| Native Name: |
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| Genre: | Political drama | ||||||||||||
| Director: | Li Lu | ||||||||||||
| Presenter: | Fan Ziwen Gao Yalin Chen Jingzhu Li Xuezheng An Xiaofen Li Gong Jiang Hao Li Lu | ||||||||||||
| Starring: | Lu Yi Zhang Fengyi Wu Gang Xu Yajun Zhang Zhijian Ke Lan Hu Jing Zhang Kaili Ding Haifeng Gao Yalin | ||||||||||||
| Narrated: | Xu Tao | ||||||||||||
| Endtheme: | In the Name of the People (以人民的名义, Yǐ rénmín de míngyì) performed by Han Lei and Vivi Jiang | ||||||||||||
| Composer: | Dong Dongdong | ||||||||||||
| Country: | China | ||||||||||||
| Language: | Mandarin | ||||||||||||
| Num Seasons: | 1 | ||||||||||||
| Num Episodes: | 55 | ||||||||||||
| Executive Producer: | Meng Shouping Huang Lin Wang Yun Sun Heping Pei Yi Peng Cheng Chen Xunhua | ||||||||||||
| Producer: | Li Lu Gao Yalin | ||||||||||||
| Cinematography: | Cui Weidong | ||||||||||||
| Editor: | Cao Weijie | ||||||||||||
| Runtime: | 45 minutes | ||||||||||||
| Channel: | Hunan Television |
In the Name of the People is a 2017 Chinese television drama series based on the web novel of the same name by Zhou Meisen.[1] Its plot revolves around a prosecutor's efforts to unearth corruption in a present-day fictional Chinese city. It has drawn large audiences in China, where its release coincides with General Secretary Xi Jinping's leadership's anti-corruption campaign. It is the first broadcast political drama featuring high-level government corruption in China since 2004. The production received significant government funding from the Supreme People's Procuratorate, the highest agency responsible for both investigation and prosecution in the People's Republic of China.[2] [3] The intervention from censors was much lighter due to the support of the authorities. The series is considered by some western observers as the Chinese version of House of Cards.[4]
The program's stars include Lu Yi as detective Hou Liangping, Xu Yajun as his antagonist Qi Tongwei, and Zhang Fengyi as Sha Ruijin, the provincial Party Committee Secretary.[5] [6] The series is based on a book by author Zhou Meisen, and was adapted for television by Zhou and his wife Sun Xinyue.[3] [7] It was primarily filmed in Nanjing, the capital of Jiangsu province.[8]
In the Name of the People chronicles the internal power struggle of the Chinese Communist Party in the fictional city of Jingzhou, Handong province. The series depicts fictional communist party disciplinary investigators seeking to bring corrupt senior cadre to justice.[9]
In the Name of the People was an instant success in terms of viewership. The drama also surpassed 7% in ratings, breaking the single day ratings record for a Chinese drama.[10] The series also received the praise from People's Daily, the Communist Party's newspaper.[11]
