Mid-way through its 30-episode season, Mediacorp drama "Emerald Hill" hit a record 1.35 million viewers on streaming platform mewatch and free-to-air broadcast service, Channel 8. This made the series the Singapore media company’s most watched drama of the year. 

On Netflix, "Emerald Hill" has held its own against competition from global titles such as "Adolescence" and Korean blockbuster "Karma". 

For the week of 7-13 April, "Emerald Hill" was Netflix’s #1 title in Singapore for the fourth week since its premiere on 10 March. Other than South Korea, Singapore and Japan were the only two of 11 markets in Asia where domestic series are holding firm against competition.

"Emerald Hill" has also landed in Malaysia, where it has been on Netflix domestic top 10 for four weeks, and Taiwan, where it airs on streaming platform friDay and on cable channel TVBS.   

A spin-off of "The Little Nyonya" (2008) – one of Singapore’s best-known originals – "Emerald Hill" was announced in January 2024. Although the new series’ budget has not been disclosed, the prime-time drama is thought to be among the biggest productions from Mediacorp, Singapore’s largest domestic media platform with growing regional ambitions. 

Starring Zoe Tay ("Dark Angel") as Zhang family matriarch Liu Xin Niang, "Emerald Hill" is about a homeless child, Xin Niang (played by Tasha Low), who roams the streets with her gambling-addicted foster mother Zhu (Chen Liping). Xin Niang does what she needs to do to survive but never targets the old, disabled or disenfranchised. Her circumstances change dramatically when she emerges as the long-lost daughter of a wealthy family. 

"Emerald Hill", produced by Mediacorp Studios, is helmed by executive producer Loh Woon Woon and story planner Ang Eng Tee.

Rolled out with a sprawling publicity campaign that kicked off alongside filming from May 2024, the premium TV drama series is something of a triumph for Mediacorp, which has reshaped its business in the past few years with a slew of digital products and a regional expansion agenda. 

Dramas greenlit under content head Virginia Lim, who joined the company in mid-2021, have pushed boundaries in terms of theme, approach and scale.  

Mediacorp’s top drama last year was "Unforgivable", which reached 1.24 million viewers on mewatch and Channel 8. This figure excludes YouTube engagement and a window on Netflix Southeast Asia. 

The company says Unforgivable, which deals with sex-crime investigations, points to “an increasing appetite for nuanced, thought-provoking storytelling that confronts complex societal issues with honesty and depth”.

Mediacorp’s nine Chinese dramas for the rest of the year continue to push creative boundaries, the company says. 

The slate includes the visually ambitious "Perfectly Imperfect", which premieres in August. Using virtual production technology, the 20-episode series explores love and redemption in the afterlife.  

The next premiere, in May, is 15-episode psychological thriller, "Devil Behind The Gate" (庭外一角), which stars Desmond Tan as a promising art school teacher who commits suicide and his twin brother who returns from abroad to uncover the truth behind his brother’s death.

The two July premieres are fantasy action drama "The Spirit Hunter" (带剑女孩), from "Emerald Hill" writer Ang Eng Tee, and "Where The Heart Belongs" (心有所依). 

The 20-episode "The Spirit Hunter" is about an orphaned girl (played by Hong Ling) destined to wield a mystical sword and fight against demons and evil forces. 

Set in the near future, the 15-episode "Where The Heart Belongs" (心有所依 ) stars Zhu Houren ("Your World in Mine") as a lonely billionaire in a society grappling with severe ageing population issues. 

The five series premiering from September to December include "The Gift of Time", which marks Xie Shao Guang’s return to screen in the story of two men from vastly different walks of life who find purpose and dignity in their final days; and "Under The Net", Singapore’s first netball-themed drama. 

Mediacorp closes the year with Chinese-dubbed dialect drama, "We Are Number One" (没马跑), originally produced in Hokkien. The 16-episode series centres around the Ma family, which runs a traditional soup shop, Gui Fei Yin Tang.