# The Charm Beneath

The Charm Beneath (Traditional Chinese: 胭脂水粉) is a TVB period drama series broadcast in October 2005. The series was shown to celebrate TVB's 38th Anniversary.
Sheren Tang and Bobby Au-Yeung were originally cast in this series instead of Gigi Lai and Moses Chan when the teaser trailer premiered in the TVB sales presentation in 2005.

## Synopsis

    They hide a dagger in a smile,
    Are they driven by desire for power,
    Or is it their only way to survive?

## Cast
### The Chuk family

| Cast | Role | Description |
| Chan Hung Lit | Chuk Moon-Shan 祝滿山 | Geng Fa Tong (鏡花堂) Founder Chuk Moon-Tin's older brother. Chuk Yau-Shing, Chuk Yau-Yip, Chuk Ming-Man's father. |
| Mary Hon (韓馬利) | Chan Ying-Hung 陳影紅 | Chuk Ming-Wai and Ling Tin-Long's mother. |
| Savio Tsang (曾偉權) | Chuk Yau-Shing 祝有成 | Sung Wan-Seung's husband. Chuk Moon-Shan's eldest son.-Died in episode 3- |
| Anne Heung | Sung Wan-Seung 宋雲裳 | Chuk Yau-Shing's wife. |
| Moses Chan | Chuk Yau-Yip 祝有業 | Wong Hiu-Ching's boyfriend. Chuk Moon-Shan's son. |
| Gigi Lai | Chuk Ming-Wai 祝明蕙 | Lai Kwok-Cheung's wife. Chuk Moon-Shan and Chan Ying-Hung's daughter. |
| Ram Chiang | Lai Kwok-Cheung 黎國昌 | Chuk Ming-Wai's husband. |
| Mandy Cho | Chuk Ming-Man 祝明敏 | Chuk Moon-Shan's daughter. |
| Fred Cheng | Ling Tin-Long 寧天朗 | Chan Ying-Hung's son. Chuk Ming-Wai's step brother. |
| Li Kwok Lun (李國麟) | Chuk Moon-Tin 祝滿田 | Li Ah-Sin's husband. Chuk Moon-Shan's younger brother. Chuk Yau-Bong's father. |
| Kiki Sheung (商天娥) | Li Ah-Sin 李雅仙 | Chuk Moon-Tin's wife. Chuk Yau-Bong's mother. |
| Ngo Ka-nin | Chuk Yau-Bong 祝有邦 | Chuk Moon-Tin and Li Ah-Sin's son. |

### The Ng family

| Cast | Role | Description |
| Chan Lit Hung (盧宛茵) | Ng Lo Siu-Yung 吳路笑容 | Ng Yi-Fong and Ng Yi-Ching's mother. |
| Yoyo Mung | Ng Yi-Fong 吳以方 | Ng Lo Siu-Yung's daughter. Ng Yi-Ching's older sister. |
| Oscar Leung (梁烈唯) | Ng Yi-Ching 吳以正 | Ng Lo Siu-Yung's son. Ng Yi-Fong's younger brother. |

### The Wang family

| Cast | Role | Description |
| Michael Tong | Wong Hiu-Fai 汪曉暉 | Wong Hiu-Ching's older brother. |
| Sharon Chan | Wong Hiu-Ching 汪曉晴 | Wong Hiu-Fai's younger sister. Chuk Yau-Yip's girlfriend. |

## Reception

With the grand production title and boasted a very impressive casts, TVB Had spent the amount of money and highly promotion into the production, likely to granted out Anniversary Series as well as set out to create a 1930s version of successful's War and Beauty but returned the disappoint rating then they been expected due to the various of reason about viewers' taste and the way the drama portray different so far from War's Darken plot, making the grand production which failed. Began with 27 average point and minor growth in the following, praised the cast and producer an unhopeful high rating already. The Drama ended up with a bit better result with 32 average point with highest peak at 36 although it still couldn't compare to War and Beauty's final rating.
Despite the loss in the terms of rating, The Charm Beneath pressed out with a majority of positive reviews, began critical acclaims. one of the Outstanding drama of 2005 already considered in some reviews, deemed it classics. The Drama had memorable with Anne Heung's villain. Other began with cast's Disturbing acting and well script. Its theme song also recognized well into its story line with the quiet but breathtaking sound. After all, The Drama garner enough for two female nomination at TVB's 38th Anniversary award with Gigi Lai for Best Actress and Kiki Sheung for Best Supporting actress.

## Viewership ratings

| | Week | Episode | Average Points | Peaking Points |
| 1 | October 17–21, 2005 | 1 — 5 | 27 | — |
| 2 | October 24–28, 2005 | 6 — 10 | 27 | — |
| 3 | October 31 - November 4, 2005 | 11 — 15 | 28 | — |
| 4 | November 7–11, 2005 | 16 — 20 | 29 | — |
| 5 | November 14–18, 2005 | 21 — 25 | 31 | — |
| 6 | November 21–25, 2005 | 26 — 30 | 32 | 36 |