fung by Chiu Sing-Chi.
During the attack on the prince's ship, she was trying to rescue Sing-Chi against Song-Lit's wizard-craft but lost. Later, she enters Fung-Sam's dream, calling for reinforcement. Fung-Sam doesn't understand the bird language so he asks his master for help. With Loi-Fung's help, Fung-Sam and his master finally found the cliff and saved Sing-Chi from the cliff.
Song-Lit and his father were trying to sue Fung-Sam while he was having his injuries treated. However, So-Sei replaced her brother to prevent this from happening all along, which let Song-Lit know that So-Sei was standing in as her brother and Fung-Sam was hidden away. Song-Lit and his father received intel from Fung-Sam's reckless wife, Song-Dak's niece, and breaks into the place. Sou-Sei attempts to stop him from harming her brother but was struck by Song-Lit's dagger. Fung-Sam and his master came back from saving Sing-Chi's life to stop Song-Lit's further damage.
So-Sei died in her lover's arms. The secret letter was finally delivered to the Emperor King-Hei. Song-dak was put to trial, indicted for betrayal and sent to jail.
Chapter Story ends here.
- Judge Lu
Chu Yi-Dan has an affair with Yat Pan-Heung, a courtesan who resembles his wife Se Wan Chi. He strikes a deal with Judge Lu to switch Pan Heung with Se Wan Chi. Judge Lu agrees and swaps the heads of the courtesan with Chu's wife. Initially living a carefree life, Chu Yi Dan soon realizes he loves and misses Se Wan Chi; Chu asks Judge Lu to swap the heads back, but the request soon turns into a headless murder investigation. The story is loosely based on Judge Lu.
- Chasing Fish
A scholar becomes the object of affection to a fish spirit and human girl with the same face.[4] The story is based on Yulan Ji.
Cast
editMain cast
edit- Kristal Tin as Dyun Fung-Sam and Dyun So-Sei.
- Raymond Wong as Yuen Sam-Yueng and Yuen Yim-Siu
- Katy Kung as Princess Lap-Ka and as Shi Lai Fung, the princess's spirit trapped inside the body of a green bird
- Wayne Lai as school student Chu Yi-Dan and also as Mr. Lui Yat Pan-Heung's husband (a.k.a. Dry Thunder)
- Sonija Kwok as courtesan Yat Pan-Heung and also Se Wan Chi, Chu Yi Dan's wife.
- Bosco Wong as poor scholar Cheung Chan
- Eliza Sam as rich girl Hung Mao-Dan and the koi spirit.
- Joseph Lee as Kau Tsin-Sui, a nine thousand year-old tortoise and Bao Zheng, a justice officer.
Extended cast
edit- Stanley Cheung as Chiu Shing Chi the Crown Prince
- Raymond Chiu as Song-Lit, a villain with martial arts and wizard-craft. Song Dak's son.
- Choi Kwok-Hing as Song-Dak, the main antagonist of Chapter One. Song Lit's father.
- Willie Wai as Judge Lu, the red faced deity of the underworld who holds the book of Life and Death.
- Mary Hon as Mrs. Dyun, mother of Dyun Fung-Sam and Dyun So-Sei.
- Joyce Koi as Guanyin
- Law Lok-lam
- Henry Lo as Miu Kwo-Tin, Fung-Sam and So-sei's master
- Ali Lee as So-Sei's maid
- Henry Yu as Emperor King-Hei, resembling the Chinese emperor Song Renzong in the history.
- Chun Wong Se Wan Chi's father
- Rainbow Ching Se Wan Chi's mother.
- Dickson Lee
- Sunny Tai
- Cindy Lee
- Adam Ip
- Anthony Ho
- Koo Koon-chung
- Cecilia Fong as Emperor King-Hei's wife, prince Sing-Chi's mother.
- Parkman Wong
- Janice Shum as Fung-Sam's wife.
- Eddie Ho
- Kong Fu Keung
- Kaka Chan
- Kayley Chung
- Osanna Chiu
- Lucy Li
- Rocky Cheng
- Alex Lam Tak Shun
- Kanice Lau
- Kiko Leung
- Darren Wong
- Kelvin Yuen
- Charles Fan
- Wong Kim Wai
- Hinson Chou
- Yeung Chiu Hoi (voice) of Daai Gam, Master Yue's pet golden bird who has a crush on Shi Lai Fung.
