{ "id": "ep45a3853p", "slug": "the-borderline", "title": "The Borderline (警界线)", "updated": "2026-11-01", "topic_path": [ { "id": "culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture" }, { "id": "culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.series", "label": "Series and fictional screen worlds", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.series" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.series.series_unscripted", "label": "Unscripted, reality, and web-native series", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.series.series_unscripted" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.series.series_web_native", "label": "Web-native and streaming-original series", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.series.series_web_native" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.series.series_web_native.horror_thriller_scifi_webseries", "label": "Genre web series: horror, thriller, science fiction, and mystery", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.series.series_web_native.horror_thriller_scifi_webseries" } ], "geo": [ { "id": "geo.chn.t2001.culture.performance.screen.series.series_unscripted", "label": "China · 2001 to 2020: Unscripted, reality, and web-native series", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.chn.t2001.culture.performance.screen.series.series_unscripted", "path": [ { "id": "geo.chn", "label": "China", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.chn" }, { "id": "geo.chn.t2001", "label": "China · 2001 to 2020", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.chn.t2001" }, { "id": "geo.chn.t2001.culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.chn.t2001.culture" }, { "id": "geo.chn.t2001.culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.chn.t2001.culture.performance" }, { "id": "geo.chn.t2001.culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.chn.t2001.culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "geo.chn.t2001.culture.performance.screen.series", "label": "Series and fictional screen worlds", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.chn.t2001.culture.performance.screen.series" }, { "id": "geo.chn.t2001.culture.performance.screen.series.series_unscripted", "label": "Unscripted, reality, and web-native series", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.chn.t2001.culture.performance.screen.series.series_unscripted" } ] } ], "excerpt": "The Borderline (警界線) is a 2014 Hong Kong police procedural, the first drama aired by Hong Kong Television Network, 17 episodes starring Liu Kai Chi and Dominic Lam, produced by So Wan-chung on a HK$1 million-per-episode budget.", "snippet": "The Borderline (警界線) is a 2014 Hong Kong police procedural, the first drama aired by Hong Kong Television Network, 17 episodes starring Liu Kai Chi and Dominic Lam, produced by So Wan-chung on a HK$1 million-per-episode budget.", "node": "culture.performance.screen.series.series_web_native.horror_thriller_scifi_webseries", "markdown": "# The Borderline (警界线)\n\n**The Borderline** (警界线) is a 2014 Hong Kong police procedural television drama produced by Hong Kong Television Network (HKTV) and the first HKTV drama series to air. It consists of 17 episodes and stars Liu Kai Chi, Dominic Lam, Lawrence Chou, Joman Chiang, and Leila Tong.[1](https://www.jaynestars.com/tv-dramas/review-the-borderline-by-miriamfanz/) The series explores the gray zone between police and criminals, taking its title from the boundary line that police officers must not cross.[2](https://onethirdfilm.wordpress.com/category/%E8%AD%A6%E7%95%8C%E7%B7%9A/)\n\n| Key fact | Detail |\n|---|---|\n| Original title | 警界线, English title The Borderline[1](https://www.jaynestars.com/tv-dramas/review-the-borderline-by-miriamfanz/) |\n| Network and year | Hong Kong Television Network (HKTV), 2014, its first drama to air[1](https://www.jaynestars.com/tv-dramas/review-the-borderline-by-miriamfanz/) |\n| Format | Police procedural, 17 episodes[1](https://www.jaynestars.com/tv-dramas/review-the-borderline-by-miriamfanz/) |\n| Principal cast | Liu Kai Chi, Dominic Lam, Lawrence Chou, Joman Chiang, Leila Tong[1](https://www.jaynestars.com/tv-dramas/review-the-borderline-by-miriamfanz/) |\n| Production | Produced and directed by So Wan-chung; HK$23 million budget; 23 hours of footage edited down to 17 hours[3](https://www.rfa.org/cantonese/features/hottopic/feature-HKTV-2-12262013101128.html) |\n| Online debut | First full episode posted online passed one million views in early November 2013[3](https://www.rfa.org/cantonese/features/hottopic/feature-HKTV-2-12262013101128.html) |\n| Broadcast audience | HKTV's own survey found about 200,000 viewers, one fifth of the one-million target[4](https://the-sun.on.cc/cnt/news/20141202/00418_006.html) |\n\n## Spoilers\n\n### Premise and characters\n\nThe story centers on the relationship between a detective and the sniper who wounded his son. Plainclothes detective Lawrence Chou (周俊伟) tracks a gang of thieves led by characters played by Liu Kai Chi (廖启智), Annie Liu, and Philip Keung, and realizes that a sniper's bullet matches one from a shootout a year earlier. In that incident, the detective had left his son Zun Zun in the car while buying flowers; the sniper, played by Dominic Lam (林嘉华), accidentally shot the car's rear window and hit the boy's leg. A year later the boy appears in a wheelchair after a piano recital.