Queen Seondeok (TV series)


Queen Seondeok is a 2009 South Korean historical drama television series produced by MBC and Time Box Production for the former's 48th founding anniversary, starring Lee Yo-won, Go Hyun-jung, Uhm Tae-woong, Kim Nam-gil, and Park Ye-jin. It chronicles the life of Queen Seondeok of Silla. It aired on MBC from 25 May to 22 December 2009 on Mondays and Tuesdays at 21:55 for 62 episodes.
The viewership ratings for the show topped TV charts almost every week during its run, peaking at 43.6 percent. It swept the 2009 MBC Drama Awards; actress Go Hyun-jung's performance and subsequent grand prize win received near-universal acclaim.
WWW imbc.com/broad/tv/drama/s...

Synopsis

The series begins at the end of King Jinheung's reign and continues until the end of Queen Seondeok's reign. Deokman was born as one of the twin daughters of King Jinpyeong and Queen Maya, but due to a prophecy, King Jinpyeong had to send his daughter away from the palace with the help of his clumsy but loyal servant Seohwa, in order to save Queen Maya from being ousted by Mishil, whose ambition was to become Queen. Seohwa raised Deokman as if she were her own, but a turn of events eventually led Deokman into finding out her real identity - only to be abandoned once again by her family in order to save the throne from Mishil's hand, with the exception of her twin sister Cheonmyeon, who ended up losing her life while trying to help Deokman escape. Out of hatred, Deokman set out to take back what was taken from her and avenge her sister by bringing Mishil down and becoming the first female king of Silla with the help of her trusted friend, Yushin, and troubled rogue Bidam who she loved, and ultimately led a rebellion near the end of her reign because of a misunderstanding.

Cast

Main

Supporting

Cameos

Ratings

  • In the table below, the blue numbers represent the lowest ratings and the red numbers represent the highest ratings.

Filming location

It was filmed on location at MBC Dramia in Cheoin District, Yongin, Gyeonggi Province. Other historical dramas such as Dong Yi, Moon Embracing the Sun and Jumong were also filmed there.
It was filmed at the Shilla Millennium Park in Gyeongju.

Artistic license

The series adopted significant artistic license regarding the portrayal of historical events in order to accommodate the dramatic storyline. Notably, the reign of King Jinpyeong was compressed by over two decades such that in the series, Queen Seondeok was born within a year of his coronation. Accordingly, the preceding King Jinheung's reign was extended by a similar period, with him being depicted as an elderly man at his death. This allowed for Mishil and other prominent figures during Jinheung's reign to be involved in events concerning the Queen during her time as Royal Princess, even though there is no evidence to suggest what sort of interaction the two had if any. Artistic license was used to imagine her as being of a similar age to Kim Yushin and Bidam, though again, it is not clear historically if this was the case. Another major change was in the date of her death: Bidam's execution and Kim Alcheon's appointment to his post were ordered by Jindeok of Silla, ten days after Queen Seondeok's death. Queen Jindeok is not mentioned in the series. Most dramatically, the real Seondeok likely never left Silla and, although Byzantine artifacts did reach Silla during her childhood and reign, it is highly unlikely that she ever learned Greek.

Plagiarism controversy

On 31 December 2009, Kim Ji-young, an obscure playwright and representative of Great Works Ltd., a culture content company, filed a plagiarism lawsuit against MBC and screenwriters Kim Young-hyun and Park Sang-yeon, saying they plagiarized her script for Seondeok, Queen of Mugunghwa, an unperformed musical she said she wrote in 2005. Kim argued that the development of the story and conflict between characters were similar to her play, including discord between two major female characters, Seondeok and Mishil; a romance between Deokman and General Kim Yushin; and the story of the young Deokman wandering through a desert. The MBC drama contains all of these plot twists, which are not based on history but which Kim says she invented. Kim said she shared some of her scripts with the Korea Creative Content Agency to attract investment in the musical, and believed that was how the content was leaked. Kim asked for in compensation and an injunction banning the broadcast of the soap opera. The injunction was turned down and Queen Seondeok ran from May to December 2009, but the copyright infringement case continued.
The MBC network and the series' writers maintained they did not know of the existence of Kim's play. MBC had copyrighted its script in May 2008. After Kim requested an assessment by experts, the Seoul Southern District Court asked Seoul National University's Center for Law & Technology to investigate. In a process called a "script autopsy," the center first identifies similar content in the two scripts. At that point, university historians confirm historical facts regarding the characters and plot, and differentiate them from literary creations. Afterward, the center makes an appraisal based on copyright laws, then the court makes the final adjudication. In February 2011, the SNU Center for Law & Technology confirmed the plagiarism.
In December 2012, the High Court ruled in favor of plaintiff Kim Ji-young that Queen Seondeok was a work of plagiarism, and fined MBC . In its ruling, the court stated that though the characters and the details were in fact different, "the overall plot was the same" and it is "most probable that the network relied on the script and plot of the musical to produce their drama." Furthermore, any additional reruns on cable TV and internet, and the making of DVD and related books were banned.

