''Witness to a Prosecution'' is a Hong Kong television series 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 ...

. The original broadcast was on the

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 ...

network with 45-minute episodes airing five days a week from 20 December 1999 to 16 January 2000. The drama stars

Bobby Au-yeung Robert Au-yeung Tsan-wah (born 28 July 1960) is a Hong Kong actor best known for his comedic roles in many TVB television dramas. He gained wide public attention in the 1990s for his portrayal of Ben Yu in the 1991 legal drama ''File of Justice' ...

as the famous historical forensic medical expert

Song Ci Song Ci (; 1186–1249) was a Chinese physician, judge, forensic medical scientist, anthropologist, and writer of the Southern Song dynasty. He is most well known for being the world's first forensic entomologist, having recorded his experienc ...

("Sung Chee" in Cantonese romanisation). Set during the

Southern Song Dynasty The Song dynasty (; ; 960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou. The Song conquered the rest ...

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 ''Collected Cases of Injustice Rectified'' or the ''Washing Away of Wrongs'' is a Chinese book written by Song Ci in 1247 during the Song Dynasty (960-1276) as a handbook for coroners. The author combined many historical cases of forensic scie ...

'', 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.TVB's Top 10 Dramas (1997–2009)
/ref> The drama also yielded Au-yeung a " Best Actor" win at the 2000

TVB Anniversary Awards The TVB Anniversary Awards (), officially known as the TVB Awards Presentation, is an annual awards ceremony honoring TVB's programming achievements in Hong Kong television; despite claims that it is the region's equivalent to the American Emm ...

. 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.

Synopsis

For 30 years, nighttime keeper

(

) was despised in To Yuen village due to his

posthumous birth A posthumous birth is the birth of a child after the death of a biological parent. A person born in these circumstances is called a posthumous child or a posthumously born person. Most instances of posthumous birth involve the birth of a child af ...

in a coffin, having only the sickly scholar Sit Dan (

Michael Tse Michael Tse Tin-wah (born 15 July 1967) is a Hong Kong actor and singer. Background Michael Tse graduated from TVB's Dance Training Class and worked with TVB as a dancer for five years. He then left TVB and formed a boy band group called 風� ...

) and the

coolie A coolie (also spelled koelie, kuli, khuli, khulie, cooli, cooly, or quli) is a term for a low-wage labourer, typically of South Asian or East Asian descent. The word ''coolie'' was first popularized in the 16th century by European traders acros ...

Cha Siu-chaan (

Lo Mang Lo Mang is a Hong Kong martial artist and actor who was born as Lo Kwan Lam in Hong Kong on 23 July 1952. Primarily known for starring in ''Shaw Brothers'' kung fu movies during the latter part of the 1970s and into the 1980s. He is a member of ...

) 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 Jessica Hester Hsuan (; PA: syn hyn, also known as Suen Huen, is a Hong Kong actress. Early life Hsuan's father gave her the name Jessica, while her mother gave her the middle name Hester. She was educated in Hong Kong at Maryknoll Convent S ...

), are accused for murdering the chief and are sentenced to death. The village's newly appointed magistrate Sung Yik (

Frankie Lam Frankie Lam Man-lung (born 19 December 1967) is a Hong Kong actor. He entered a singing contest and subsequently, signed a contract with TVB. He left TVB in 2011 to join HKTV. Lam married Hong Kong actress Kenix Kwok on 10 March 2004. Their fir ...

) finds the case suspicious and investigates. With the help of the mysterious yet experienced coroner Ma Kwai (

Lau Kong Lau Kong () is a Hong Kong actor who worked on the network TVB. Biography Little is known of Lau's private life, but he has been acting since 1976, when he first joined the now defunct network Commercial Television, he later joined RTV (now AT ...

), Yik successfully revokes Ci and Sze's sentences. Kwai becomes Ci's coroner master and Yik employs Ci to be his personal forensic medical doctor. The two become good friends and partners, successfully solving many murder cases in town. Sze develops a crush on Yik, unaware that Yik and Nip Fung (

Mariane Chan Mariane Chan () (born 1 August 1972) is a Hong Kong actress. Television series *'' Love is Beautiful'' (TVB, 2002) *'' Lost in Love'' (大囍之家) (TVB, 2000) *''Witness to a Prosecution'' (TVB, 1999) *''Life for Life'' (命轉情真) (TVB, 1 ...

), daughter of senior

constable A constable is a person holding a particular office, most commonly in criminal law enforcement. The office of constable can vary significantly in different jurisdictions. A constable is commonly the rank of an officer within the police. Other peop ...

Nip Yan-lung (

Gordon Liu Gordon Liu (Lau Kar-fai ); born Sin Kam-hei () August 22, 1951) is a Chinese martial arts film actor and martial artist. He played the lead role of San Te in ''The 36th Chamber of Shaolin'' (1978) and its sequels, and later played two roles in Qu ...

), are already in a relationship. Ci, on the other hand, falls for Lam Choi-dip (

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 ...

), the spoiled daughter of rich merchant Lam To ( Lee Lung-kei). Choi-dip, however, has her eyes on Yik. Several months later, a man also by the name of Sung Yik shows up and confronts Yik, calling him a traitor. After the two intensely quarrel, the fake Yik accidentally kills the real Sung Yik. In a panic, he buries Sung Yik's body in the garden of the Sung family rice shop. Yik's relatives then mysteriously die one by one; Ci eventually uncovers the body of the real Sung Yik and begins to grow suspicious of the current Yik, a man whom he has always respected and treated as a friend.

Cast

: ''Note: Some of the characters' names are romanised via Cantonese pronunciation, instead of Mandarin.'' *

(宋慈) *

as Magistrate Sung Yik / Fong Tsun (宋翊 / 方俊) *

as Tong Sze (唐思) *

as Nip Fung (聶楓) *

as Sit Dan (薛丹) *

as Cha Siu-chaan (查小燦) *

as Nip Yan-lung (聶人龍) *

as Ma Kwai (馬貴) *

as Lam Choi-dip (藍彩蝶) * May Kwong as Princess Sum-yu (心如郡主) * Benz Hui as Sung Sing (宋誠) *

Mimi Chu Mimi Chu (), born Choo Yit Mei () is a Malaysians, Malaysian-born Hongkongers, Hong Kong actress and singer. She lived in Singapore before moving to Hong Kong. She has appeared at many events. As an actress, she is a recognised face in Hong Ko ...

as Lo Fa (魯花) * Celine Ma as Sung Ling (宋玲) * Anderson Junior as Tenth Prince (十王爺) *

Alice Fung Alice may refer to: * Alice (name), most often a feminine given name, but also used as a surname Literature * Alice (''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland''), a character in books by Lewis Carroll * ''Alice'' series, children's and teen books by ...

as Princess of Hong (康王妃) * Lee Lung-kei as Lam To (藍濤) *

Lo Chun-shun Lo may refer to any of the following: Arts and entertainment * '' Lo!'', the third published nonfiction work of the author Charles Fort * L.O., a fictional character in the Playhouse Disney show Happy Monster Band * ''Lo'' (film), a 2009 indep ...

as Choi Chuen (蔡全)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Witness To A Prosecution TVB dramas Television series set in the Southern Song 1999 Hong Kong television series debuts 2003 Hong Kong television series endings