“Always and Ever”: A Thousand Years of Love
With a tragic love story that spawns a thousand years, TVB’s fantasy drama starring Bobby Au Yeung (歐陽震華) and Esther Kwan (關詠荷), Always and Ever <情逆三世緣>, finally premiered on Monday, August 12. It has been three years since Ester last filmed a television drama, and thirteen years since Bobby and Esther’s last collaboration.
The Premise
Senior inspector, Circle (Bobby) accidentally kills his reporter girlfriend, Phoenix (Esther) during a field battle with criminals. His soul is transported back in time to the Song Dynasty 1,000 years ago, where he discovers that his past life was Judge Pao. He meets the royal female physician Hon Sheung Sheung, who is Phoenix’s past life. The two fall in love again, but royal advisor Ko Kai On (Ben Wong 黃智賢), who is in love with Sheung, curses Sheung to die in the hands of Pao for three lifetimes.
“Always and Ever” Producer Spills Secrets
It was not an easy task to convince Esther to make a comeback, but after hearing about her character’s tragic destiny, Esther immediately agreed to film the project. Producer Chong Wai Kin (莊偉建) revealed, “The first thing to attract Esther to make a comeback is to think about which roles she has never done before. We thought about a powerful triad leader in the 1950s. Then we came up with a thousand-year love story as a package. We calculated that the Song Dynasty was the most suitable era, and we designed her character to be a historic female scholar. Then we have her die in the hands of her lover three times. She gets to portray three different roles in one story. Definitely fun!”
Producer Chong further explained, “The curse began in the Song Dynasty. Esther Kwan’s scholar role, Hong Sheung Sheung, falls in love with Judge Pao. The royal advisor Ko Kai On always wanted to marry Sheung, but Pao stops him in all of his attempts. In order to protect Pao, Sheung is forced to make a vow that she will die in the hands of her love in her next lifetime.”
Despite the story’s tragic theme, producer Chong assured that the ending will be warm and sweet.
What about the theme of the story? “Devotion,” said the producer. “If you love someone, you will be willing to devote everything to that person, including your life.”
To add more humorous and mysterious elements to the story, Bobby portrays a lawman in all three of his lifetimes. “In present day, he is a cop. In the Song Dynasty, he is Judge Pao. In 1950s Hong Kong, he is the corrupted detective Wah Lung Biu. But he soon finds in conscience, and he advises his father Ngo Ka Nin (敖嘉年) to establish the ICAC. As for Esther, in present day she portrays a news anchor. In Song Dynasty, she portrays an educated princess, and in the 1950s, she is a triad leader. A very versatile role.”
Esther expressed that she is very pleased with her role and praised the script. “I was quite attracted to the script. I’ve never portrayed a fifties triad leader before. I’m not really a leader, but just the wife of a triad boss and the elder sister of many siblings. I need to die three times in the show, and the scriptwriters really worked hard in planning out how I would die! I also really enjoy watching the scenes of Rebecca Zhu (朱晨麗) and Mandy Wong(黃智雯) dancing. They really practiced hard, and the results were great. Rebecca and Ka Nin’s love story is also very touching. After giving birth to Bobby, Rebecca leaves her family to pursue her dreams. The elderly Rebecca and Ka Nin meet each other again in a retirement home, and Ka Nin imagines the two of them dancing on stage before passing away. As for me, I die three times, all because of Ben Wong’s curse!”
Christine Kuo Gets Dubbed
After getting criticized for her poor Cantonese in her performance in Beauty at War <金枝慾孽貳>, Producer Chong expressed that Christine will get her voice dubbed in Always and Ever. Chong said, “She portrays a princess [in Always and Ever] and that requires impeccable Cantonese pronunciation. Her dialogue is difficult, so I found a voice actress who shares a similar voice to dub her. She has a very pretty voice.”
“Always and Ever” Trailer #1
[vsw id=”hy34-xY4xxE” source=”youtube” width=”500″ height=”375″ autoplay=”no”]
“Always and Ever” Trailer #2
[vsw id=”3DvhYdA7I6A” source=”youtube” width=”500″ height=”375″ autoplay=”no”]
Source: Ming Pao via ihktv.com
This article is written by Addy for JayneStars.com.
Eh? Already premiered?! I didn’t even know!
Funn,
You missed the first episode?! Didn’t Astro air any ads announcing the broadcast?
I saw the trailers but I thought it was coming soon. Can catch up, no worries. I am numb from TITS 2 anyway.
Will you be writing episodic thoughts for Always and Ever, Funn?
This series is much more easier to write about then over slopfest TITS TITS
H, no I am not since so many episodes already. I just watched ep 1 and whilst I love their chemistry I am very bothered by the fact that something if off. But who ever thought Circle can be such a good English name huh? Hexagon, Octagon, Square… actually Circle is really a very good name!
have to say – this is so funny! i absolute love this series so far … epic pairing reunited 😀
Agreed, these two have such great cute chemistry together on screen. So funny when Bobby makes that Garfield face (at the shooting practice in A&Eep1).
I liked the first episode, but it definitely got more entertaining when Bobby went back in time.
Wow, Christine will be dubbed in this too? She was previously dubbed in Life and Times of a Sentinel and it was actually for the better, but that was 2 years ago. They really should have found another actress for this role then. I wonder if it was decided she will be dubbed before casting her, or after watching her performance in playbacks/editing?
There are so many other actresses that could take her place!
100% agree! Like they pretty much just wasted their time casting her in it when theyre gonna dubb her voice in the end…
Great first two episodes. EXCEPT Christine Kuo! For god shakes, dont cast her! She is now dubbed but its OUT OF SYNC. TVB BS
I wonder why is that too..just becuz tvb wanted to promote her so they didnt care even if her cantonese sux so they just sync her with another voice as long as her pretty face gets on screen.
