Lawrence Ng’s (吳啟華) return to film TVB drama, The Hippocratic Crush 2 <On Call 36小時>, is highly anticipated. Since the drama is set to film in February 2013, Lawrence does not know who his female costar will be yet. As TVB continues to lose its leading actors to the more lucrative mainland China market and rival local stations, the company has reached out to older veteran actors to lead upcoming heavyweight dramas. Aside from successfully staging Lawrence’s comeback, TVB is currently negotiating with Andy Lau (劉德華) and Esther Kwan (關詠荷) to star in new dramas. Known for his iconic doctor role in the Healing Hands <妙手仁心>trilogy, Lawrence accepted TVB’s offer to film The Hippocratic Crush 2 in April, after running into TVB executive, Virginia Lok (樂易玲), at Eric Tsang’s (曾志偉) birthday party. Lawrence’s Healing Hands costar, Ada Choi (蔡少芬), will be unable to star in The Hippocratic Crush 2. The new mother declined TVB’s offer since her schedule was too busy. Although Lawrence’s costar is yet to be finalized, he said that it will likely be an actress he has already worked with in the past. Asked what prompted him to agree to film for TVB again, Lawrence replied that the terms were acceptable. “TVB will not realistically give you a lot of money. We all understand that it is not because of money. There are other advantages aside from money. I also benefit in working with TVB.” The company postponed the filming date from year-end to next February to accommodate Lawrence’s schedule. By agreeing to film with TVB, Lawrence cannot appear on competing Hong Kong broadcasting stations one year afterward. Although Lawrence has met with City Telecom (CTI), the filming arrangements did not materialize. Creds: Oncc