Awards and nomination

YearAwardCategoryRecipientResultRef
2009Grimae AwardsDaesang AwardKim Geun-hong / Park Hong-kyunWon
2009Grimae AwardsBest ActressLee Yo-wonWon
2009Job KoreaBest ActressGo Hyun-jungWon
2009MBC Drama AwardsGrand Prize Go Hyun-jungWon
2009MBC Drama AwardsTop Excellence Award - ActressLee Yo-wonWon
2009MBC Drama AwardsTop Excellence Award - ActressGo Hyun-jung
2009MBC Drama AwardsTop Excellence Award - ActorUhm Tae-woongWon
2009MBC Drama AwardsExcellence Award - ActorKim Nam-gilWon
2009MBC Drama AwardsExcellence Award - ActorJeon No-min
2009MBC Drama AwardsExcellence Award - ActressPark Ye-jin
2009MBC Drama AwardsGolden Acting Award - Supporting ActorAhn Gil-kangWon
2009MBC Drama AwardsGolden Acting Award - Supporting ActressSeo Young-heeWon
2009MBC Drama AwardsBest New ActorYoo Seung-hoWon
2009MBC Drama AwardsBest New ActorLee Seung-hyoWon
2009MBC Drama AwardsBest New ActorKim Nam-gil
2009MBC Drama AwardsPD AwardShin GooWon
2009MBC Drama AwardsBest Young ActressNam Ji-hyunWon
2009MBC Drama AwardsWriter of the YearKim Young-hyun / Park Sang-yeonWon
2009MBC Drama AwardsBest Couple AwardKim Nam-gil and Lee Yo-wonWon
2009MBC Drama AwardsPopularity Award - ActorKim Nam-gil
2009MBC Drama AwardsPopularity Award - ActorLee Seung-hyo
2009MBC Drama AwardsPopularity Award - ActorYoo Seung-ho
2009MBC Drama AwardsPopularity Award - ActressGo Hyun-jung
2009MBC Drama AwardsPopularity Award - ActressLee Yo-won
2009MBC Drama AwardsPopularity Award - ActressPark Ye-jin
2009MBC Drama AwardsViewer's Favorite Drama of the YearQueen SeondeokWon
2009MBC Drama AwardsSpecial Award - Martial Arts DirectorKim Sung-shilWon
2009DramaBeans AwardsFavourite Drama of 2009Queen Seondeok
2009DramaBeans AwardsTop 3 Favourite Drama of 2009Queen Seondeok
2009DramaBeans AwardsFavourite Historical DramaQueen SeondeokWon
2009DramaBeans AwardsFavourite CharacterGo Hyun-jung
2009DramaBeans AwardsFavourite CharacterKim Nam-gil
200910th Korea Visual Arts FestivalPhotogenic AwardLee Yo-wonWon
2010Korea Producers & Directors' AwardsPD Award - ActingGo Hyun-jungWon
201046th Baeksang Arts AwardsDaesang / Grand Prize - TVGo Hyun-jungWon
201046th Baeksang Arts AwardsBest New Actor - TVKim Nam-gilWon
201046th Baeksang Arts AwardsTV Screenplay Award - TVKim Young-hyun
201046th Baeksang Arts AwardsBest Actress Award - TVGo Hyun-jung
201046th Baeksang Arts AwardsDirecting Award - TVPark Hong-gyun
201046th Baeksang Arts AwardsBest Picture - TVQueen Seondeok
201046th Baeksang Arts AwardsFemale Popularity Award - TVGo Hyun-jung
201046th Baeksang Arts AwardsFemale Popularity Award - TVPark Ye-jin
201037th Korea Broadcasting AwardsBest ActressGo Hyun-jungWon
201037th Korea Broadcasting AwardsBest Art DirectionQueen SeondeokWon
201037th Korea Broadcasting AwardsBest LightingQueen SeondeokWon
201037th Korea Broadcasting AwardsBest Video GraphicsQueen SeondeokWon
20105th Seoul International Drama AwardsBest Drama SeriesQueen SeondeokWon
20105th Seoul International Drama AwardsOutstanding Korean Actress - TVGo Hyun-jungWon
20105th Seoul International Drama AwardsOutstanding Korean ScreenwriterKim Young-hyun / Park Sang-yeonWon
2010Asia Model AwardsSpecial Award for Asian DramaLee Yo-wonWon