Brother's Keeper (2013 TV series)
Brother's Keeper is a Hong Kong television drama serial produced by Amy Wong and TVB. It stars Linda Chung, Ruco Chan, Louise Lee, Edwin Siu, Kristal Tin and Louis Yuen as the casts of the series. It premiered on 23 September 2013 on TVB Jade in Hong Kong. The final two episodes aired back-to-back on Saturday, 2 November 2013. The plot is based on the story of Koi Kei Bakery, which is also the show's main sponsor.
The serial, set between the years 1980 and 2013, depicts the moral life struggles of two half-brothers Kiu Tin-seng and Lo Wai-son during the late and post-colonial periods of Hong Kong and Macau. Historical events that were set against this era, including Hong Kong's 1980 Touch Base Policy, Macau's relaxed immigration laws of 1982, the 1991 goldsmith robberies, the transfer of sovereignty over Hong Kong and Macau to China in the late 1990s, the 1998 Hong Kong financial crisis, the 1999 Macanese triad wars, the 2003 Hong Kong SARS outbreak, and the 2008 Hong Kong financial recession, serves as some of the key plot vehicles that drive the changing fates of the brothers and their families.
Development for Brother's Keeper began in mid-2012. A teaser trailer was unveiled at TVB's 2013 Sales Presentation event, which was held on 8 November 2012. The trailer premiered on TVB Jade on 24 November 2012. The serial was also exhibited as one of eighteen TVB grand television drama productions at the 17th Hong Kong International Film & TV Market in March 2013.
The sequel, Brother's Keeper II, was released in 2016.
Production
Filming
A costume fitting press conference was held on 19 September 2012, and principal photography began in Hong Kong in late September 2012. A camera commencement blessing ceremony was held on 17 October 2012.Production relocated to Macau on 21 November 2012. On 19 December 2012, the crew resumed shooting in Hong Kong. The final scenes of the drama were completed on 1 February 2013. Macau's Koi Kei Bakery is a major sponsor for the serial.
Plot
Brother's Keeper is a story about two brothers of the same mother but different fathers, "Sam" Kiu Tin-seng and Lo Wai-son. Sam was born in Hong Kong, the son of Chow Yuk-mui and Kiu Sum. Due to Kiu Sum refusing to marry Chow Yuk-mui, Yuk-mui decided to take Sam to Foshan, China to start anew. In Foshan, Yuk-mui got married with Lo Fu-shing and gave birth to Son a few years afterwards.Not long after, the family of four decided to cross the border to start a new life in Hong Kong. The family of four eventually got separated with Sam ending up in Hong Kong, while Yuk-mui, Fu-shing, and Son ending up in Macau.
The two brothers lived very different lives in the course of the next 20 years. The very hardworking and ambitious Sam managed to graduate from college and became a police officer like his biological father, Kiu Sum. He has a girlfriend named Rachel Cheuk whom he is willing to do anything to fulfill her dreams of opening a fashion store. In order to achieve his goal, he seduces Fabio and uses her in the process. In addition, Sam also has an ambiguous relationship with a triad member named Keung Yung who later caused Sam to end up in jail.
Son, who is very simple-minded, only wants to live a peaceful and comfortable life in Macau. He is good friends with Yiu Man-ying and Lung Fei. In order to avoid his abusive father, Son works with his mother at a restaurant. The lives of the two brothers, Sam and Son began to change after they meet up again. The two brothers in the series will go from 20 to 50 years old. This also shows the phrase "rags to riches" as Son becomes a rich businessowner from a poor young boy.
Cast and characters
Main cast
- Linda Chung as Rachel Cheuk — Sam's girlfriend.
Wong had been wanting to work with Chung ever since she started production on her 2012 comedy, No Good Either Way in late 2011. Chung was one of the first cast members of Brother's Keeper that was announced in mid-2012. On her role, Chung said, "The role grew up overseas, so I naturally get to speak English! I grew up in Canada as well... speaking English dialogue is a very comfortable feeling for me."
