Classic crime drama returns with prequel

With 136 episodes over a decade,The VI Group of Fatal Case — one of China's most popular crime drama franchises — recently returned to domestic screens with a prequel that revisits the early careers of its best-known police characters, now adapted into the shorter format favored by today's viewers.

The VI Group of Fatal Case: The Missing Badge Number, a prequel to the long-running franchise, topped iQIYI's drama chart shortly after its debut on Aug 31. Each episode of the 26-episode series runs about 20 minutes.

Director Li Ang, who grew up around film and television production, said he had witnessed the shooting of the original The VI Group of Fatal Case and wanted the new work to retain its down-to-earth style.

The story is set about a decade before the original series, which ran for four seasons from 2001 to 2011. It follows the characters' younger versions, including Zeng Keqiang, Ji Jie and Jiang Han, focusing on how they developed as police officers and eventually formed an elite investigation squad.

Li, who drew inspiration by spending six months living alongside criminal police officers, said the original series succeeded not only because of its realistic cases and convincing performances, but also because of the close-knit working atmosphere behind the scenes. He sought to re-create that spirit in the new production.

Li Jingsheng, a researcher at the China Radio and Television Art Archive Research Center, said that despite its shorter format, the new series maintains the realistic approach of the original, combining individual cases with an overarching investigation while showing the gradual transformation of inexperienced young officers into dependable members of the police force.

By focusing on ordinary people, realistic cases and character growth, the prequel offers a fresh way to revisit a classic intellectual property while introducing its legacy to a new generation of viewers, Li Jingsheng added.