# W (TV series)

W (Korean: 더블유) is a 2016 South Korean television series, starring Lee Jong-suk and Han Hyo-joo. Consisting of 16 episodes, it aired on Wednesdays and Thursdays at 22:00 (KST) on MBC from July 20 to September 14, 2016. W centers on the clash between "two worlds": the real world and an alternate universe inside a webtoon, from which the title of the television series was taken.
The series received praise for its unique premise and ranked first in Content Power Index in its premiere week. It achieved modest ratings of 11.63%, topping viewership ratings in its time slot for its entire run.

## Plot

A romance takes place between Kang Cheol (Lee Jong-Suk), who is super rich and exists in the webtoon “W,” and Oh Yeon-Joo (Han Hyo-Joo) who is a surgeon in the real world.

## Cast
### Main

* Lee Jong-suk as Kang Cheol
    The lead character of the popular comic series W. He is the co-CEO of the e-commerce company JN Global, owner of broadcasting channel W, and an Olympic gold medalist in shooting in his youth. His family was murdered by an elusive murderer, yet Kang Cheol was immediately suspected to be the killer due to his shooting background. After being proven innocent, Kang Cheol seeks vengeance on the murderer through his broadcasting channel W. When he is stabbed on the rooftop of his penthouse by the murderer, he meets Oh Yeon-joo who saves his life and with whom he falls in love.
* Han Hyo-joo as Oh Yeon-joo
** Hyun Seung-min as teenage Yeon-joo
** Park Min-ha as child Yeon-joo
    A second-year resident cardiothoracic surgeon in Myung-sei Hospital. She is the daughter of the Oh Seong-moo, author and illustrator of the famous webtoon W. A fan of her father's work, she goes to his studio to investigate his sudden disappearance. There, she is pulled into W's alternate universe and meets its protagonist Kang Cheol, with whom she eventually falls in love.

### Supporting
#### Characters from the webtoon W

* Kim Eui-sung as Han Sang-hoon
    The real killer of Kang Cheol's family. His identity is not revealed until much later, and his face resembles the comic series's author Oh Seong-moo. Before Seong-moo gives him a name and face, he mostly appears as a shadowy, faceless human form.
* Jung Yoo-jin as Yoon So-hee
    Kang Cheol's long-time secretary and his friend since they were in high school. Her romantic feelings for Kang Cheol are subtly alluded to throughout the series through her actions and behavior around him, which lead to readers’ general expectations of their marriage. Originally intended to be the main female character who would later become Kang Cheol's love interest, she is replaced by Yeon-joo when Kang Cheol falls in love with her.
* Lee Tae-hwan as Seo Do-yoon
    Kang Cheol's loyal bodyguard and close friend. Using his knowledge of martial arts, he trained Kang Cheol to fight and is always alongside him in beating bad guys.
* Park Won-sang as Han Cheol-ho
    A secondary antagonist of the webtoon. He is a power-hungry prosecutor and a member of Congress who is also the presidential prospect of a new democratic party. To gain political popularity, he becomes the prosecutor in charge of Kang Cheol's case when the latter was accused of his family's murder.
* Cha Kwang-soo [ko] as Son Hyun-seok
    The director of Project W, a program specializing in criminal investigation, and the general manager of the broadcasting channel W.

#### People around Oh Yeon-joo

* Kim Eui-sung as Oh Seong-moo
    Yeon-joo's father and a famous artist who created the webtoon W. Once a failed webtoon artist, alcoholic and divorcé, he gains popularity from W. However, he notices that his webtoon and its characters have taken on a reality of their own. As a result, he perceives Kang Cheol as a monster and seeks to eliminate him.
* Lee Si-eon as Park Soo-bong
    An apprentice of Seong-moo and confidante of Yeon-joo
* Nam Gi-ae as Gil Soo-sun
    Yeon-joo's mother and Seong-moo's ex-wife.
* Heo Jung-do [ko] as Park Min-soo
    Cardiothoracic surgeon and Professor at Myung-sei Hospital. He is a passionate fan of W
* Kang Ki-young as Kang Suk-beom
    Second-year resident cardiothoracic surgeon at Myung-sei Hospital and Yeon-joo's friend
* Lee Se-rang [ko] as Gil Soo-young
    Yeon-joo's aunt
* Ryu Hye-rin as Sun-mi
    Seung-moo's apprentice
* Yang Hye-ji as Yoon-hee
    Seung-moo's apprentice

