No Reserve
No Reserve, also known as Rosy Business III, is a 2016 Hong Kong espionage television drama serial created and produced by Lee Tim-sing for TVB. It stars Wayne Lai,
Myolie Wu,
Edwin Siu,
Sire Ma,
Yoyo Chen,
King Kong Lee,
Lau Kong,
Cecilia Fong,
Lee Shing-cheong
& Susan Tse. It is the third installment of the critically acclaimed Rosy Business period drama series. Previous installments include 2009's Rosy Business and 2010's No Regrets. The idea first started by airing on Encore Tvb, which was the full version, airing 31 episodes, with the last 2 airing back to back. The incomplete version aired 26 episodes.
Set primarily in Canton, China during the Second Sino-Japanese War, the show's story follows the affairs of Chinese spies and their entanglements with underground triads and the Empire of Japan. Wayne Lai stars as special government agent Kong Sheung-hung. Co-starring is Myolie Wu as Kong's partner Cheung Kei-sang, and Edwin Siu as their rival, Chau Sai-kai. No Reserve premiered on 1 October 2016 on TVB's streaming service, myTV SUPER. It later had a mainstream premiere at TVB Jade on 19 December 2016, with the series edited to 26 episodes.
Synopsis
Cheung Kei-sang and the orphan Chau Sai-kai, two young lovers from a village in Southern China, are forcibly separated on their marriage day due to the Japanese invasion. Filled with hatred and vengeance, Sai-kai joins a Kuomintang secret agency, becoming their spy.Meanwhile, Kei-sang ends up in a Communist guerrilla militia and receives training to be their government’s spy. She takes up a different identity as a Cantonese opera performer and cozies up with many Japanese officials, to the point of selling her body to extract military intelligence. She also meets Kong Sheung-hung, another Communist spy, and together they go on a mission to search for a Japanese businessman, who is linked to the war. They meet the businessman, only to discover that he looks identical to Sheung-hung. They learn that the businessman, Suzuki Kazuo, is actually Sheung-hung’s long lost twin brother, who ended up in Japan and was raised by an abusive Japanese father. The repeated abuse turns Kazuo into a strange and psychotic man.
In another mission, Kei-sang reunites with Sai-kai, but his ties with the Kuomintang puts their relationship at an impasse. Kei-sang is heartbroken to find Sai-kai turning into a psychopath, to a point of no return
Confirmed cast and characters
Main
- Wayne Lai as Suzuki Kazuo and Kong Sheung-hung, a pair of twin brothers who were separated at a young age. Lai, who was willing to push aside other filming offers in order to accommodate his schedule to film No Reserve, was the first of the cast to be confirmed in late 2011. In regards of him portraying two different characters, Lai said, "It is difficult. The older brother ends up in Japan and is educated with Japanese culture, later becoming a Japanese businessman. He is also a man with wild ambitions and has a harsh childhood leading him to become a mad man. The younger brother stays in China and joins the guerrilla team... in the end, the two brothers will have to confront each other."
- Myolie Wu as Cheung Kei-sang, a special agent for the Communist Party of China.She face the tragic loss of her father and younger brother leading to become a secret agent. Wu expressed that No Reserve is one of her most challenging scripts: "It is a powerful , with many ups and downs. It takes place during a war, so there will be tragic partings of life and death... it forces one to make certain decisions and choices. It's a brilliant script." On replacing Sheren Tang as the franchise's female lead, Myolie admitted that the role had given her a lot of pressure, but said, "It is a completely new story. No one can replace . Our performances will inevitably be compared, but I will do my best on my part." As for Tang's response, she said, " has already stated before that he could not come up with a suitable story line for me and in . I trust his judgment."
- Edwin Siu as Chau Sai-kai, a Kuomintang special agent who eventually goes psychotic, raping and assaulting random innocent people for his amusement. He became the enemy of Kong Sheung-hung and Cheung Kei-sang. Siu said that he has never come upon a more challenging character to portray, also expressing, "But no matter how many girls I touch, I will still be faithfully in love with Sang until the end." Siu is the second cast member to be confirmed to star in No Reserve. In 2008, Siu was in final negotiations to star in Rosy Business, but ultimately withdrew due to a schedule clash.
- Sire Ma as Kam Wan-ling, a fallen Qing Dynasty princess. She has never been to the outside since when she was a child. Sneak away home to look for adventure in the outside world. She admired Kong Sheung-hung. She has a tattoo on her back connecting to the secret treasure of the former Qing Dynasty. Ma was thrilled to be able to take part in the franchise, saying, "I have been hoping to take part in the franchise since I first heard that a third was in the making. It's a dream come true."
Supporting
- Li Shing-cheong as a former Qing Dynasty official having false hope of restoring Qing Dynasty raised Ling.
- Susan Tse as Ling's nanny who raised her with few qing dynasty remnant.
- Lau Kong as a special agent of the Communist Party of China, supervisor of Kong Sheung-hung and Cheung Kei-sang.
