| Native Name: |
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| Developer: | SBS TV | ||
| Director: | Baek Soo-chan | ||
| Country: | South Korea | ||
| Language: | Korean | ||
| Num Episodes: | 16 | ||
| Runtime: | 70 minutes | ||
| Company: | Studio S (SBS) | ||
| Network: | SBS TV | ||
| Music: | SBS Contents HubUrbane Music | ||
| Producer: | Han Jeong-hwan |
Alice is a 2020 South Korean television series starring Kim Hee-sun and Joo Won.[1] [2] It aired on SBS from August 28 to October 24, 2020, every Friday and Saturday at 22:00 (KST).[3] [4] It is described as "a human sci-fi drama about a magical time travel of a woman who resembles a dead woman and a man who lost his emotions".[5]
In the year 2050, Alice (temporal agency) specializes in sending clients back through time to see dead loved ones find peace and closure; they also police time incursions. Alice agents Yoon Tae-yi (Kim Hee-sun) and Yoo Min-hyuk (Kwak Si-yang) travelled to the year 1992 Seoul to search for The Book of Prophecy (a book that predicts the fates of certain people and the end of time travel) and found it. However, Lee Se-hoon (Park In-soo), an agent of the mysterious Teacher (a rogue group that wants to continue manipulating time), found the young Tae-yi and murdered her father for the book. Before her father died, he gave the final page to little Tae-yi before her adult counterpart arrived. Tae-yi and Min-hyuk acquired the book and had local police arrest Se-hoon. When Tae-yi realized she was pregnant, Min-hyuk (the father) encouraged Tae-yi to abort the child as time traveling (radiation) would cause serious defects. Tae-yi then disappeared with the book to carry her child.
Tae-yi would rename herself Park Sun-young and single-handedly raised her son, Park Jin-gyeom (Joo Won). Born with Alexithymia, he has difficulty recognizing his own emotions and his classmates called him a psychopath. He unknowingly has the ability to manipulate time in life-and-death situations. In 2010, Jin-gyeom found his mother murdered and vowed to find her killer. Orphaned without a family, Detective Go Hyeon-seok (Kim Sang-ho) and classmate Kim Do-yeon (Lee Da-in) looked after him. By 2020, Jin-gyeom becomes a detective under Hyeon-seok and learns about time travelers, Alice, the Teacher, and the truth behind his mother's death.
Park Sun-young is a woman with a mysterious past who lives with her son. She died in a mysterious circumstance and left an eerie instruction to her son. Yoon Tae-yi is a genius physicist who has a striking resemblance to Park Sun-young. She encounters Park Jin-gyeom due to a mysterious case and decides to help him uncover the truth.
Park Jin-gyeom was born without the ability to feel or express emotions. He was raised by his single mother who was the only person he cared about. He becomes a detective with the help of Go Hyeon-seok. While investigating mysterious cases, he stumbles upon time travelers.
A passionate agent of Alice and time traveler, Yoo Min-hyuk gave up the most important person in his life for Alice. He is very skilled and does his job proficiently. He faces trouble with the police when one of his clients decides to break an important time-traveling rule.
Park Jin-gyeom's only friend, Kim Do-yeon is a reporter for Sekyung Ilbo News and has a crush on Jin-gyeom since high school. She is investigating a mysterious case involving strange drones.
A senior detective and team leader of the investigation team. He was in charge of Park Sun-young's murder case. He and his wife took care of Park Jin-gyeom after his mother died.
Director of Kuiper Institute of Advanced Science.
This is the first acting role of actor Joo Won since he was discharged from his mandatory military service on February 5, 2019.[10]
On July 31, 2020, SBS released photos from the first script reading of the series attended by the cast and crew of the show.[11] [12]
| + Average TV viewership ratings | ||||||
| Part | Original broadcast date | Average audience share (Nielsen Korea)[13] | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nationwide | Seoul | |||||
| 1 | 1 | August 28, 2020 | ||||
| 2 | 6.1% | 6.3% | ||||
| 2 | 1 | August 29, 2020 | 6.4% | 7.0% | ||
| 2 | 9.2% | 10.2% | ||||
| 3 | 1 | September 4, 2020 | 7.2% | 8.1% | ||
| 2 | 8.4% | 9.8% | ||||
| 4 | 1 | September 5, 2020 | 8.7% | 9.6% | ||
| 2 | ||||||
| 5 | 1 | September 11, 2020 | 6.8% | 7.4% | ||
| 2 | 8.1% | 8.5% | ||||
| 6 | 1 | September 12, 2020 | 8.0% | 9.3% | ||
| 2 | 9.9% | 11.3% | ||||
| 7 | 1 | September 18, 2020 | 7.4% | 8.2% | ||
| 2 | 8.6% | 9.4% | ||||
| 8 | 1 | September 19, 2020 | 7.4% | 7.7% | ||
| 2 | 9.6% | 10.0% | ||||
| 9 | 1 | September 25, 2020 | 6.0% | |||
| 2 | 7.0% | 7.5% | ||||
| 10 | 1 | September 26, 2020 | 7.0% | 7.3% | ||
| 2 | 8.7% | 8.9% | ||||
| 11 | 1 | October 9, 2020 | 6.0% | 6.2% | ||
| 2 | 7.6% | 8.2% | ||||
| 12 | 1 | October 10, 2020 | 7.2% | 7.6% | ||
| 2 | 8.5% | 8.8% | ||||
| 13 | 1 | October 16, 2020 | 6.4% | 7.3% | ||
| 2 | 7.4% | 8.5% | ||||
| 14 | 1 | October 17, 2020 | 6.1% | 6.7% | ||
| 2 | 8.6% | 9.0% | ||||
| 15 | 1 | October 23, 2020 | 5.9% | |||
| 2 | 7.0% | 7.4% | ||||
| 16 | 1 | October 24, 2020 | 7.0% | 7.3% | ||
| 2 | 9.1% | 9.8% | ||||
| Average | ||||||
| Year | Award | Category | Nominee | Result | Ref. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | SBS Drama Awards | Grand Prize (Daesang) | Joo Won | [14] | ||
| Kim Hee-sun | ||||||
| Producer Award | Joo Won | |||||
| Top Excellence Award, Actor in a Miniseries Fantasy/Romance Drama | ||||||
| Top Excellence Award, Actress in a Miniseries Fantasy/Romance Drama | Kim Hee-sun | |||||
| Excellence Award, Actor in a Miniseries Fantasy/Romance Drama | Kwak Si-yang | |||||
| Excellence Award, Actress in a Miniseries Fantasy/Romance Drama | Lee Da-in | |||||
| Best Supporting Actor | Kim Sang-ho | |||||
| 7th APAN Star Awards | Top Excellence Award, Best Actress in a Miniseries | Kim Hee-sun | [15] | |||
| 2021 | Seoul International Drama Awards | Outstanding Korean Drama | Alice | [16] [17] |