Less Than Evil
2018 South Korean television series
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Less Than Evil[3] (Korean: 나쁜 형사; RR: Nappeun hyeongsa) is a 2018 South Korean television series based on the British series Luther.[4][unreliable source?] It stars Shin Ha-kyun, Lee Seol, Park Ho-san and Kim Gun-woo.[5] It aired on MBC from December 3, 2018 to January 29, 2019.[6][7][8]
| Less Than Evil | |
|---|---|
Promotional poster | |
| Also known as | Luther |
| Hangul | 나쁜 형사 |
| Hanja | 나쁜 刑事 |
| Lit. | Bad Detective |
| RR | Nappeun hyeongsa |
| MR | Nappŭn hyŏngsa |
| Genre | |
| Created by | Park Jae-beom (MBC Drama Operation Team) |
| Based on | Luther by Neil Cross |
| Written by |
|
| Directed by | Kim Dae-jin |
| Starring | |
| Country of origin | South Korea |
| Original language | Korean |
| No. of episodes | 32[a] |
| Production | |
| Executive producers |
|
| Producer | Yoo Hyun-jong |
| Camera setup | Single-camera |
| Running time | 35 minutes[a] |
| Production companies | |
| Budget | ₩7.5 billion[2] |
| Original release | |
| Network | MBC TV |
| Release | December 3, 2018 – January 29, 2019 |
| Related | |
| Klim (Russia) | |
Synopsis
The drama centers on the ongoing psychological battle between a brilliant psychopathic murderer and a hot headed, justice-driven Detective Chief Inspector.[9]
Cast
Main
- Shin Ha-kyun as Woo Tae-suk[10]
- A tough and unscrupulous detective with the highest arrest rate, a character based on DCI John Luther.
- Lee Seol as Eun Sun-jae/Bae yeo-wool
- A female psychopath based on antagonist Alice Morgan.
- Park Ho-san as Jeon Choon-man
- A leading detective in the metropolitan area who is at odds with Woo Tae-suk
- Kim Gun-woo as Jang Hyung-min
- A serial killer who pretends to be a prosecutor and Woo Tae-suk's greatest enemy based on serial killer Tom Marwood.
Supporting
- Cha Sun-woo as Chae Dong-yoon[11][12]
- A straight-as-an-arrow detective who graduated early from the police academy based on Luther's partner DS Justin Ripley.
- Bae Da-bin[13] as Shin Ga-young
- A prickly police officer based on DCI Erin Gray.
- Bae Yoo-ram[14] as Ban Ji-deuk
- An expert in IT programming who sets up her own detective agency based on DS Benny Silver.
- Yoon Hee-seok[15] as Jo Doo-jin
- The head of the PR department at the police station and Woo Tae-suk's best friend based on John Luther's best friend DCI Ian Reed.
- Yang Ki-won as Lee Moon-ki
- A policeman on Woo Tae-suk's team
- Kim Na-yoon as Team Leader Sung
- The head of forensic investigative team based on Luther's bosses DSU Rose Teller and DSU Martin Schnek.
- Hong Eun-hee[16] as Kim Hae-joon
- A lawyer and Woo Tae-suk's wife based on John Luther's wife Zoe Luther.
- Cho Yi-hyun[17][18] as Bae Yeo-wool
- A victim of a case that Woo Tae-suk cannot forget
- Bae Yoon-kyung as Woo Tae-hee
- Woo Tae-suk's sister
- Ryu Tae-ho [14] as Choi Jung-woo
- A timid head detective who is indecisive. He works with Jeon Choon-man
- Kim Yi-kyung as Kwon Soo-ah
Special appearances
- Ahn Nae-sang as Commissioner general.
Production
The actress Lee Seol was chosen among 300 others who auditioned for the role of Eun Sun-jae to play the female lead.[19]
The first script reading was held in early September, 2018 with the attendance of cast and crew at the MBC in Sangam-dong.[19]
Original soundtrack
| Less Than Evil OST | |
|---|---|
| Soundtrack album by Various artists | |
| Released | 2018 |
| Genre | Soundtrack |
| Language | |
| Label | Blending |
Part 1
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Artist | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Shadow" (그림자) |
| ZigZag Note |
| 3:46 |
| 2. | "Shadow" (Inst.) | ZigZag Note | 3:46 | ||
| Total length: | 7:32 | ||||
Part 2
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Artist | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Tattoo" | Shoulder Bully |
| JK Kim Dong-wook | 3:09 |
| 2. | "Tattoo" (Inst.) |
| 3:09 | ||
| Total length: | 6:18 | ||||
Part 3
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Artist | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Regression" (회귀) | Surf Green | Surf Green | Surf Green (feat. Dong Ha) | 4:18 |
| 2. | "Regression" (Inst.) | Surf Green | 4:18 | ||
| Total length: | 8:36 | ||||
Ratings
- In this table, the blue numbers represent the lowest ratings and the red numbers represent the highest ratings.