### Extended

* Kim Ik-tae [ko] as Assemblyman
* Noh Haeng-ha as Kim Yoo-ri
    Nurse at Myung-sei Hospital.
* Ri Min [ko] as Team Leader Park
* Seo Gwang-jae [ko]
* Yang Seung-geol [ko]
* Seol Ji-yoon [ko]
* Park Geon-ryool
* Lee Yoon-sang
* Yeo Woon-bok
* Oh Hee-joon as Motel receptionist
* Kang Chan-yang
* Park Sung-taek [ko]
* Dong Yoon-seok
* Hwang Yoon-geol [ko]
* Kim Kwang-hyun [ko]
* Min Joon-ho
* Yoo Pil-ran
* Park Seon-woong [ko]
* Jang Moon-seok [ko]
* Cheon Ye-won [ko]
* Park Geon-rak [ko]
* Jo Sung-hee [ko]
* Joo Dong-hee

### Special appearances

* Park Choong-seon [ko] as Kang Yoon – Cheol's father
* Kim Na-woon as Yoon Mi-ho – Cheol's mother (episode 1)
* Seo Shin-ae as Kang Soo-yeon – Cheol's sister (episode 1)
* Choi Min-young as Kang Joon-seok – Cheol's brother (episode 1)
* Hwang Seok-jeong as Webtoon Writer (episode 6)
* Ahn Se-ha as Kim Poong-ho – Yeon-joo's blind date (episode 6)
* Kim Jung-geun [ko] as Anchorman (episodes 1, 4)
* Heo Il-hoo

