''The Last Healer in Forbidden City'' (; literally "The Last Imperial Physician") is a

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

historical fiction television drama produced by

TVB Television Broadcasts Limited (TVB) is a television broadcasting company based in Hong Kong SAR. The Company operates five free-to-air terrestrial television channels in Hong Kong, with TVB Jade as its main Cantonese language service, and ...

, starring

Roger Kwok Roger Kwok Chun-on is a Hong Kong television actor and former singer, who works for the TV station TVB. Kwok was born in Hong Kong, and his native family roots are in Zhongshan, Guangdong. He is one of the three actors who won Best Actor three ...

and

Tavia Yeung Tavia Yeung Sin-yiu (; born 30 August 1979), previously known as Tavia Yeung Yi (), is a Hong Kong actress. She is best known for starring in the television dramas '' Vigilante Force'' (2003), '' Moonlight Resonance'' (2008)'', Beyond the Real ...

as the main leads, produced by

Nelson Cheung Nelson may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Nelson'' (1918 film), a historical film directed by Maurice Elvey * ''Nelson'' (1926 film), a historical film directed by Walter Summers * ''Nelson'' (opera), an opera by Lennox Berkeley to a lib ...

. It premiered on March 28, 2016, airing every Monday to Friday on Hong Kong's

TVB Jade TVB Jade (), or simply Jade, is a Hong Kong Cantonese-language free-to-air television channel owned and operated by Television Broadcasts Limited (TVB) as its flagship service, alongside its sister network, the English-language TVB Pearl. Bro ...

, Malaysia's Astro on Demand and Australia's TVBJ channels during its 8:30–9:30 pm timeslot, concluding April 22, 2016 with a total of 20 episodes. ''The Last Healer in Forbidden City'' is a fictional telling told through the account of a physician of

Emperor Guangxu The Guangxu Emperor (14 August 1871 – 14 November 1908), personal name Zaitian, was the tenth Emperor of the Qing dynasty, and the ninth Qing emperor to rule over China proper. His reign lasted from 1875 to 1908, but in practice he ruled, wi ...

played by Roger Kwok about the Emperor's mysterious death at the age of 37. It has long been rumored that the Guangxu Emperor was actually poisoned to death. In 2008, forensic tests done on the Guangxu Emperor remains revealed that high levels of arsenic was found in his remains. The arsenic levels were 2,000 times higher than that of ordinary levels.

Synopsis

Story takes time period in between 1898 (24th year of Guangxu) and 1908 (34th year of Guangxu), the late reign of the

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...

. Skillful physician To Chung (Roger Kwok) is named the new Imperial Palace Physician when he successfully heals Empress Dowager Chee-Hei (Law Lan) from her illness. To Chung eventually grows close to the Gwong-seoi Emperor (Pierre Ngo) who is under house arrest at the

Forbidden City The Forbidden City () is a Chinese palace, palace complex in Dongcheng District, Beijing, China, at the center of the Imperial City, Beijing, Imperial City of Beijing. It is surrounded by numerous opulent imperial gardens and temples includ ...

and stripped of his powers after angering Dowager Chee-hei due to losing the

First Sino-Japanese War The First Sino-Japanese War (25 July 1894 – 17 April 1895) was a conflict between China and Japan primarily over influence in Korea. After more than six months of unbroken successes by Japanese land and naval forces and the loss of the po ...

and rebelling against her authority. To Chung also heals Gwong-seoi Emperor from his illness and helps the young emperor with his relationship with Consort Tsan (Rebecca Zhu). However how great he is as a physician to the imperial family, To Chung cannot heal his crippled wife Hung Bak-hap (JJ Jia). Desperate to heal his wife he seeks out the services of bone-setter Fuk Ling (Tavia Yeung). Fuk Ling's treatments helps Bak-hap relieve some of her pain. Impressed by Fuk Ling, To Chung refers her to the Forbidden City where she becomes Empress Dowager Chee-hei personal bone-setter. To Chung and Fuk Ling's friendship eventually turns romantic but his loyalty to his wife Bak-hap prevents him from further pursuing his romance interest in Fuk Ling. Fuk Ling however has ulterior motives with getting close to the imperial family as she has been tasked to kill the Gwong-seoi Emperor.

Cast

''Character names are in

Cantonese romanisation Cantonese ( zh, t=廣東話, s=广东话, first=t, cy=Gwóngdūng wá) is a language within the Chinese (Sinitic) branch of the Sino-Tibetan languages originating from the city of Guangzhou (historically known as Canton) and its surrounding are ...

.''

Main cast

''Names of the main cast are all homophones to Chinese herbs.'' *

as To Chung (杜仲), the imperial doctor who enters the office of imperial doctors by successfully heals Empress Dowager Cixi's sleepwalking. *

as Fuk Ling (伏苓), the revolutionist and a bone doctor.

