''The Last Steep Ascent'' is a

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 ...

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 TVB ...

under executive producer

Lee Tim-sing Lee Tim-sing (born 1949) is a Hong Kong television producer, director and writer. Career After graduating from secondary school, Lee joined Television Broadcasts Limited (TVB) in 1969 as a set decorator. He became a director in 1975 and was ...

Background

The drama is a fictionalized account of a true love story between an older woman and a younger man in 1930s China. Koo Sun-yuet, the wife of a wealthy businessman, falls in love with Miu Tin, a man eight years her junior. The two elope to the countryside and lives modestly for the remainder of their lives. Before Tin dies, he handcarves a long stair path on the mountain so Yuet can travel down with ease.

Production

A costume fitting press conference was held at

TVB City TVB City (), is the headquarters of Television Broadcasts Limited (TVB) developed by Sun Hung Kai Properties located at 77 Chun Choi Street in the Tseung Kwan O Industrial Estate, Tseung Kwan O, Kowloon. The HK$2.2 billion facility officially o ...

's Studio 1 in

Tseung Kwan O Tseung Kwan O New Town is one of the nine new towns in Hong Kong, built mainly on reclaimed land in the northern half of Junk Bay (known as Tseung Kwan O in Chinese/Cantonese language) in southeastern New Territories, after which it is named. ...

on 20 September 2011. The blessing ceremony was held at the studios on 13 October 2011.

Cast

Maggie Cheung Ho-yee Maggie Cheung Ho-yee (; born 20 March 1969) is a Hong Kong actress. Career Maggie Cheung Ho-yee competed in TVB's 1994 Miss Hong Kong beauty pageant, reaching the final five but not placing. However she did gain a special award for best "pot ...

as Koo Sun-yuet (), the main protagonist. She is the wife of Ho Sai-cheung, a talented businessman in the

Chinese medicine Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is an alternative medical practice drawn from traditional medicine in China. It has been described as "fraught with pseudoscience", with the majority of its treatments having no logical mechanism of action ...

wholesaling business. Yuet falls in love with Miu Tin, a man eight years her junior, and the two elope to the countryside for a modest living. It is revealed that she met Miu Tin when he was younger during her journey to her wedding. *

Moses Chan Moses Chan Ho (born 16 April 1971) is an actor from Hong Kong. Career and personal life Chan lived and studied in Australia (Melbourne, Brisbane, and Sydney) for 10 years prior to returning to Hong Kong to embark on his acting career. On 17 Nov ...

as Miu Tin (), Yuet's lover who is eight years her junior. He is a peasant hailing from Ngau Yee Village, and plants Chinese herbs and medicine for a living. It is revealed that he met Yuet during his childhood, during which he asked her to touch his gums where he was missing two front teeth, believing that front teeth would grow quickly when a bride touches it. *

Kenny Wong Wong Tak-bun (born 30 April 1963), known internationally as Kenny Wong, is a Hong Kong actor. Filmography References External linksKenny Wongat HKMDB The Hong Kong Movie Database (HKMDB) is a bilingual (English and Chinese) website sta ...

as Cheng Kiu (), Tin's best friend. His wife died with nobody to help her and Kiu, drinking with his friends, his child also died later regardless of his attempt to save his child. He is shown marrying Oi-tai in the last episode. *

Aimee Chan Aimee Chan (born 1 April 1981) or Chan Yan-mei (Traditional Chinese: 陳茵媺) is a Canadian born actress based in Hong Kong. She was the winner of Miss Hong Kong 2006 and was offered a TVB contract shortly after. Biography Aimee was born in T ...

as Tin Oi-tai (), a maid from San Francisco, who has an affair with Sai-cheung. She is raped by a man who later comes back to haunt her, whilst she believes that the child she is impregnated with was Sai-cheung's. She eventually has a miscarriage, leading her to fall in love with Kiu who saved her from the rapist who assaulted her. She shares the latter part of her name, Oi-tai, with Kiu's previous wife, questioning if Kiu truly loved her. She is shown to marry Kiu in the last episode. *

Edwin Siu Edwin Siu (; born 23 March 1977) is a Hong Kong actor and singer. Siu started his career as an idol singer and was formerly managed by Music Nation Group. In 2002, Siu left the Hong Kong entertainment industry to start his career in mainland Chi ...

as Ho Sai-ho (), the main antagonist. He is the son of Kwan-yiu and cousin of Sai-cheung. He attempts to burn down the storage of the business which he took over, in order to escape with his wife and start over, whilst taking the majority of the money. This, however, is foiled by the police. *

KK Cheung KK, K.K., kK, k.k., or other sequences of two k's with or without punctuation may refer to: Arts and media *KK, the production code for the 1967 ''Doctor Who'' serial ''The Faceless Ones'' * "KK" (song), a 2014 song by Wiz Khalifa * Kk. or Kirk ...

as Ho Sai-cheung (), the husband of Sun-yuet, and the current executive officer of the Ho family's Chinese medicine business, Ho Ching Tong. He is the most powerful and successful figure in the Chinese medicine wholesaling business. He died in episode seven, from his sickness which had dormant since his time in San Francisco, of which he hid from his family. *

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 Leung Mei-kuen (), known as Old Mrs. Ho, Ho Sai-cheung's mother, the matriarch of the Ho family. *

Cheung Yick Cheung is a Cantonese romanization of several Chinese surnames, including the one written as in Traditional characters and in Simplified characters ( Jyutping: Zoeng1; Pinyin: '' Zhāng''; Wade–Giles: Chang, Vietnamese: Trương), and the one w ...

as Ho Kwan-yiu (), Sai-ho's father and Sai-cheung's elder paternal uncle. * Joel Chan as Lai Chai-man (), a young, ambitious businessman who strives to achieve the top spot in the Chinese medicine wholesaling business. *