## Episodes

| No. | Title | Original release date |
| 1 | "Oh Seong Moo has Disappeared!" | July 20, 2016 (2016-07-20) |
| Oh Yeon-joo learns from her friend and father's assistant, Park Soo-bong (Lee Si-eon) that her father has disappeared while drawing the last issue of W, in which the webtoon's protagonist, Kang Cheol, is supposed to die. The last drawing on his graphics tablet shows Cheol bloodied and unconscious on a roof. As Yeon-joo investigates, she is pulled through the tablet and into the webtoon world. She manages to save Cheol, before noticing the Korean words for "To Be Continued" appear in the air, sending her back. A new episode of W is mysteriously uploaded, which depicts all of Yeon-joo's actions, including a full-page spread of her as a character. She theorizes that the webtoon contains an actual alternate universe. Later, Kang Cheol considers Yeon-joo to be the key to his life. |||
| 2 | "Find Her, the Key to My Life" | July 21, 2016 (2016-07-21) |
| Seong-moo turns up again and insists the new issue was his creation. Later, Soo-bong tells Yeon-joo that her father plans to kill Cheol, who is in the hospital. She calls her father, realizing that he too knows the webtoon is alive. She is sucked back into the webtoon, successfully preventing a nurse from administering potassium to Cheol. Two months pass in an instant, and Cheol is now healthy. To get back to the real world, Yeon-joo surprises him with a kiss. Seong-moo, angered that his daughter's adventures had uploaded themselves, dismisses his team to end W in secret. He draws a truck to kill Kang Cheol, but the webtoon rejects this ending, with Cheol surviving. |||
| 3 | "I Am Someone Who Will Do That" | July 27, 2016 (2016-07-27) |
| Yeon-joo investigates her father's files and discovers that W started drawing on its own during her father's miserable times. Depressed, he tries to end the webtoon by having Cheol commit suicide, but the drawing changes to Cheol hanging on. Seong-moo is inspired to continue the webtoon until he is famous, but repeated rewrites caused him to think Cheol is a monster. Yeon-joo is dragged back to the webtoon world, where Kang Cheol interrogates her at gunpoint. When she stalls telling the truth, he shoots her, but she doesn't receive a wound, confirming her special nature. |||
| 4 | "What Is This World Where You Live in?" | July 28, 2016 (2016-07-28) |
| Yoon So-hee (Jung Yoo-jin), Cheol's personal assistant, sets up an elaborate trap to have Yeon-joo arrested. Cheol demotes So-hee for her actions and visits Yeon-joo in prison. There, she finally reveals to Cheol that he is the main character of a cartoon, returning to the real world afterwards. Now knowing the truth, time in the webtoon stops, and Cheol steps through a portal into the real world. |||
| 5 | "I've Come Here. To Your World." | August 3, 2016 (2016-08-03) |
| In the real world, Kang Cheol reads up on W. He visits Yeon-joo at her hospital and kisses her. He then goes to Seong-moo's house, where he learns about his creator's bitter past, which provided the inspiration for his character. Cheol confronts his creator in the flesh, asking the latter to draw his family's killer so he can have a happy ending. When Seong-moo refuses, claiming the murders were just a plot device to make him stronger, Cheol shoots him. |||
| 6 | "The End" | August 4, 2016 (2016-08-04) |
| As Seong-moo recovers, Kang Cheol commits suicide, leaving a suicide note with Yeon-joo. His actions get uploaded as the last issue of W, since Seong-moo decides to retire to New Zealand. Soon after, the "the end" mark on the webtoon replaces itself with "To Be Continued." At Yeon-joo's insistence, Soo-bong continues the story, restarting the webtoon world and sending Yeon-joo back to the prison. |||
| 7 | "Cheol and Yeon-joo Get Married" | August 10, 2016 (2016-08-10) |
| Kang Cheol meets Yeon-joo and learns his revival was her idea. Distraught over being just a character, he rebukes Yeon-joo for saving him, but changes his mind when she says that she loves him. He kisses Yeon-joo then legally marries her to get her out of prison. Later, his family's murderer calls him and threatens Yeon-joo. |||
| 8 | "The Killer Is After You" | August 17, 2016 (2016-08-17) |
| While in Cheol's kitchen, Yeon-joo gets into an accident and bleeds, confirming she is now a character as well. She goes back to the real world, where the murderer, who had also stepped through the portal and learned about the webtoon, pursues her and Soo-bong. She is almost shot but is sent back to Cheol's car. While the murderer teleports to Seong-moo, still en route to New Zealand, Cheol notices So-hee fading away, which he realizes is due to her significance as a character fading. In order to set things right, Cheol sends Yeon-joo back to her world, where she redraws all the previous events as a dream Cheol had. |||
| 9 | "Make It a Happy Ending" | August 18, 2016 (2016-08-18) |
| Seong-moo returns to Korea and decides to write a happy ending for W. He gives the murder his face and names him Han Sang-hoon. After the latter is caught, Prosecutor Han Cheol-ho (Park Won-sang) - who wished to gain political power by presiding over Cheol's case, believing him to be the one who killed his family - was to kill Sang-hoon. However, Sang-hoon causes a shooting at a TV station, so Yeon-joo is sent back to the webtoon world to treat the victims. She meets Kang Cheol, who no longer recognizes her. Back in the real world, Seong-moo's face has been removed. |||
| 10 | "The World Controlled By The Killer" | August 24, 2016 (2016-08-24) |
| Sang-hoon uses Seong-moo as his robotic alter ego, using the latter to manipulate the webtoon world to his liking. He conspires with Cheol-ho to frame Kang Cheol for the murder of his producer, Son Hyun-suk. (Cha Kwang-soo) He escapes, but he is shot by the police. Yeon-joo takes him to a hotel so he can recover, then kisses him so she can return to her world. |||
| 11 | "What Happens Next?" | August 25, 2016 (2016-08-25) |
| Yeon-joo discovers her faceless father and uses his tablet to help Kang Cheol treat himself and evade the police. She is suddenly summoned to Cheol-ho's office, arousing his suspicion, then goes to Cheol's penthouse. Everyone thinks Cheol is dead, except for his bodyguard Seo Do-yoon (Lee Tae-hwan), who knows the former's location. Kang Cheol starts imitating his past self, which, as Yeon-joo discovers, is due to him having read a copy of W that was accidentally brought to his world. He finally makes the connection between the webtoon's character and himself. |||
| 12 | "Cheol's Second Awakening" | August 31, 2016 (2016-08-31) |
| Cheol and Yeon-joo step back into the real world, where they restart their relationship. Cheol breaks Seong-moo's tablet to prevent Sang-hoon from interfering with the real world, but later repairs it so that Sang-hoon will be captured and Cheol-ho investigated for his crimes, as he originally planned. He also learns he can travel between the webtoon world and the real world at will. |||
| 13 | "For the Last Episode of W" | September 1, 2016 (2016-09-01) |
| Cheol learns he can summon characters from W into the real world. He accidentally summons Sang-hoon, who orders Seong-moo to destroy his tablet and brings Yeon-joo to the webtoon world to trap Cheol. He successfully locates Sang-hoon's hideout and kills him, but Yeon-joo has been shot. She and Cheol return to the real world, the former as a lifeless body. |||
| 14 | "Secret of the Tablet" | September 7, 2016 (2016-09-07) |
| Han Cheol-ho finds a copy of Seong-moo's graphics tablet in Sang-hoon's car. Kang Cheol brings Yeon-joo to the webtoon world to recover but she dies. Seong-moo grieves over the fact that he cannot draw his daughter back to life, so Cheol goes to the webtoon world to retrieve the copy. He is caught by Cheol-ho, who had discovered that the tablet can bring any drawing to life when the Enter key is pressed on a connected computer, and can erase things by pressing Delete (as in the Mac equivalent to Backspace). Despite being tortured, Cheol lures Cheol-ho to Seong-moo's location to deliver the tablet to him. After Yeon-joo is brought back to life, she is brought back to the webtoon world, where the words "Final Chapter" appear in front of her. |||
| 15 | "Which Kind of Ending Will It Be?" | September 8, 2016 (2016-09-08) |
| In the webtoon's last issue, a year has passed since it left off; Kang Cheol is sentenced to death but he escapes, thanks to Seong-moo who was also dragged inside. Cheol learns that Seong-moo has been a mental patient due to his adopting Sang-hoon's villainous personality and will cease to exist if he does not do evil. With the police about to arrest Seong-moo and Do-yoon kidnapped, Cheol and Yeon-joo realize that Yeon-joo will lose either Cheol or her father. To end the webtoon in the safest way possible, Yeon-joo draws security footage of Cheol-ho's torture. |||
| 16 | "After W Ends" | September 14, 2016 (2016-09-14) |
| Kang Cheol saves Do-yoon but is shot by Cheol-ho. He manages to reach a bus stop where he calls Yeon-joo to save him, but he collapses. Yeon-joo is sent back to the real world. Seong-moo, now staying at a motel, forces Cheol-ho to commit suicide and exposes him to the authorities. He arrives just in time to see Yeon-joo at a bus stop before disappearing forever. Cheol spends two years in prison before somehow sending himself back to the real world, where he meets Yeon-joo in a hospital. They then continue their romance away from the dangers of the webtoon. |||

