Chinese Title: 飛虎
English Title: Tiger Cubs
Also Known As: Special Duties Unit
Genre: Action, Police procedural
Producer: Lam Chi Wah (The Last Breakthrough, A Pillow Case of Mystery, Sister of Pearl)
Production: January - April, 2011
Broadcast: Special weekend time slot, each episode runs for 90 minutes (1.5 hours).
Episodes: 13

RELEASE DATE: JUNE 24, 2012
June 24th - July 8th, August 12th (Sundays @ 10pm HKT)
July 14th - August 11th (Saturdays @9:30pm HKT, Sundays @ 10pm HKT)

Cast:
Joe Ma
Jessica Hsuan
Him Law
Vincent Wong
Dominic Lam
Patrick Tang
Oscar Leung
Mandy Wong
Christine Kuo
William Chak
Benjamin Yuen
Derek Kwok
Savio Tsang
Calvin Chan
Kayi Cheung
Jason Lam
Wu Fung
Suet Nei
Angelina Lo

Guests
Kenneth Ma
JJ Jia
Natalie Tong
Elena Kong
Pierre Ngo
Kenny Wong
Eileen Yeo
Derek Kwok
Sam Chan

The Skinny
Tiger Cubs follows a fictional team of elite paramilitary officers from the Special Duties Unit of the Hong Kong police force. They specialize in counter-terrorism, hostage rescue, and crimes that are deemed too dangerous for regular police to handle. They work closely with the Organized Crime and Triad Bureau (OCTB) unit to crack down terrorist groups. (Credit: Tiger Cubs Wiki) Each episode is one case, some true stories.

Official Synopsis
Special Duties Unit experienced instructor CHIN HON-TO (Joe Ma) employs draconian tactics to turn his subordinates into hardened cops. Nonetheless, his team worships him. Although he is particularly strict with YU HOK-LAI (Him Law) and YAU CHUN-HIN (Vincent Wong), he treats them as his younger brothers deep-down. TO’s friendship with co-partner cum good friend CHONG CHEUK-YUEN (Oscar Leung) is challenged when TING WAI-WAI (Christine Kuo) turns away from him and falls for YUEN for his cheerfulness. YUEN tells his teammate SO MAN-KEUNG (Mandy Wong) to pretend to be his girlfriend but his attempt to patch up with TO further complicates the matter. Meanwhile, intelligence reports that “King of Thieves” TO TIN-YUE (Ma Kwok Ming) is conspiring to rob the exchequer. TO and Organised Crime and Triad Bureau inspector CHONG CHEUK WAH (Jessica Hester Hsuan) are assigned to take charge of the proactive operation. WAH is YUEN’s elder sister. Her boyfriend was killed by a maniac and she has since been immersing herself in work in order to forget the pain. As TO and WAH see each other more, TO realizes they are the same sort of people and that he is falling in love with her.

Episode/Case Titles/Guest Stars
(Episode Title) (Guest Stars)
Episode 01: King of Thieves First Appearance Part 1 (Kenneth Ma, JJ Jia)
Episode 02-03: King of Thieves First Appearance Part 2 (Kenny Wong, Mandy Lam)
Episode 03-04: Lai's Father Kidnap (Elena Kong, Law Lok Lam)
Episode 04: Stealing Gun Police Officer (Lee Sing Cheung)
Episode 05: Breaking into Drugs Burrow (Dia Yiu Ming)
Episode 06: Charge into the Fruit Market (Pierre Ngo, Al Wai)
Episode 07: Young Criminal (Sam Chan, Eric Li)
Episode 08: Wealthy Tour Group Kidnapping Case (Grace Wong, Alan Wan)
Episode 09: Military Addict (Natalie Tong, Eddie Li)
Episode 10: SDU . Compassionate Father . Husband (Patrick Dunn)
Episode 11: I Want to be the Police (Derek Kwok, Jazz Lam)
Episode 12: Bomb Fanatic (Yoyo Chen, Joseph Lee, Geoffrey Wong)
Episode 13: King of Thieves Part 2 (Kenneth Ma, JJ Jia)