- Ruco Chan as Kiu Tin-seng — also known as Sam.
Brother's Keeper is Chan's sixth collaboration with producer Wong. His breakout performance in Wong's 2011 TVB legal drama The Other Truth—his third collaboration with Wong—was what led Wong to cast Chan as the lead actor for most of her newer works. Chan expressed that he has high expectations for the serial and compares its time-lapsing scope to the likes of critically successful dramas such as The Greed of Man and Vanity Fair.
- Louise Lee as Chow Yuk-mui — Sam and Son's mother. Mui gave birth to her first-born, Kiu Tin-seng, in Hong Kong during the late 1960s. Kiu Sum, her son's policeman father, refuses to marry Mui after their son's birth, and in a blaze of anger, Mui destroys her son's Hong Kong birth certificate and moves back to her hometown in Foshan, China. There, she meets her husband, Lo Fu-shing, and gives birth to Shing's only son, Lo Wai-son. In 1980, Mui and her family attempt to sneak across the Hong Kong borders to escape mainland China's tumultuous social unrest, but the family is separated by external forces. Mui, Shing, and Son land in Macau, while Sam lands in Hong Kong.
- Edwin Siu as Lo Wai-son — Sam's younger half-brother.
Moses Chan was originally cast for the role of Son, which was announced simultaneously with Ruco Chan's casting in the late summer of 2012. In August 2012, approximately a month before the serial was to commence shooting in Hong Kong, Chan was reassigned to play opposite Wayne Lai in TVB's legal drama, Will Power. After Siu replaced Chan, the character of Son was rewritten to be younger.
- Kristal Tin as Yiu Man-ying — nicknamed Chang-kai Ying ; Son's best friend.
- Louis Yuen as Lung Fei — nicknamed Young Master Lung ; Son and Ying's best friend.
Recurring cast
- Louis Cheung as Keung Yung — a triad leader who strikes an ambiguous friendship with Sam.
- Lau Kong as Lo Fu-shing — Son's father and Mui's only husband, whom she met in Foshan. Shing owns a struggling peanut brittle shop in Macau.
- Susan Tse as Lau Lai-kuen — Rachel's mother, the second wife of Philip Cheuk.
- Leanne Li as Emily Cheuk — Rachel's older sister.
- Henry Yu as Philip Cheuk — Rachel and Emily's father.
- Becky Lee as Inspector Mandy Yeung — Sam's best friend.
- Ankie Beilke as Michelle Fabio — one of Sam's love interests. Ankie is attracted to Sam and attempts to seduce him. Eyeing Fabio's wealth and power, Sam eventually gives in to her seduction.
- :zh:李國麟 |Joseph Lee as Kiu Sum — Sam's father, a Hong Kong police officer. Sum does not wish to acknowledge his relationship with Sam in public, which indirectly influenced Sam's decision to become a cop.
- Stephen Wong as Kiu Wai-kin — also known as Kim, Sum's second son and Sam's younger half-brother.
- Chun Wong as Yiu Han and Ho Yuen-tung as Yiu Ho-nam — respectively Ying's father and Ying's younger brother.
- Yue Chi-ming as Lung Kwong-kam and Angelina Lo as Yuen Shuk-ngo — Fei's parents.
- Timothy Cheng as Chief Inspector Wong Kam-ho — also known as K.O. Sir, Sam's mentor and Sum's biggest rival.
- Rosanne Lui as Lee Wai-bing — Sum's wife and Kim's mother.
Reception
Critical response
Brother's Keeper has received generally positive reviews from critics. On Douban, the serial received a rating of 7.7 out of 10 based on over two thousand votes.Ratings
The following is a table that includes a list of the total ratings points based on television viewership. "Viewers in millions" refers to the number of people, derived from TVB Jade ratings, in Hong Kong who watched the episode live. The peak number of viewers are in brackets.| # | Time slot | Week | Episode | Average points | Peaking points | Viewers | AI | Rank | Ref. |