[5](https://www.jaynestars.com/tv-dramas/hktvs-police-boundaries-entices-viewers/)\n\nThe four main characters are established within the first episode through opening monologues, and the drama's stated theme is the gray area between the police world and the criminal world, and where an officer's principles lie. The title sequence itself plays on the line: a red line divides parts of each character of the title before revealing the characters for \"crossing the line.\"[2](https://onethirdfilm.wordpress.com/category/%E8%AD%A6%E7%95%8C%E7%B7%9A/) Liu Kai Chi plays Du Yat-fei (杜一飞), introduced in a few minutes of screen time as a meticulous, loyal man whose loyalties are pulled in conflicting directions; Dominic Lam's Cheung Kwan is written as a sniper who is both dangerous and a devoted father.[2](https://onethirdfilm.wordpress.com/category/%E8%AD%A6%E7%95%8C%E7%B7%9A/) Joman Chiang (蒋祖曼) plays twin sisters, one on the side of the law and one against it.[8](https://www.horace.org/blog/tag/%E8%AD%A6%E5%8C%AA%E7%89%87/)\n\n## Production\n\nThe series was the first work on which So Wan-chung (苏万聪) served as both producer and general director. So had spent more than two decades at TVB, where he directed popular series including *Detective Investigation Files* and *Triumph in the Skies*, before joining HKTV in 2011 as a general director when the company began recruiting.[3](https://www.rfa.org/cantonese/features/hottopic/feature-HKTV-2-12262013101128.html) • [2](https://onethirdfilm.wordpress.com/category/%E8%AD%A6%E7%95%8C%E7%B7%9A/) The creative director was Chu King-ki (朱镜祺), a longtime TVB script supervisor whose credits included *Burning Flame* and *Sniper Standoff*.[2](https://onethirdfilm.wordpress.com/category/%E8%AD%A6%E7%95%8C%E7%B7%9A/)\n\nSo described the budget as the hardest part of the job. He prepared a HK$23 million financial plan covering every prop, spent two sleepless months on it, and the listed company approved it; he called the actual filming the easiest stage. The original script was not what reached the screen: he edited the material with film techniques, condensing 23 hours of footage into 17 hours.[3](https://www.rfa.org/cantonese/features/hottopic/feature-HKTV-2-12262013101128.html)\n\n## Release amid the licensing dispute\n\nHKTV, founded by Ricky Wong (王维基), was denied a free-to-air television license by the Hong Kong government in October 2013. HKTV staff rallied at the government headquarters for about a week beginning October 21, and supporters staged a mass outdoor screening event, \"watching television in the street,\" where *The Borderline* and *导火新闻线* were shown and gained a favorable reputation. In early November 2013 the first full episode posted online passed one million views.[3](https://www.rfa.org/cantonese/features/hottopic/feature-HKTV-2-12262013101128.html) An 11-minute trailer released earlier in 2013 had already drawn an enthusiastic public response, with viewers comparing its film-like production values favorably to TVB's standards.[5](https://www.jaynestars.com/tv-dramas/hktvs-police-boundaries-entices-viewers/)\n\nThe series premiered when HKTV finally launched as a mobile television service in December 2014, paired with the political drama *The Election* (选战) as the company's two opening dramas.[6](https://watermoonone.blogspot.com/2014/12/?m=0) During the 2013 protests against TVB, residents of Kwai Shing East Estate gathered in a park to watch the series together.[7](https://mediamobserver.blogspot.com/2013/11/tvb-20112013.html)\n\n## Reception\n\n**Critical response.** Reviewers consistently praised the series' cinematography. Location shooting, careful props, and lighting design gave it a \"film feel\" that reviewers contrasted with TVB studio-bound production, and the fast pacing and multi-dimensional characters drew positive notice.[2](https://onethirdfilm.wordpress.com/category/%E8%AD%A6%E7%95%8C%E7%B7%9A/) • [1](https://www.jaynestars.com/tv-dramas/review-the-borderline-by-miriamfanz/) The criticism, repeated across reviews, targeted the script: plot devices seen as borrowed from TVB dramas, coincidences such as the sniper's daughter and the detective's son being classmates, and story turns that some viewers found increasingly implausible as the run progressed.