Urrghh…the final episode of ‘The Queen Of News’ has already been released in streaming platform yesterday ahead of its airing date on Friday next week. I would not have any new exciting episode to catch up on evening from tomorrow onward sadly. What should I do?
‘The Queen of News’ (新聞女王) is a Hong Kong drama that centers on the challenges faced by journalists, their dedication to uncover the truth, and the conflicts that arise in their personal and professional lives in and out of their news reporting office. Themes such as journalistic integrity, ethical dilemmas and the pressures of the media industry are explored throughout the series. This 26-episode drama starred Charmaine Sheh, Kenneth Ma, Selena Lee, Samantha Ko, Regina Ho, Venus Wong, Matthew Ho, Eric Tang, Shaun Tam, Mimi Kung, etc.
26 episodes aren’t enough for me (and I believe for many audiences too). The storyline could easily be expanded to 30 episodes or more without losing its intensity and appeal. Some of the characters’ conclusion felt rushed and there are some unanswered questions (maybe hinting a sequel?). I felt like the last episode was way too rushed too although the outcome is still extremely fantastic (and very touching) which featured a case of which Joel Chan took kids at a childcare centre as hostage as he could not come to terms with his own daughter’s death. The ending which saw the five main female leads finally settled aside their differences after the incident is resolved brought a warm and beautiful closure to the series.
Charmaine Sheh impressed everyone with her superb performance and breathtaking charisma in this series. Critically lauded for that, many has already predicted her to clinch her third best actress win at the upcoming TVB Anniversary Awards 2023 to be held next month (its nomination list had just been released yesterday with huge support to this series as expected). However, I would prefer more if both she and Selena Lee were crowned best actress together. Selena Lee also delivered outstanding work in this series and their on-screen intense interactions were brilliantly executed. Selena is always solid in her performance. She deserves best actress and shouldn’t be outshined by Charmaine.
The other actresses who tagged along were doing fine too. Let’s not forget the actors. Kenneth Ma was ordinary until the very last episode on a scene when he teared up during a live broadcast after streaming showing Charmaine in danger at the childcare centre was interrupted and he revealed his honest feeling of Charmaine as his friend (finally not viewing her as work nemesis). Although Joel Chan was only participating in the last episode, but his role as the mentally disabled father who lost his daughter is very engaging. Eric Tang do stood out too in his supporting role as a chief director here.
Excellent script, impressive performances, fast-paced development, engaging storyline, and thought-provoking plots that revealed lessons in journalism and life; what else do you need to be crowned best series of the year? ‘The Queen of News’ is not only the best of the year, but also the best in recent years. Out of 10 points, I rate it 8.7.
(Images in this post are from various online sources)
Vincent Loy's Online Journal 
Hi Vincent
may I know where u watched this? PS: Was cantonese ur first lang, the lang u spoke back home with ur parents?
Agreed that Selena delivered a great performance but I personally felt her acting was a notch below’s Charmaine. Charmaine outshone her but Charmaine outshone everyone in the series – she was just too superb in her performance as Man Jie. Do u see their acting to be at the same level?
I do know some who felt Charmaine still performed better but nonetheless hoped for Selena to win too, not because Selena was *the* best actress in this series albeit Selena delivering a v good performance, but cause they felt Selena winning this award was already a long time coming. And it’s time for her to get some recognition for her acting abilities through the years. What about u? 🙂
Hi Shayne, i usually watched from third party platform. and yes i spoke cantonese back at home. For me personally, their performances are on par in this drama. Charmaine delivered the needed charisma to her character while Selena shined more in her emotional scenes. Since Charmaine had won best actress twice while Selena has never win it before (which is very unfortunate coz the year she had the highest chance but she had to face Kara Hui and Miriam Yeung that year and only manage to win most favourite tv female character). so im hoping for a tie-win
Thanks for sharing ur views, Vincent.
Is it difficult to adapt to Singapore? If I am not wrong, it is primarily mandarin-speaking among the younger folks and fujian-speaking among the older in casual settings? Less of cantonese. are u fluent in those too?
Very much like Taiwan – mandarin & fujian – except English is highly emphasised upon in the education system
Hi Shayne, i couldn’t read/write chinese but i can speak mandarin too so it is still generally ok.