‘Line Walker’ prequel sizzles with return of Michael Miu
The writers and I love to twist things around. Except for the show’s ending, I want it to be hard to guess.
HONG KONG: TVB seems to have hit the jackpot with the return of veteran actor Michael Miu in the prequel Line Walker: The Prelude.
Michael is back in the role of Senior Inspector Cheuk Hoi, who attempts to tie up loose ends after a bungled secret mission in Bangkok.
TVB took one year to produce the prequel to the original Line Walker ( 2014), and their painstaking efforts appear to be paying off.
The original drama, produced by Jazz Boon, followed a police investigator’s mission in uncovering several undercover agents who went missing after their handler was murdered.
It had starred Michael Miu as lead actor, with Raymond Lam and Charmaine Sheh co-starring as the missing undercover sleuths.
Last year, a movie version was released, starring Charmaine, Nick Cheung, Louis Koo and Francis Ng.
Raymond had opted out because of contractual disputes and a new focus on projects in mainland China.
In the prequel, which had
So Man-chung, producer
begun airing on Monday, former undercover agent Tam Foonhei ( Hui Shiu-hung) avenges the death of his wife by forming his own triad organisation.
He comes up against Mr Mobius ( Moses Chan), the underworld’s de facto leader.
The events in the prequel date back to 2010, and will lead up to the events in the original series.
Prelude producer So Manchung described it as an “independent label” that can be stretched out into multiple seasons, with multiple stories.
Added So: “It’s the epitome of the classical Hong Kong crime genre. There are triads going against each other. There’s that ongoing suspicion of who is the real undercover… this kind of genre can stretch on forever. This show can go up to seasons three, four or five.”
Weighing the many possibilities, So figured: “Each season can have a different producer with different actors, adding more creativity and different styles to the show. We can also do parallel universes. Why aren’t we doing a sequel instead? Look at James Bond and other spy film series. There are new elements and styles to every instalment. Following the same characters might not be a good thing. Instead, we get to explore our creativity with new characters and settings. We have so much room to do that.”
So is going for unexpected twists and turns.
He added: “The writers and I love to twist things around. Except for the show’s ending, I want it to be hard to guess.”