Imperial Qing

Law Lan Law Lan () MHAwarded in her original name Lo Yin-ying (born Lo Yin-ying (); 13 November 1934), is a veteran Hong Kong actress in both the film and TV industry. Career She first started out in the film industry in 1939, cast in antagonistic roles ...

as Empress Dowager Chee-hei (慈禧太后) * Pierre Ngo as Kwong-shui Emperor (光緒帝) *

Rebecca Zhu Rebecca Zhu (; born 2 December 1987) is a Hong Kong actress and a beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned Miss Hong Kong 2011. As a result of her pageant win, Zhu was offered a starring role in the 2012 TVB television drama '' Silver Spoon, St ...

as Consort Chun (珍妃) *

Jonathan Cheung Jonathan Cheung Wing-hong (, born 26 December 1981), native of Zhongshan, Guangdong, is a Hong Kong actor since 2001. He is currently contracted to TVB. Career In 2006, Johnathan Cheung joined TVB by Andy's recommendation and mostly played s ...

as Tsoi-fung, Prince Shun (醇親王載灃) *

Regen Cheung Regen ( Northern Bavarian: ''Reng'') is a town in Bavaria, Germany, and the district town of the district of Regen. Geography Regen is situated on the great Regen River, located in the Bavarian Forest. Divisions Originally the town consisted o ...

as Yau Lan (幼蘭) *

William Hu William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Eng ...

as Tsoi-yi, Prince Tuen (端郡王載漪) * Pauline Chow as Empress Lung-yue (隆裕皇后) *

Janice Shum Janice may refer to: * Janice (given name), a feminine given name (includes a list of people with the name) * '' Janice & Abbey'', a reality TV series * Processor codename of the Samsung Galaxy S Advance Android smartphone * Janice, Łódź Voiv ...

as Noble Consort Wai (慧貴妃) *

Amy Fan Amy Fan Yik Man (born 28 May 1971) is a Hong Kong-based actress. Biography Born on 28 May 1970 in Hong Kong, Fan grew up in a single-parent family after her parents divorced. Her stepfather is a Japanese engineer. Fan attend Holy Angels Canossia ...

as Noble Consort Yue (瑜貴妃) *

Lee Yee-man Lee Yee-man ( born October 18, 1984 in Hong Kong) is a Hong Kong actress and host. She won the 2001 ATV actress competition, and began her acting career at ATV. Later, in 2007 she began acting for TVB. ATV Series TVB Series Film * ''Shock W ...

as Consort Kan (瑾妃) * Kirby Lam as Princess Yuen Kai (涴佳格格) * Rainky Wai as Tak Ling (德齡) *

Jazz Lam Lam Tsz-sin (born 1982) () is a Hong Kong actor. Career In 2005, Lam began his acting career. Lam has made appearances in one of Stephen Chow's movies. He is best known for playing unconventional characters and comedic characters. Examples of ...

as Kot Kan (葛根), Fuk Ling's Chuen Yan House staff and later an imperial guard. * Tsoi Kwok-hing as Yuan Sai-hoi (袁世凱)

Extended cast

* JJ Jia as Hung Bak-hap (洪百合), To's wife who is a disable, and using a wooden wheelchair to walk instead * Stanley Cheung as Yam Sek-gang (任錫庚), an imperial doctor who is a closed friend of To *

Eileen Yeow Eileen Yeow (born 4 January 1972), also known as Yiu Ying-ying, is a Hong Kong-based Singaporean actress and was named as one of the Five Fresh Beauties of TVB in 1995. Career Yeow won the title of Miss Singapore Universe in 1991. After that, sh ...

as To's elder sister who always worries about To's heritage. *

Yu Chi-ming Yue Chi-ming (; 10 December 1944 – 10 November 2022) was a Hong Kong actor and singer. Life and career Born in Chenghai, Shantou, Chi-ming started his career as a singer in the 1960s, and in 1976 he was put under contract as an actor by ...

as Lee Lin-Ying (李連英)

Development

*The costume fitting ceremony and blessing ceremony was held together on May 12, 2015 at 4:00 pm Tseung Kwan O TVB City Studio 15. *A promo image of ''The Last Healer in Forbidden City'' was featured in TVB's 2016 calendar for the month of October . *''The Last Healer in Forbidden City'' was one of five dramas shelved by new TVB CEO Mark Lee (李寶安) in early 2016, as he considered the drama low quality and not fit to be broadcast.
TVB Shelves 5 Low Quality Dramas from Broadcast. Retrieved February 26, 2016

Viewership ratings

International broadcast

Awards and nominations

Related history events

Boxer Rebellion The Boxer Rebellion, also known as the Boxer Uprising, the Boxer Insurrection, or the Yihetuan Movement, was an anti-foreign, anti-colonial, and anti-Christian uprising in China between 1899 and 1901, towards the end of the Qing dynasty, by ...

Eight-Nation Alliance The Eight-Nation Alliance was a multinational military coalition that invaded northern China in 1900 with the stated aim of relieving the foreign legations in Beijing, then besieged by the popular Boxer militia, who were determined to remove fo ...

References

External links

''The Last Healer In Forbidden City'' Official TVB website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Last Healer In Forbidden City TVB dramas Hong Kong television series 2016 Hong Kong television series debuts 2016 Hong Kong television series endings 2010s Hong Kong television series Television series set in the Qing dynasty Monarchy in fiction Cultural depictions of Empress Dowager Cixi