## Production

The series is helmed by director Jung Dae-yoon, who directed She Was Pretty, and writer Song Jae-jung, whose previous works include Nine: Nine Time Travels and Queen and I.
The first script reading of the drama was held in May 2016.
The drama is Han Hyo-joo's small screen comeback after six years.

## Original soundtrack
### Part 9
#### Charted songs

| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Sales | Remarks |
| Title | Year | KOR Gaon | Sales | Remarks |
| "Where Are U" (Jung Joon-young) | 2016 | 67 | KOR: 121,780+ | Part 1 |
| "Please Say Something Even Though It Is A Lie" (Park Bo-ram) | 2016 | 30 | KOR: 214,865+ | Part 2 |
| "Falling" (Jo Hyun-ah (Urban Zakapa)) | 2016 | 60 | KOR: 60,637+ | Part 5 |
| "Without You" (N (VIXX) & Yeoeun (Melody Day)) | 2016 | 98 | KOR: 26,260+ | Part 9 |

### Album charts

| Chart (2016) | Peak position |
| South Korea (Gaon Album Chart) | 16 |
| Taiwan (FIVE-MUSIC Album Chart) | 17 |

## Ratings

| Ep. | Original broadcast date | Average audience share | Average audience share | Average audience share | Average audience share |
| Ep. | Original broadcast date | Nielsen Korea | Nielsen Korea | TNmS | TNmS |
| Ep. | Original broadcast date | Nationwide | Seoul | Nationwide | Seoul |
| 1 | July 20, 2016 | 8.6% (17th) | 10.4% (10th) | 9.9% (10th) | 11.3% (7th) |
| 2 | July 21, 2016 | 9.5% (12th) | 10.7% (10th) | 10.1% (9th) | 11.5% (5th) |
| 3 | July 27, 2016 | 12.9% (4th) | 15.0% (4th) | 11.6% (7th) | 13.7% (4th) |
| 4 | July 28, 2016 | 12.9% (4th) | 14.3% (4th) | 13.4% (5th) | 14.7% (4th) |
| 5 | August 3, 2016 | 13.5% (3rd) | 14.3% (3rd) | 15.1% (3rd) | 17.8% (1st) |
| 6 | August 4, 2016 | 12.2% (4th) | 12.2% (4th) | 14.2% (5th) | 15.9% (2nd) |
| 7 | August 10, 2016 | 13.8% (4th) | 14.7% (3rd) | 15.2% (4th) | 17.3% (2nd) |
| 8 | August 17, 2016 | 12.2% (5th) | 13.3% (4th) | 13.5% (5th) | 15.0% (4th) |
| 9 | August 18, 2016 | 11.3% (7th) | 12.5% (5th) | 12.7% (4th) | 14.7% (3rd) |
| 10 | August 24, 2016 | 12.3% (6th) | 13.7% (4th) | 13.9% (5th) | 15.3% (3rd) |
| 11 | August 25, 2016 | 12.2% (6th) | 12.8% (5th) | 14.6% (6th) | 15.8% (5th) |
| 12 | August 31, 2016 | 11.1% (7th) | 12.0% (5th) | 13.3% (6th) | 15.1% (5th) |
| 13 | September 1, 2016 | 11.9% (5th) | 13.2% (5th) | 12.9% (6th) | 15.0% (3rd) |
| 14 | September 7, 2016 | 10.9% (5th) | 11.8% (4th) | 13.1% (5th) | 15.3% (3rd) |
| 15 | September 8, 2016 | 11.4% (6th) | 12.3% (4th) | 11.8% (6th) | 14.1% (4th) |
| 16 | September 14, 2016 | 9.3% (7th) | 9.8% (6th) | 10.6% (4th) | 10.9% (4th) |
| Average | Average | 11.6% | 12.7% | 12.9% | 14.6% |
| In the table above, the blue numbers represent the lowest ratings and the red numbers represent the highest ratings. ||||||