[1](https://www.jaynestars.com/tv-dramas/review-the-borderline-by-miriamfanz/) • [2](https://onethirdfilm.wordpress.com/category/%E8%AD%A6%E7%95%8C%E7%B7%9A/) • [9](https://onethirdfilm.wordpress.com/2015/02/19/2014tv/) One commentator judged the ending a botched finish, calling the series a disappointment despite its strong opening.[10](https://kwahto2006.blogspot.com/2014/12/?m=0)\n\n**Viewership.** When HKTV published its audience survey results in late 2014, the series drew about 200,000 viewers, one fifth of the one-million figure the company had aimed for, and some advertisers asked HKTV to reduce advertising rates accordingly.[4](https://the-sun.on.cc/cnt/news/20141202/00418_006.html) The gap between the million online views for the free first episode and the eventual broadcast audience became part of the wider debate over whether HKTV's dramas could overcome the viewing habits of Hong Kong's free-TV audience.[6](https://watermoonone.blogspot.com/2014/12/?m=0)\n\n## Context in Hong Kong police drama\n\nThe series arrived in a television market saturated with the genre: TVB alone broadcast 50 police-themed dramas between 2000 and 2014, roughly one every three or four months.[11](https://kennymysky.blogspot.com/2014/12/blog-post_8.html?m=0) Reviewers noted that its undercover-and-moral-boundary subject matter was not new to Hong Kong television, citing TVB's *The Criminal Investigator* and *Lives of Omission* as recent entries in the same territory.[2](https://onethirdfilm.wordpress.com/category/%E8%AD%A6%E7%95%8C%E7%B7%9A/) What distinguished *The Borderline* for most commentators was its production style rather than its premise, and it was ultimately *The Election*, not *The Borderline*, that contemporaries judged most likely to establish HKTV's reputation.[8](https://www.horace.org/blog/tag/%E8%AD%A6%E5%8C%AA%E7%89%87/)\n\n## References\n\n1. [Review: The Borderline, by Miriamfanz, JayneStars](https://www.jaynestars.com/tv-dramas/review-the-borderline-by-miriamfanz/)\n2. [香港電視網上開播《警界線》足本第一集, To Each His Own Cinema](https://onethirdfilm.wordpress.com/category/%E8%AD%A6%E7%95%8C%E7%B7%9A/)\n3. [專題﹕電視發牌(二) 港人憤怒無準則, Radio Free Asia Cantonese](https://www.rfa.org/cantonese/features/hottopic/feature-HKTV-2-12262013101128.html)\n4. [橫眉冷看：出品再多也徒勞, The Sun](https://the-sun.on.cc/cnt/news/20141202/00418_006.html)\n5. [HKTV's Police Boundaries Entices Viewers, JayneStars](https://www.jaynestars.com/tv-dramas/hktvs-police-boundaries-entices-viewers/)\n6. [watermoonone, December 2014](https://watermoonone.blogspot.com/2014/12/?m=0)\n7. [難忍電視霸權不齒阿叻狂言 市民踩場輓聯賀TVB牛一, Media Observer](https://mediamobserver.blogspot.com/2013/11/tvb-20112013.html)\n8. [警匪片 tag, Philosophist's Camp](https://www.horace.org/blog/tag/%E8%AD%A6%E5%8C%AA%E7%89%87/)\n9. [2014 年度我的港劇總結, To Each His Own Cinema](https://onethirdfilm.wordpress.com/2015/02/19/2014tv/)\n10. [有點雷聲大雨點小的香港電視, 創．作．人杜若飛](https://kwahto2006.blogspot.com/2014/12/?m=0)\n11. [開電視看警察, 果欄](https://kennymysky.blogspot.com/2014/12/blog-post_8.html?m=0)\n\n---\n*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Series and fictional screen worlds › Unscripted, reality, and web-native series › Web-native and streaming-original series › Genre web series: horror, thriller, science fiction, and mystery*\n\n*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*\n\n*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*\n\nLicense: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license\n", "same_as": [], "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/the-borderline", "markdown_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/the-borderline.md", "license": { "name": "Edgepedia Community License 1.0", "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license", "summary": "Free with credit, commercial use included. AI training is open to everyone. For other uses, organizations over USD 100M in revenue or 100M monthly users license separately.", "spdx": "LicenseRef-Edgepedia-Community-1.0" }, "credit": "\"The Borderline (警界线)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/the-borderline. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "credit_md": "\"[The Borderline (警界线)](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-borderline)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), [https://www.edgepedia.org/the-borderline](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-borderline). [Edgepedia Community License 1.0](https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license).", "credit_html": "\"The Borderline (警界线)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/the-borderline. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "speakable": "The Borderline is a 2014 Hong Kong police procedural, the first drama aired by Hong Kong Television Network, 17 episodes starring Liu Kai Chi and Dominic Lam, produced by So Wan-chung on a HK$1 million-per-episode budget." }