However, some dissidents, such as cartoonist Rebel Pepper, treated the series as a way for the authorities to manipulate and fool the public.[12] The core of the series is that anti-graft efforts could only be conducted by a strong government rather than democratic elections or a free press, as The New York Times commented.[13]
| Episode | CSM52 city network ratings | CSM National Network ratings | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ratings (%) | Audience share (%) | Rank | Ratings (%) | Audience share (%) | Rank | |||
| 2017.3.28 | 1 | 1.523 | 4.49 | 1 | 2.41 | 7.37 | 1 | |
| 2017.3.29 | 2 | 1.490 | 4.69 | 1 | 2.30 | 7.31 | 1 | |
| 2017.3.30 | 3-4 | 1.270 | 4.02 | 1 | 1.62 | 5.41 | 1 | |
| 2017.3.31 | 5 | 1.084 | 3.370 | 1 | 1.61 | 5.66 | 1 | |
| 2017.4.1 | 6 | 1.239 | 3.97 | 1 | 1.46 | 4.83 | 1 | |
| 2017.4.2 | 7-8 | 1.505 | 4.77 | 1 | 1.60 | 5.30 | 1 | |
| 2017.4.3 | 9-10 | 1.820 | 5.89 | 1 | 1.84 | 6.05 | 1 | |
| 2017.4.4 | 11-12 | 2.024 | 6.34 | 1 | 2.03 | 6.82 | 1 | |
| 2017.4.5 | 13-14 | 2.264 | 7.11 | 1 | 2.16 | 7.33 | 1 | |
| 2017.4.6 | 15-16 | 2.444 | 7.70 | 1 | 2.18 | 7.47 | 1 | |
| 2017.4.7 | 17 | 2.083 | 6.42 | 1 | 1.93 | 6.36 | 1 | |
| 2017.4.8 | 18 | 2.275 | 6.94 | 1 | 2.06 | 6.59 | 1 | |
| 2017.4.9 | 19-20 | 3.035 | 9.01 | 1 | 2.57 | 8.31 | 1 | |
| 2017.4.10 | 21-22 | 3.287 | 10.30 | 1 | 2.77 | 9.29 | 1 | |
| 2017.4.11 | 23-24 | 3.524 | 11.09 | 1 | 2.93 | 9.89 | 1 | |
| 2017.4.12 | 25-26 | 3.649 | 11.79 | 1 | 2.87 | 9.91 | 1 | |
| 2017.4.13 | 27-28 | 3.711 | 12.05 | 1 | 3.15 | 11.00 | 1 | |
| 2017.4.14 | 29 | 3.020 | 9.670 | 1 | 2.41 | 8.19 | 1 | |
| 2017.4.15 | 30 | 3.138 | 10.132 | 1 | 2.39 | 8.17 | 1 | |
| 2017.4.16 | 31-32 | 4.202 | 12.80 | 1 | 3.20 | 10.50 | 1 | |
| 2017.4.17 | 33-34 | 4.793 | 15.44 | 1 | 3.51 | 11.99 | 1 | |
| 2017.4.18 | 35-36 | 5.061 | 16.70 | 1 | 3.78 | 13.35 | 1 | |
| 2017.4.19 | 37-38 | 5.356 | 17.15 | 1 | 4.02 | 13.72 | 1 | |
| 2017.4.20 | 39-40 | 5.465 | 16.97 | 1 | 3.91 | 13.33 | 1 | |
| 2017.4.21 | 41 | 4.432 | 13.86 | 1 | 3.51 | 11.42 | 1 | |
| 2017.4.22 | 42 | 4.311 | 14.18 | 1 | 3.04 | 10.84 | 1 | |
| 2017.4.23 | 43 | 6.069 | 20.14 | 1 | 4.30 | 16.44 | 1 | |
| 2017.4.24 | 44-45 | 5.801 | 18.65 | 1 | 4.39 | 15.06 | 1 | |
| 2017.4.25 | 46-47 | 6.123 | 18.89 | 1 | 4.78 | 15.97 | 1 | |
| 2017.4.26 | 48-49 | 6.682 | 20.78 | 1 | 5.27 | 17.45 | 1 | |
| 2017.4.27 | 50-51 | 6.695 | 21.25 | 1 | 5.46 | 18.62 | 1 | |
| 2017.4.28 | 52 | 6.666 | 20.13 | 1 | 5.58 | 17.76 | 1 | |
| Average ratings | 3.661 | 11.53 | 1 | 3.03 | 10.24 | 1 | ||
| Award | Category | Nominated work | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| In the Name of the People | [14] [15] | |||
| Best Director | Li Lu | |||
| Best Writing | ||||
| Best Supporting Actor | Wu Gang | |||
| Zhang Zhijian | ||||
| Best Supporting Actress | Hu Jing | |||
| Jury Award | In the Name of the People | |||
| Best Television Series | In the Name of the People | [16] [17] | ||
| Best Director | Li Lu | |||
| Best Writing | Zhou Meisen | |||
| Best Actor | ||||
| Best Supporting Actor | Gao Yalin |