- Cecilia Fong as the mother of Suzuki Kazuo and Kong Sheung-hung. She has one regret of having lost her older son during an earthquake in Japan.
- Yoyo Chen as ex-wife of Chau Sai-kai who he marries because of Kuomintang undercover mission to get closer to her father.
- Man Yeung
- Yu Yang as the father of Cheung Kei-sang who was killed by the Japanese Soldiers along with his young son.
- Helena Law as a village old lady
- Eric Li as a Kuomintang special agent, supervisor of Chau Sai-kai
- King Kong as Japanese military commander, brother-in-law of Suzuki Kazu who was used by him to reach his goals.
Production
Development and filming
After the critical and commercial success of No Regrets, TVB encouraged Lee to produce a third installment. Though Lee was initially against the idea, he agreed to helm the project if Rosy Business head writer and assistant creative director, Cheung Wah-biu, would return to TVB. Upon learning that Cheung was tied to other projects, Lee put the production of No Reserve on hold, expressing that without Cheung, he would be unable to continue the franchise.In December 2011, Lee announced that he would consider retirement after finishing the post-production work of his crime serial, Bullet Brain. Lee admitted that the unsatisfying ratings from his 2011 drama, Bottled Passion, significantly impacted this decision. Despite his hopes for retirement, TVB contacted Lee for a contract renewal in late 2012. Lee eventually renewed his TVB contract in the spring of 2012 after TVB agreed to increase his pay and reduce his workload to one drama serial per year.
Lee began pre-production work on No Reserve in September 2012. Lee's longtime collaborator and Bullet Brain head writer, Ip Kwong-yam, was attached to the script. No Reserve was Ip's first TVB drama since leaving the company sixteen years ago. Ip drafted a preliminary script for No Reserve in May 2012 and began officially working on the project after the completion of Lee's other production, Detective Columbo, in August 2012. The Chinese working title of No Reserve was announced to be "Dip Hyut Chi Hung". The title was later changed to "Dip Hyut Cheung Tin".
A costume fitting press conference was held on February 20, 2013. Principal photography began on March 11 in Hong Kong. Other filming locations included Foshan and Zhongshan. A bless ceremony was held on April 8. Photography wrapped up in July 2013.
Casting
The success of Rosy Business and No Regrets relaunched the careers of main leads, Sheren Tang and Wayne Lai. Both leads respectively won best actress and actor at the TVB Anniversary Awards two years in a row for their acclaimed performances. In late 2011, Lai stated that he would be willing to push aside other filming offers in order to accommodate his schedule to film No Reserve. Lai reconfirmed this statement with the Singaporean media in July 2012. Tang also privately agreed to help Lee in No Reserve if her schedule allowed.When the No Reserve project was announced to be reopened in September 2012, Lai re-confirmed his return. A few days later, Lee announced that Myolie Wu would replace Tang as the serial's lead actress. With the exception of Lai, a core star to the franchise, Lee indicated that No Reserve would feature an entirely younger and fresher cast. Lee received a lot of complaints on Wu's casting; the complaints said that Tang had an irreplaceable role in the Rosy Business franchise. Wu's acting abilities were also questioned. Lee defended Wu, gushing that Wu was a TVB fadan who he wanted to collaborate with the most.
Following Wu's casting, Lee announced that Edwin Siu had been cast as the serial's second male lead. Natalie Tong and Sire Ma were also announced to have joined, but Tong left the cast in early 2012 due to a schedule clash.
A sales presentation trailer was filmed in October 2012. Helena Law, Yoyo Chen, Eric Li, Cheung Kwok-keung, and returning cast members Susan Tse and Li Shing-cheong were confirmed to join the cast in February 2013.
Release
When production first began, the Hong Kong media predicted that No Reserve would be one of TVB's anniversary dramas of 2013. However, in May 2013 when filming had hit its halfway mark, TVB pulled the drama from the 2013 broadcast lineup, and the series was being subjected to review by a censor board. It was said that the drama, which included sodomy and rape scenes, could be too violent for broadcast on a prime time network. Lee allegedly altered the story due to these restrictions. TVB had attempted to censor all the scenes alluding to the violence, cutting the drama from 30 episodes to 15.After three years in broadcast limbo, TVB finally confirmed in July 2016 that No Reserve would be getting an October 2016 premiere. Instead of getting a network broadcast, No Reserve would be released on TVB's streaming service myTV SUPER, which has more lax restrictions. At a promotional event to promote its release in September 2016, Lai said TVB's hesitance to air No Reserve on television was more likely due to the drama's politically sensitive topic rather than its sexual content.
myTV SUPER will be airing the complete, uncut version on 1 October 2016. The first five episodes will be released on the first Saturday, followed by four episodes on the next every Saturday for four week & last five episodes released following week.
TVB Jade will also air the edited version from 19 December 2016, everyday at 9.30pm.