| Forensic Heroes IV | |
|---|---|
| 法證先鋒IV | |
| Genre | Police procedural |
| Created by | Mui Siu-ching |
| Written by | Leung Man-wah Yuen Mei-fung Sin Chui Ching |
| Starring | Raymond Wong Selena Lee Shaun Tam Alice Chan Rebecca Zhu Roxanne Tong |
| Theme music composer | Alan Cheung Ka-shing |
| Opening theme | 圓謊 performed by Justin Lo |
| Ending theme | 不要流淚 performed by Fred Cheng 我不是她 performed by Hana Kuk |
| Country of origin | Hong Kong |
| Original language | Cantonese |
| No. of episodes | 30 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer | Mui Siu-ching |
| Producer | Ben Fong |
| Production location | Hong Kong |
| Camera setup | Multi camera |
| Running time | 45 minutes (per episode) |
| Production company | TVB |
| Original release | |
| Network | TVB Jade |
| Release | 17 February – 27 March 2020 |
| Related | |
| Forensic Heroes (2006) Forensic Heroes II (2008) Forensic Heroes III (2011) Forensic Heroes V (2022) | |
Forensic Heroes IV is a 2020 Hong Kong police procedural television drama produced by Television Broadcasts Limited (TVB). It stars Raymond Wong, Selena Lee, Shaun Tam, Alice Chan, Rebecca Zhu and Roxanne Tong in the reboot installment and is the second reboot of the Forensic Heroes series, featuring new stories and characters. Mui Siu-ching, who also produced the original series, serves as the executive producer.
Senior Forensic Chemist Ko On (Raymond Wong) from the Forensic Science Division, Senior Forensic Pathologist Man Ka-hei (Selena Lee) from the Forensic Pathology Division, and Senior Inspector Kwok Fai-wong (Shaun Tam) from the Kowloon West Regional Crime Unit, formed a crime-solving triangle with their professional teams. The childhood regrets of hot-blooded reporter Chris Tsui (Roxanne Tong) who were closely related to Ko On sister abduction years ago. Scientific Evidence Officer Shui Wai-ming (Alice Chan) became a murder suspect upon her boyfriend's murder while Sergeant Ko Ching (Rebecca Zhu) who is a Sergeant who persistently investigating the truth of her sister's abduction alongside Ko On (Raymond Wong). The crime-solving triangle firmly believes that good always triumph over evil and fights for justice.
A costume fitting press conference was held on 24 October 2018. Principal photography began in October 2018 and concluded in March 2019, with some scenes filmed in Taiwan. The blessing ceremony was held on 21 January 2019. [1]
In April 2019, Jacqueline Wong, who was cast as Chris Tsui, was found to be involved in a cheating scandal. Producer Mui Siu-ching confirmed that the role would be recast and all scene with Wong would be reshot. [2] [3] Roxanne Tong took the role [4] and reshoots lasted from June 2019 to July 2019.
| Character | Actor | Occupation |
|---|---|---|
| Dr. Ko On | Raymond Wong | Forensic Laboratory Supervisor / Senior Chemist |
| Queen Shui Wai-ming | Alice Chan | Scientific Evidence Officer (S.E.O.) |
| Charm Ting | Fred Cheng | |
| Ocean Lam | William Chu | |
| Howard Chan | Terrence Huang | Forensic Technician |
| Character | Actor | Occupation |
|---|---|---|
| Dr. Man Ka-hei | Selena Lee | Senior Forensic Pathologist |
| Ivan Szeto | Fred Cheung | Forensic Pathologist |
| Character | Actor | Occupation |
|---|---|---|
| SIP Kwok Fai-wong | Shaun Tam | RCU Senior Inspector of Police |
| WSGT Ko Ching | Rebecca Zhu | RCU Sergeant |
| PC Yu Wai-ding | Arnold Kwok | RCU Police Constable |
| PC Mok King-chiu | Fei Wu | |
| WPC Tong Sum-yuet | Wiyona Yeung |
When TVB first announced the drama will air in February 2020 which is considered an unpopular time slot, it was expected the drama will receive lower viewership. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Hong Kong went into a strict lockdown in February 2020, which gave viewership ratings a large boost, making the series the most watched drama since 2013. [5] However, the drama was criticized by audiences for its predictable and average plot compared to its predecessors, especially in the latter half of the series. [6]
Due to the series' high viewership ratings, a fifth sequel was worked on with new cast members originally including Priscilla Wong and Pakho Chau but was changed to Bosco Wong and Benjamin Yuen. [7] Despite the sequel had a case following the final case shown in the end of the fourth installment and Fred Cheng and Wiyona Yeung's characters remained, the fifth installment had no connection to the previous 4 installments. Production of the fifth sequel began in September 2021 and ended in January 2022. The show first started airing on Youku, along with TVB Anywhere and TVB Anywhere Malaysia on October 26, 2022. It would later start airing on TVB Jade and Astro AOD on November 14, 2022, being the last of TVB's four 2022 grand anniversary dramas to be broadcast.
The following is a table that includes a list of the total ratings points based on television viewership. "Viewers in millions" refers to the number of people, derived from TVB Jade ratings in Hong Kong who watched the episode live and on myTV SUPER.
| # | Week | Episode(s) | Avg. points | Viewers in millions | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 17 February 2020 | 1 | 37.1 | 2.42 | [8] |
| 17 — 21 February 2020 | 1 — 5 | 35.7 | 2.33 | [9] | |
| 2 | 24 — 28 February 2020 | 6 — 10 | 35.8 | [10] | |
| 3 | 2 — 6 March 2020 | 11 — 15 | 35.5 | ||
| 4 | 9 — 13 March 2020 | 16 — 20 | 35.4 | 2.32 | [11] |
| 5 | 16 — 20 March 2020 | 21 — 25 | 36.8 | [12] | |
| 6 | 23 March 2020 | 26 | 40 | 2.62 | [13] |
| 23 — 27 March 2020 | 26 — 30 | 38.8 | [14] | ||
| 27 March 2020 | 30 | 39.6 | [15] |