## Other adaptations

A Thai remake of the drama, Switch On was aired on Channel 3 on November 19, 2021. The adaptation changes the setting of the alternate universe from a webtoon to a virtual reality video game.
An American adaptation, titled Angel City was in development at The CW. The project will be produced by CBS Studios with Craig Plestis as executive producer.
A Malaysian remake of the drama, which also titled W: Two Worlds premiered in November 2023 on Viu and aired its final episode in early January 2024.
A Chinese remake of the drama titled "The Next stop W" started streaming in 2023. Available on WeTV, it is a shortened version of the drama set in Guangzhou.

## Awards and nominations

| Year | Award | Category | Recipient | Result |
| 2016 | 5th APAN Star Awards | Top Excellence Award, Actor in a Miniseries | Lee Jong-suk | Nominated |
| 2016 | 5th APAN Star Awards | Top Excellence Award, Actress in a Miniseries | Han Hyo-joo | Won |
| 2016 | 5th APAN Star Awards | Best Supporting Actor | Kim Eui-sung | Won |
| 2016 | 5th APAN Star Awards | Best Couple Award | Lee Jong-suk and Han Hyo-joo | Nominated |
| 2016 | 1st Asia Artist Awards | Best Artist Award, actor | Lee Jong-suk | Nominated |
| 2016 | 1st Asia Artist Awards | Best Artist Award, actress | Han Hyo-joo | Nominated |
| 2016 | 36th MBC Drama Awards | Drama of the Year | W | Won |
| 2016 | 36th MBC Drama Awards | Grand Prize / Daesang (Determined through fan votes) | Lee Jong-suk | Won |
| 2016 | 36th MBC Drama Awards | Grand Prize / Daesang (Determined through fan votes) | Han Hyo-joo | Nominated |
| 2016 | 36th MBC Drama Awards | Top Excellence Award, Actor in a Miniseries | Lee Jong-suk | Won |
| 2016 | 36th MBC Drama Awards | Top Excellence Award, Actress in a Miniseries | Han Hyo-joo | Won |
| 2016 | 36th MBC Drama Awards | Golden Acting Award, Actor in a Miniseries | Kim Eui-sung | Won |
| 2016 | 36th MBC Drama Awards | Writer of the Year | Song Jae-jung | Won |
| 2016 | 36th MBC Drama Awards | Best New Actor | Lee Si-eon | Nominated |
| 2016 | 36th MBC Drama Awards | Best New Actor | Lee Tae-hwan | Nominated |
| 2016 | 36th MBC Drama Awards | Best New Actress | Jung Yoo-jin | Nominated |
| 2016 | 36th MBC Drama Awards | Best Couple Award | Lee Jong-suk and Han Hyo-joo | Won |
| 2016 | 36th MBC Drama Awards | Best Couple Award | Kim Eui-sung and Lee Si-eon | Nominated |
| 2016 | Korea Content Awards | Prime Minister Commendation | Song Jae-jung | Won |
| 2017 | Korea Communications Commission Broadcasting Awards | Korean Wave Program Excellence Prize | W | Won |
| 2017 | 50th WorldFest Houston International Film Festival | Special Jury Award | W | Won |
| 2017 | 53rd Baeksang Arts Awards | Best Drama | W | Nominated |
| 2017 | 53rd Baeksang Arts Awards | Best Director | Jung Dae-yoon | Nominated |
| 2017 | 53rd Baeksang Arts Awards | Best Screenplay | Song Jae-jung | Nominated |
| 2017 | Seoul International Drama Awards | Outstanding Korean Drama | W | Won |