Less Than Evil

Less Than Evil^[3] (Korean: 나쁜 형사; RR: Nappeun Hyeongsa) is a 2018 South Korean television series based on the British series Luther.^{[4][unreliable source?]} It stars Shin Ha-kyun, Lee Seol, Park Ho-san and Kim Gun-woo.^[5] It aired on MBC from December 3, 2018 to January 29, 2019.^[6][7][8]

Less Than Evil
Promotional poster
Also known as	Luther
Hangul	나쁜 형사
Hanja	나쁜 刑事
Literal meaning	Bad Detective
Revised Romanization	Nappeun Hyeongsa
Genre	Crime Detective Thriller
Created by	Park Jae-beom (MBC Drama Operation Team)
Based on	Luther by Neil Cross
Written by	Heo Joon-woo Kang Yi-hun
Directed by	Kim Dae-jin
Starring	Shin Ha-kyun Lee Seol Park Ho-san Kim Gun-woo
Country of origin	South Korea
Original language	Korean
No. of episodes	32[a]
Production
Executive producers	Teddy Jung [ko] Kim Sang-young
Producer	Yoo Hyun-jong
Camera setup	Single-camera
Running time	35 minutes[a]
Production companies	MBC iHQ
Budget	₩7.5 billion[2]
Original release
Network	MBC TV
Release	December 3, 2018 (2018-12-03) – January 29, 2019 (2019-01-29)
Related
Klim (Russia)

Synopsis

The drama centers on the ongoing psychological battle between a brilliant psychopathic murderer and a hot headed, justice-driven Detective Chief Inspector.^[9]

Cast

Main

• Shin Ha-kyun as Woo Tae-suk^[10]

A tough and unscrupulous detective with the highest arrest rate, a character based on DCI John Luther.

• Lee Seol as Eun Sun-jae/Bae yeo-wool

A female psychopath based on antagonist Alice Morgan.

• Park Ho-san as Jeon Choon-man

A leading detective in the metropolitan area who is at odds with Woo Tae-suk

• Kim Gun-woo as Jang Hyung-min

A serial killer who pretends to be a prosecutor and Woo Tae-suk's greatest enemy based on serial killer Tom Marwood.

Supporting

• Cha Sun-woo as Chae Dong-yoon^[11][12]

A straight-as-an-arrow detective who graduated early from the police academy based on Luther's partner DS Justin Ripley.

• Bae Da-bin^[13] as Shin Ga-young

A prickly police officer based on DCI Erin Gray.

• Bae Yoo-ram^[14] as Ban Ji-deuk

An expert in IT programming who sets up her own detective agency based on DS Benny Silver.

• Yoon Hee-seok^[15] as Jo Doo-jin

The head of the PR department at the police station and Woo Tae-suk's best friend based on John Luther's best friend DCI Ian Reed.

• Yang Ki-won as Lee Moon-ki

A policeman on Woo Tae-suk's team

• Kim Na-yoon as Team Leader Sung

The head of forensic investigative team based on Luther's bosses DSU Rose Teller and DSU Martin Schnek.

• Hong Eun-hee^[16] as Kim Hae-joon

A lawyer and Woo Tae-suk's wife based on John Luther's wife Zoe Luther.

• Cho Yi-hyun^[17][18] as Bae Yeo-wool

A victim of a case that Woo Tae-suk cannot forget

• Bae Yoon-kyung as Woo Tae-hee

Woo Tae-suk's sister

• Ryu Tae-ho ^[14] as Choi Jung-woo

A timid head detective who is indecisive. He works with Jeon Choon-man

• Kim Yi-kyung as Kwon Soo-ah

Special appearances

• Ahn Nae-sang as Commissioner general.

Production

The actress Lee Seol was chosen among 300 others who auditioned for the role of Eun Sun-jae to play the female lead.^[19]

The first script reading was held in early September, 2018 with the attendance of cast and crew at the MBC in Sangam-dong.^[19]

Original soundtrack

Less Than Evil OST
Soundtrack album by Various artists
Released	2018
Genre	Soundtrack
Language	Korean English
Label	Blending

Part 1

Released on December 3, 2018 (2018-12-03)

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Artist	Length
1.	"Shadow" (그림자)	Kang Myeong-shin Black Nine	ZigZag Note	Son Seung-yeon Black Nine	3:46
2.	"Shadow" (Inst.)		ZigZag Note		3:46
Total length:					7:32