Samantha Ko Samantha Ko Hoi-ling (; born January 13, 1987, in Nanjing) is a Chinese born former Miss Hong Kong contestant placing top 5 in the 2008 pageant, actress and model based in Hong Kong. Being quite tall (高 = tall) compared to her contemporaries ...

as Cheng Yim-ping (), Chai-man's wife. *

Benjamin Yuen Benjamin Yuen Wai-ho (Simplified Chinese: 袁伟豪; Traditional Chinese: 袁偉豪, born May 11, 1981) is a Hong Kong actor and singer contracted to TVB and Shaw Brothers Pictures. Yuen’s career started when he became the winner of Hong K ...

as Ho Sai-leung (), Sai-cheung's younger brother. *

Katy Kung Katy Kung (born 5 December 1989) is a Hong Kong actress under the contract of TVB. Career Katy Kung's career began at the age of 16, when she became a model for a magazine introduced to her by a friend. She later worked as a television present ...

as Ho Sai-man (), Sai-cheung and Sai-leung's younger sister. *

Mat Yeung Mat Yeung Ming (born 27 February 1981) is a Hong Kong television actor known for his roles as Lui Ting in ''Screen Play'' (2000), as Wan Po-yu in ''The 'W' Files'' (2003), as Tin Hoi in ''Be Home for Dinner'' (2011), and as Senior Inspector Jasp ...

as Ngai Po-law (), Sai-man's husband. *

Tsui Wing Tsui Wing (born August 7, 1974) is a Hong Kong actor contracted to TVB. Tsui is best known for his roles as Kau Chun in the 2007-2008 sitcom ''Best Selling Secrets'' and Ma Keung in the 2012-2015 sitcom ''Come Home Love ''Come Home Love'' ...

as Kwan Kwong-tat (), known as Blackie Tat, one of Tin's friend. *

Yvonne Ho Yvonne is a female given name. It is the feminine form of Yvon, which is derived from the French name Yves and Yvette. It is from the French word ''iv'', meaning "yew" (or tree). Since yew wood was used for bows, Ivo may have been an occupatio ...

as Kong Pik-kei (), Sai-ho's wife. *

Yeung Ching-wah Yang (; ) is the transcription of a Chinese family name. It is the sixth most common surname in Mainland China. It is the 16th surname on the ''Hundred Family Surnames'' text. The Yang clan was founded by Boqiao, son of Duke Wu of Jin in the Sp ...

as Liu Sam-kan (), one of Tin's friend. *

Raymond Chiu Raymond is a male given name. It was borrowed into English from French (older French spellings were Reimund and Raimund, whereas the modern English and French spellings are identical). It originated as the Germanic ᚱᚨᚷᛁᚾᛗᚢᚾᛞ ( ...

as Suen Man-wah (), an office clerk personally hired by Sai-cheung. *

Eddie Li Eddie Li Yu-yeung () is a Hong Kong model and actor. He made his first appearance in Hearts Of Fencing on TVB in 2003, in which he played a rich kid who thought he was all that because he had so much money, a character that resembles (or probably ...

as Ho Yan Lung (), the founder of the Chinese medicine business, Ho Ching Tong, and Ho Kwan Yiu's father. * Yu Tze Ming as Chung Kam (), Ngau Yee Village's village chief. *

Kaki Leung Kaki Leung (born 14 July 1981) is a Hong Kong television actress and hostess. Education In 2003, Leung received a Bachelor of Acting degree with Honors from The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts (HKAPA). Career Leung was an entertainment ...

as Chung Lok-ho (), the daughter of Kam. *

Jim Tang Jim Tang Wing Kin (, born June 9, 1983, in Hong Kong with family roots in Panyu, Guangdong) is a Hong Kong actor. Jim was a clown entertainer before he became an actor. He graduated from 20th TVB Artist Training Course in 2006 and he made his ...

as Lau Kar-ming (), a schoolteacher and the boyfriend of Lok-ho. * Chuk Man-kwan as Aunt Hung (), Mrs. Ho's maid. *

Yueh Hua Yueh Hua (; 14 July 1942 – 20 October 2018) was a Shanghai-born Hong Kong actor, later based in Canada, with Shaw Brothers Studio and TVB. Yueh is one of the most versatile and prolific leading actors of Shaw Brothers. Yueh starred in five ...

as Miu Hoi (), Tin's father, died shortly after his wife died. *

Suet Nei Hung Suet-nei (Chinese: 熊雪妮), known as Suet Nei or Suet Nay (Chinese: 雪妮) is a Hong Kong actress born in 1945, Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Rep ...

as Tsui Siu-mui (), Tin's mother, shown to die naturally in the beginning.

Ho Family tree

Awards and nominations

2012 TVB Anniversary Awards: *Nominated: Best Drama *Nominated:

Best Actor Best Actor is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organizations, festivals, and people's awards to leading actors in a film, television series, television film or play. The term most often refers to th ...

(Moses Chan) - Top 5 *Nominated:

Best Actress Best Actress is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organisations, festivals, and people's awards to leading actresses in a film, television series, television film or play. The first Best Actress awar ...

(Aimee Chan) *Nominated: Best Supporting Actor (Kenny Wong) *Nominated: Best Supporting Actress (Helena Law) *Nominated: My Favourite Male Character (Moses Chan) *Nominated: Most Improved Male Artiste (Edwin Siu) *Nominated: Most Improved Female Artiste (Katy Kung)

Viewership ratings

The following is a table that includes a list of the total ratings points based on television viewership.

References

External links

Official TVB website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Last Steep Ailment, The TVB dramas 2012 Hong Kong television series debuts 2012 Hong Kong television series endings Hong Kong romance television series 2010s romance television series 2010s Hong Kong television series