- NR denotes that the drama did not rank in the top 20 daily programs on that date.
- N/A denotes that the rating is not known.
| Ep. | Original broadcast date | Average audience share | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AGB Nielsen[20] | TNmS | |||
| Nationwide | Seoul | Nationwide | ||
| 1 | December 3, 2018 | 7.1% (15th) | 8.1% (9th) | 6.5% |
| 2 | 8.3% (9th) | 9.2% (6th) | 8.5% | |
| 3 | December 4, 2018 | 8.6% (9th) | 9.8% (6th) | 8.2% |
| 4 | 10.6% (6th) | 11.5% (5th) | 9.7% | |
| 5 | December 10, 2018 | 7.4% (13th) | 8.1% (9th) | 6.9% |
| 6 | 9.1% (9th) | 10.0% (5th) | 9.1% | |
| 7 | December 11, 2018 | 7.3% (13th) | 8.0% (8th) | 6.2% |
| 8 | 8.7% (6th) | 9.5% (5th) | 7.3% | |
| 9 | December 17, 2018 | 7.1% (14th) | 7.8% (11th) | 6.2% |
| 10 | 8.5% (9th) | 9.4% (6th) | 7.2% | |
| 11 | December 18, 2018 | 7.6% (11th) | 8.5% (8th) | 6.6% |
| 12 | 8.7% (7th) | 9.6% (4th) | 8.3% | |
| 13 | December 24, 2018 | 6.6% (16th) | 6.8% (16th) | 6.1% |
| 14 | 8.5% (9th) | 8.9% (7th) | 7.7% | |
| 15 | December 25, 2018 | 7.0% (14th) | 7.5% (13th) | 6.5% |
| 16 | 8.7% (8th) | 9.4% (6th) | 7.7% | |
| 17 | January 7, 2019 | 5.4% (NR) | 6.4% (15th) | 4.8% |
| 18 | 5.7% (19th) | 5.2% | ||
| 19 | January 8, 2019 | 5.7% (NR) | N/a | 5.4% |
| 20 | 5.9% (NR) | 6.5% (20th) | 5.7% | |
| 21 | January 14, 2019 | 5.6% (NR) | 6.1% (20th) | 4.7% |
| 22 | 6.8% (15th) | 7.8% (13th) | 5.7% | |
| 23 | January 15, 2019 | 5.6% (NR) | 6.2% (20th) | N/a |
| 24 | 6.3% (17th) | 6.9% (15th) | ||
| 25 | January 21, 2019 | 5.4% (NR) | 6.2% (18th) | 4.4% |
| 26 | 6.5% (17th) | 7.1% (15th) | 5.5% | |
| 27 | January 22, 2019 | 3.9% (NR) | N/a | 3.6% |
| 28 | 5.0% (17th) | 5.3% (17th) | 4.3% | |
| 29 | January 28, 2019 | 5.7% (NR) | 6.2% (19th) | 4.8% |
| 30 | 6.9% (13th) | 7.3% (13th) | 5.8% | |
| 31 | January 29, 2019 | 5.7% (19th) | 6.0% (15th) | N/a |
| 32 | 7.2% (11th) | 7.7% (10th) | 6.2% | |
| Average | 7.2% | —[b] | —[b] | |
Awards and nominations
| Year | Award | Category | Recipient | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | 37th MBC Drama Awards | Grand Prize (Daesang) | Shin Ha-kyun | Nominated | [21] |
| Drama of the Year | Less Than Evil | Nominated | |||
| Top Excellence Award, Actor in a Monday-Tuesday Miniseries | Shin Ha-kyun | Won | |||
| Excellence Award, Actor in a Monday-Tuesday Miniseries | Park Ho-san | Nominated | |||
| Excellence Award, Actress in a Monday-Tuesday Miniseries | Lee Seol | Nominated | |||
| Best New Actress | Won | ||||
| In Awe Award | Shin Ha-kyun | Won | |||
| 2019 | 55th Baeksang Arts Awards | Best New Actress | Lee Seol | Nominated | [22] |
Notes
- In order to circumvent Korean laws that prevent commercial breaks in the middle of an episode, what would previously have been aired as single 70 minute episodes are now being repackaged as two 35 minute episodes, with two episodes being shown each night with a commercial break between the two.[1]
- Due to some ratings not recorded, the exact average rating is unknown.