The Confidant
| The Confidant 大太監 |
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| Genre | Historical fiction |
| Created by | Catherine Tsang Marco Law |
| Written by | Kwan Chung-ling |
| Directed by | Fong Chun-chiu |
| Starring |
Michelle Yim Wayne Lai Raymond Wong Ho-yin Nancy Wu Natalie Tong Maggie Shiu Raymond Cho Power Chan Edwin Siu Aimee Chan Oscar Leung Chung King-fai Cheung Kwok-keung Elliot Ngok Selena Li |
| Opening theme | Seung Yu Yi Mut (相濡以沫) by Shirley Kwan |
| Ending theme | Yat Yuet (日月) by Wayne Lai and Nancy Wu |
| Composer(s) | Tang Chi-wai Yip Siu-chung |
| Country of origin | Hong Kong |
| Original language(s) | Cantonese |
| No. of episodes | 33 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Marco Law |
| Location(s) | Hong Kong Hengdian World Studios |
| Camera setup | Multi camera |
| Production company(s) | TVB |
| Release | |
| Original network |
Jade HD Jade |
| Picture format |
576i (SDTV) 1080i (HDTV) |
| Original release | 5 November – 16 December 2012 |
| Chronology | |
| Preceded by | Highs and Lows |
| Followed by | Friendly Fire |
| External links | |
| Website | |
| The Confidant | |||||||||||||
title screen
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| Simplified Chinese | |||||||||||||
| Literal meaning | "great imperial eunuch" | ||||||||||||
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| Transcriptions | |
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| Standard Mandarin | |
| Hanyu Pinyin | Dà Tàijiàn |
| Yue: Cantonese | |
| Yale Romanization | Daai6 Taai3 Gaam3 |
| Jyutping | Daai6 Taai3 Gaam3 |
The Confidant (Traditional Chinese: 大太監; jyutping: Daai6 Taai3 Gaam3) is a Hong Kong biographical fiction television drama produced by TVB under executive producer Marco Law, and stars Michelle Yim as Empress Dowager Cixi, and Wayne Lai as imperial eunuch Li Lianying. The drama depicts how a group of eunuchs survive in the weakening Qing empire, and closely traces Li's early life from the first day he entered the imperial palace to becoming one of the most powerful political figures in the latter years of the Qing Dynasty. The drama also follows Li's relationship with Cixi, and how he eventually becomes her closest confidant.
Filming began on 16 December 2011 in Hong Kong, and ended on 9 April 2012 in the Hengdian World Studios. The Confident Eunuch premiered the first two episodes on 1 November 2012 at The Grand Cinema in Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon. It has received positive reviews from critics and viewers thus far. With a total of 33 produced episodes, The Confidant started its broadcast on Hong Kong's Jade and HD Jade channels on 5 November 2012.
A spin-off drama based on the series' original characters is currently in pre-production.
Lei Lin-ying (Wayne Lai) and On Tak-hoi (Raymond Cho) came from poor families and were sold to become palace eunuchs at a young age. The two later become apprentices of senior eunuch Lau Dor-sang (Chung King-fai) and developed a deep brotherly relationship. Both became important high-ranked officials for Empress Dowager Empress Dowager Cixi (Michelle Yim). Unfortunately, Tak-hoi had a heart of greed and eventually his relationship with the careful Lin-ying started drifting apart. Chan Fuk (Elliot Ngok) is the head of the eunuchs, but he saw he was losing his authority because Lin-ying and Tak-hoi won the Empress' favor. He started plotting against the two, but Lin-ying was fortunate to have palace maid Sin-yung (Nancy Wu) and the eunuch pharmacist, Yiu Sheung-hei (Raymond Wong Ho-yin) assistance. Meanwhile, it's time for the Tongzhi Emperor (Oscar Leung) to choose his empress, which worried Empress Dowager Ci'an (Maggie Shiu) that Cixi may get even more powerful. She joins forces with Prince Kung (Cheung Kwok-keung) to drive Cixi into an isolated and helpless position. ..
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Wikipedia