Development
edit- In December 2013, TVB announced they will be remaking their 1981 drama Double Fantasies.[5]
- The costume fitting ceremony was held on January 6, 2014 at 12:30 pm Tseung Kwan O TVB City Studio One.[6]
- The blessing ceremony took place on February 11, 2014 at 3:00 pm Tseung Kwan O TVB City Studio Thirteen.
- Filming took place from January to April 2014, entirely on location in Hong Kong.
- In March 2014, Under the Veil was one of ten TVB dramas previewed at FILMART 2014.[7]
- A promo image of Under the Veil was featured in TVB's 2015 calendar for the month of August.[8]
Viewership ratings
edit| # | Timeslot (HKT) | Week | Episode(s) | Average points | Peaking points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mon – Fri 20:30–21:30 |
28 Sep –02 Oct 2015 | 1 — 5 | 23 | 27 |
| 2 | 05 – 09 Oct 2015 | 6 — 10 | 24 | -- | |
| 3 | 12 – 16 Oct 2015 | 11 — 15 | 24 | -- | |
| 4 | 19 – 23 Oct 2015 | 16 — 20 | 25 | 29 | |
| Total average | 24 | 29 | |||
International broadcast
edit| Network | Country | Airing Date | Timeslot |
|---|---|---|---|
| Astro On Demand |  Malaysia |
September 28, 2015 | Monday - Friday 8:30 - 9:15 pm |
| TVBJ |  Australia |
September 28, 2015 | Monday - Friday 11:30 pm – 12:30 am |
| Starhub TV |  Singapore |
January 21, 2016 | Monday - Friday 8:00 - 9:00 pm |
Awards and nominations
edit| Year | Ceremony | Category | Nominee | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | StarHub TVB Awards | My Favourite TVB Drama | Under the Veil | Nominated |
| My Favourite TVB Actor | Bosco Wong | Nominated | ||
| My Favourite TVB Actress | Eliza Sam | Nominated | ||
| My Favourite TVB Supporting Actress | Katy Kung | Nominated | ||
| My Favourite TVB Male TV Character | Bosco Wong | Nominated | ||
| My Favourite TVB Female TV Character | Eliza Sam | Won | ||
| TVB Star Awards Malaysia | My Favourite TVB Drama Series | Under the Veil | Nominated | |
| TVB Anniversary Awards | TVB Anniversary Award for Best Drama | Under the Veil | Nominated | |
| TVB Anniversary Award for Best Actor | Bosco Wong | Nominated | ||
| TVB Anniversary Award for Best Actress | Eliza Sam | Nominated | ||
| TVB Anniversary Award for Best Supporting Actor | Joseph Lee | Nominated | ||
| TVB Anniversary Award for Best Supporting Actress | Katy Kung | Nominated | ||
| TVB Anniversary Award for Most Popular Male Character | Bosco Wong | Nominated | ||
| Joseph Lee | Nominated | |||
| TVB Anniversary Award for Most Popular Female Character | Eliza Sam | Nominated | ||
| TVB Anniversary Award for Favourite Drama Song | One and Only (獨一無二) by Vincy Chan | Nominated |
References
edit- ^ [1] Under the Veil AF page. Retrieved September 25, 2015
- ^ [2] 2015 TVB Anniversary Dramas: 'Lord of Shanghai', 'Captain of Destiny', 'Under the Veil', 'With or Without You'. Retrieved September 25, 2015
- ^ [3] Double Fantasies VCD info. Retrieved September 25, 2015
- ^ [4] 2015年TVB台慶劇《梟雄》《張保仔》《無雙譜》《東坡家事》(in Chinese). Retrieved September 25, 2015
- ^ [5] Wayne Lai and Kristal Tin Star in “Double Fantasies” Remake. Retrieved September 25, 2015
- ^ [6] 《無雙譜》 "Double Fantasies" Costume Fitting. Retrieved September 25, 2015
- ^ [7] TVB Screens Upcoming Series at FILMART 2014. Retrieved September 25, 2015
- ^ [8] TVB Calendar 2015. Retrieved September 25, 2015
External links
edit- Official website (in Chinese)