I agree with you Larry 3. The series will be so much better without Christine Kuo. The dubbing for her lines are annoying and irritating. Her actions are exaggerated and super duper irritating to watch. Even JJ acting is so much better than Christine!!!!
I don’t understand why TVB cast her in the role if they were already planning on dubbing her voice! should of put someone else in it, she’s always ruining a good series
They could have use Armed Reaction characters names as nostalgia in the first episode!
did you notice the pictures in Esther’s home? they were from Armed Reaction!
theres like only one real photo from the past.
http://i43.tinypic.com/2w5oum8.jpg
I thought the other ones were also … no?
the rest are recent, is just only one photo from the past
I must note, I absolutely love the theme song for Always and Ever. Shirley did great singing the song.
yes I agree. I honestly love the theme song of this series
Esther hasn’t aged a day, she’s still so beautiful 🙂 I’m so excited to see this drama!
i still feel their chemistry when they are together!
The storyline of love for 3 lifetimes really reminds me of Xian Jian 3. I have not seen a good series from TVB for a very long time so hope this one is good.
Bobby is funny n great mann! DG wanna strangle CK!!!!! Were her dialogues dubbed btw!
and its out of sync!, terrible editing.
If they show this in US channels that Bobby keeps saying 煲屎 (Bullsheep) many times….TVB will fined heavily.
Larry 3,
Today there was news about “Triumph in the Skies 2” showing a nude woman in a porno magazine. The station can face charges of broadcasting nudity on TV.
Is it that porn magazine held by Kenneth? NOt much to see.
really enjoyed 1st and 2nd eps. cant wait for more.
i enjoyed the first 2 episodes very much.
it was funny. light-hearted and serious at the right moments.
love it 🙂
Disappointed with this show. Bobby and Esther no long have that chemistry on screen. Bobby especially has lost touch of his acting skill. I assume it has something to do with his health problem. The script is a disappointment. I watched the rerun and by episode 2, I felt bored and fell asleep.
That bad? Usually chance should be given until 5 episodes. Maybe it will better by 3rd?
you need to give this series a chance and you assumed wrong about bobby losing touch with his acting skills due to his health because he didn’t get hospitalized until at least the 50’s era
Hmmm…are we even watching the same series? Bobby actually hasn’t lost his touch at all — the comedic timing, facial expressions, improvised dialogue, etc. are all still spot on!
As far as chemistry goes — Bobby and Esther both still have it, no doubt about that….only watched 2 episodes and already feel it…
I think the problem with this series is the weak supporting cast and also the script (not much excitement to the storyline so far, but then again, it’s only been 2 episodes). I don’t know about you guys, but I actually skipped most of the scenes with Christine Kuo in them because I just can’t stand her (don’t care whether she’s dubbed or not, her acting still sucks)….my guess is that if this series doesn’t do well, most likely it will be because of the script and the not very strong supporting cast….but I guess I’ll have to watch a few more episodes to see….
I thought Bobby was very good as well – he was totally in his element! Esther was good too and I thought their chemistry was amazing. They definitely didn’t follow the script faithfully and their improvisations made things more interesting. Agree the script is not that great though, and I think the editing is bad – there are very abrupt transitions but then again, it’s Chong Wai Kin, the producer of SSSS.
There’s only 1 supporting cast member just suck at it is Christine Kuo. She is a bad voodo for ruin some TVB series.
They really should not cast Christine Kuo and then dub her voice. Its completely pointless. Just don’t cast anyone in ancient series who can’t speak properly- aka Mrs Moses Chan, even JJ Jia should not be cast in my opinion. If tvb wants to raise the quality of its productions, it should look at these issues which cost nothing to fix. Its better than just paying for ‘stars’
wow …. tvb writers are running out of material ! can’t believe they copied ada choi’s character in 1995 Justice Pao ( eps 1 – 5 ). unbelievable !
to specify its eps 4 of Always and Ever and TVB’s Justice Pao (1-5). they copied the same story of Gong Suen Sang and reuninting with his daughter, rescuing his daughter out of prison, and her suicide at the trial. the only difference is in Always and Ever, she was a princess. in the 1995′ Justice Pao ada choi was raised by robbers ….
anyway else saw this connection besides me ?
This series has to alter the story somehow for going back to the future, TVB is known to copy things. They at least try. None of the audience remember 18 years ago.
AAE is to me, much more entertaining than TITS2. Bobby and Esther are the perfect TV husband and wife (middle-aged and up).
I wont be surprise that Always and Ever will probably be #1 rated TVB program beating TITS 2.
Ngo Ka Nin’s sub-theme song… well its half of the full track: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2Y8T-82wfM
He did gives us a preview on his character.
love this series 🙂
LOVE THE SERIES. However, THE SET is getting old. I’m so bored by the same “sum ting” and “wong gong”. TVB need to pull it together. BUT ESTHER AND BOBBY’S chemistry is pretty good. I really didn’t understand WHY Christine Kuo was casted if she was going to be dubbed. WHY NOT FIND SOMEONE WHO HAS IMPECCABLE CANTONESE ? I get that they want to promote Christine but its ruining the drama.
Yum,
Perhaps the dubbing decision was made after filming took place for a lengthy time. It would be too much of a hassle to go back and recast and have the scenes re-shot.
Christine is highly promoted and it may have been management decision to cast her in the series whether her Cantonese skills fit the role or not.
as predictable as ever, and it’s so stupid and i think the write is a moron when it got to episode 11