Part 2

Released on December 11, 2018 (2018-12-11)

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Artist	Length
1.	"Tattoo"	Shoulder Bully	Shoulder Bully Kim Young-hwan	JK Kim Dong-wook	3:09
2.	"Tattoo" (Inst.)		Shoulder Bully Kim Young-hwan		3:09
Total length:					6:18

Part 3

Released on December 18, 2018 (2018-12-18)

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Artist	Length
1.	"Regression" (회귀)	Surf Green	Surf Green	Surf Green (feat. Dong Ha)	4:18
2.	"Regression" (Inst.)		Surf Green		4:18
Total length:					8:36

Ratings

• In this table, the blue numbers represent the lowest ratings and the red numbers represent the highest ratings.
• NR denotes that the drama did not rank in the top 20 daily programs on that date.
• N/A denotes that the rating is not known.

Ep.	Original broadcast date	Average audience share
		AGB Nielsen[20]		TNmS
		Nationwide	Seoul	Nationwide
1	December 3, 2018	7.1% (15th)	8.1% (9th)	6.5%
2		8.3% (9th)	9.2% (6th)	8.5%
3	December 4, 2018	8.6% (9th)	9.8% (6th)	8.2%
4		10.6% (6th)	11.5% (5th)	9.7%
5	December 10, 2018	7.4% (13th)	8.1% (9th)	6.9%
6		9.1% (9th)	10.0% (5th)	9.1%
7	December 11, 2018	7.3% (13th)	8.0% (8th)	6.2%
8		8.7% (6th)	9.5% (5th)	7.3%
9	December 17, 2018	7.1% (14th)	7.8% (11th)	6.2%
10		8.5% (9th)	9.4% (6th)	7.2%
11	December 18, 2018	7.6% (11th)	8.5% (8th)	6.6%
12		8.7% (7th)	9.6% (4th)	8.3%
13	December 24, 2018	6.6% (16th)	6.8% (16th)	6.1%
14		8.5% (9th)	8.9% (7th)	7.7%
15	December 25, 2018	7.0% (14th)	7.5% (13th)	6.5%
16		8.7% (8th)	9.4% (6th)	7.7%
17	January 7, 2019	5.4% (NR)	6.4% (15th)	4.8%
18		5.7% (19th)		5.2%
19	January 8, 2019	5.7% (NR)	—	5.4%
20		5.9% (NR)	6.5% (20th)	5.7%
21	January 14, 2019	5.6% (NR)	6.1% (20th)	4.7%
22		6.8% (15th)	7.8% (13th)	5.7%
23	January 15, 2019	5.6% (NR)	6.2% (20th)	—
24		6.3% (17th)	6.9% (15th)
25	January 21, 2019	5.4% (NR)	6.2% (18th)	4.4%
26		6.5% (17th)	7.1% (15th)	5.5%
27	January 22, 2019	3.9% (NR)	—	3.6%
28		5.0% (17th)	5.3% (17th)	4.3%
29	January 28, 2019	5.7% (NR)	6.2% (19th)	4.8%
30		6.9% (13th)	7.3% (13th)	5.8%
31	January 29, 2019	5.7% (19th)	6.0% (15th)	—
32		7.2% (11th)	7.7% (10th)	6.2%
Average		7.2%	—[b]	—[b]

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Recipient	Result	Ref.
2018	37th MBC Drama Awards	Grand Prize (Daesang)	Shin Ha-kyun	Nominated	[21]
		Drama of the Year	Less Than Evil	Nominated
		Top Excellence Award, Actor in a Monday-Tuesday Miniseries	Shin Ha-kyun	Won
		Excellence Award, Actor in a Monday-Tuesday Miniseries	Park Ho-san	Nominated
		Excellence Award, Actress in a Monday-Tuesday Miniseries	Lee Seol	Nominated
		Best New Actress		Won
		In Awe Award	Shin Ha-kyun	Won
2019	55th Baeksang Arts Awards	Best New Actress	Lee Seol	Nominated	[22]

Notes

1. In order to circumvent Korean laws that prevent commercial breaks in the middle of an episode, what would previously have been aired as single 70 minute episodes are now being repackaged as two 35 minute episodes, with two episodes being shown each night with a commercial break between the two.^[1]
2. Due to some ratings not recorded, the exact average rating is unknown.