A Witness to a Prosecution

Witness to a Prosecution
DVD cover of first season
Genre	Historical fiction Detective fiction
Written by	Chan Ching-yee Chiu Ching-yung Ng Siu-tung
Starring	Bobby Au-yeung Anderson Junior Jessica Hsuan Mariane Chan Frankie Lam Michael Tse May Kwong
Theme music composer	Peter Kam
Opening theme	"Only Me" (一個人) performed by Eason Chan
Country of origin	Hong Kong
Original language(s)	Cantonese
No. of series	2
No. of episodes	44 (I–II)
Production
Producer(s)	Siu Hin-fai
Location(s)	Hong Kong
Camera setup	Multi camera
Running time	45 minutes (each)
Production company(s)	TVB
Release
Original network	TVB Jade
Picture format	576i (SDTV)
Original release	20 December 1999 – 23 March 2003
Chronology
Related shows	Witness to a Prosecution II

Witness to a Prosecution is a Hong Kong television series produced by TVB. The original broadcast was on the TVB Jade network with 45-minute episodes airing five days a week from 20 December 1999 to 16 January 2000. The drama stars Bobby Au-yeung as the famous historical forensic medical expert Song Ci ("Sung Chee" in Cantonese romanisation). Set during the Southern Song Dynasty of Mid-Imperial China, Witness to a Prosecution tells a fictionalised account of Chee's modest beginnings and the events leading to the creation of his book Collected Cases of Injustice Rectified, the world's earliest documentation of forensic science.

Witness to a Prosecution was met with positive reviews and quickly became a popular success. Viewership ratings were consistently high, and the drama was the seventh most-viewed drama in 2000, drawing an average of 33 rating points, peaking at 44 points. The drama also yielded Au-yeung a "Best Actor" win at the 2000 TVB Anniversary Awards. A subsequent sequel was released in 2003, airing on the same channel from 24 February to 23 March 2003. Although viewership ratings peaked higher to 47 points, it was met with mixed reviews.

For 30 years, nighttime keeper Song Ci (Bobby Au-yeung) was despised in To Yuen village due to his posthumous birth in a coffin, having only the sickly scholar Sit Dan (Michael Tse) and the coolie Cha Siu-chaan (Lo Mang) as his friends.

After disputing with the village chief over his family's land, Ci, along with a homeless female thief Tong Sze (Jessica Hsuan), are accused for murdering the chief and are sentenced to death. The village's newly appointed magistrate Sung Yik (Frankie Lam) finds the case suspicious and investigates.