CHARACTER MAP
- Joe Ma <==> Jessica Hsuan (similar people, mutual love & support)
- Him Law ==> Joe Ma (subordinate)
- Oscar Leung <==> Joe Ma (Good friends, Partners)
- Mandy Wong ===> Joe Ma (worships)
- Mandy Wong <==> Him Law (bickering pair)
- Oscar Leung <==> Mandy Wong (colleagues)
- Jesscia Hsuan <==> Oscar Leung (siblings)
- Joe Ma <==> Christine Kuo (lovers, then breakup)
- Benjamin Yuen, Vincent Wong, William Chak ==> Joe Ma (subordinates)

Info
- Joe and Jessica develop a relationship.
- Mandy and Him are a bickering pair
- Oscar and Christine Kuo are a pair.
- Joe Ma is the SDU A-Team leader.
- Him, Vincent, Mandy, William, Benjamin are all under Joe.
- Dominic is the SDU Chief Superintendent
- Oscar is the sniper
- Jessica is the OCTB inspector
- Patrick, Kayi, Jason are all under Jessica's team.
- Savio is the leader of the SDU B-Team
- Jessica and Oscar are siblings
- Kenneth Ma is a terrorist and JJ Jia's boyfriend.
- JJ Jia is a terrorist
- Patrick has a crush on Kayi
- Christine Kuo is Joe's ex-girlfriend
- Benjamin is part of the SDU A-Team, but is autistic
- Him came from a wealthy family
- Vincent came from a family of cops
- Savio and Eileen are married
- Elena and Him are siblings
- Derek's son was murdered when he was a child
- Natalie Tong is a psychologist, good friends with Christine
- Christine is a flight attendant, Joe's ex-girlfriend and Oscar's current girlfriend
- Wu Fung and Suet Nei are Him and Elena's parents.
- Elena kidnaps her father because of her boyfriend.

Production
Written by Lee Yee-wah, Tiger Cubs began pre-production with the backing of the Hong Kong Police Force, which supported the drama with their newest SDU equipment. With a budget of over 15 million HKD, each episode took 1 million HKD to make, three times more expensive than an average TVB drama production. On 3 January 2011, it was announced that Joe Ma, a former VIPPU officer, and Jessica Hsuan had been cast in the lead roles. On 5 January, a press conference and costume fitting was held at TVB City, Tseung Kwan O. Filming commenced on 20 January and ended in April, taking four months to complete. To keep up with the demanding and flexible physical requirements of the drama, most of the main cast members consistently underwent special training between filming schedules. Him Law, who portrays SDU A-Team officer Chui Hok-lai, reported that he lost about 10 pounds after filming the first episode. On 10 February, guest star Ngo Ka-nin injured his right knee while filming a fight sequence with Dan Jun-wai, who injured his head. A TVB spokesperson later announced that they were both fine. Earlier, Savio Tsang, who portrays SDU B-Team leader Mo Chak-tung, was injured in the face by a plastic bullet, and Christine Kuo injured her head from a telephone booth. (Credit: Tiger Cubs Wiki)

Manila hostage crisis dramatization

The production of Tiger Cubs was announced shortly after the Manila hostage crisis, causing the media to speculate if the incident had inspired the production of Tiger Cubs. Producer Lam Chi-wah denied the claims, saying that he had intentions to produce a drama about the SDU even before the crisis happened. On 30 March 2011, a tourist bus hostage scene inspired by the Manila hostage crisis was filming near Kai Tak Airport. The actors involved in the shoot admitted afterwards that they rather not have filmed it, and guest star Kenneth Ma, who portrays the hijacker, said he was afraid the scene would tarnish his public image. Nonetheless, the cast and crew "did their job" and filmed a majority of the action sequence in the first two days. On 1 April, TVB executives decided to cancel the scene, stating that the plot was too sensitive and disturbing for the Hong Kong people. They re-filmed the hostage scene from hijacking a tourist bus to hijacking a boat. (Credit: Tiger Cubs Wiki)

Pictures


Promotional Clips


TVB WEEKLY #783

PDF

Related News
- Series Intro
- About Tiger Cub's broadcast
- Jessica, Joe and Patrick shooting
- Cancelled Filipino Tour Bus Hostage-like scene