Empress Ki (TV series)

Empress Ki () is a South Korean historical drama television series starring Ha Ji-won as the titular Empress Ki. It aired on MBC from October 28, 2013 to April 29, 2014 on Mondays and Tuesdays at 21:55 for 51 episodes.
A domestic and overseas hit, the series received the Golden Bird Prize for Serial Drama at the 9th Seoul International Drama Awards. Ha Ji-won also won the Grand Prize at the MBC Drama Awards for her performance.
Title.
The early working title was "Hwatu" (; lit. "Battle of Flowers") but the title was changed to prevent confusion with the similarly named playing cards.
Synopsis.
The series revolves around Gi Seungnyang, a Goryeo-born woman who ascends to power despite the restrictions of the era's class system, and later marries Toghon Temür (Emperor of Mongol Empire) to become an empress of the Yuan dynasty, instead of her first love, Wang Yu. It managed to highlight the deep love the Emperor embedded in Lady Ki and depicts her loves and political ambitions.
Reception.
The series attained high ratings during its run, ranking first in its timeslot with a peak viewership rating of 33.9 percent. According to a report by Taiwan's drama channel ETTV, the series was ranked as the best foreign program for 2014 with 5.35% viewership rating, becoming the second Korean drama after "Jewel in the Palace" (2003) to do so. It also received positive reviews for its strong acting skills, gripping background and elaborate scenes.
Despite its popularity, the series was criticized for its inclusion of fictional elements regarding the characters and storyline. Much concern was raised over the series' depiction of the titular Empress Ki, who was portrayed as a brave warrior in the series. Historians were worried that the audience would overlook the fact that the real-life Empress Ki was responsible for attacking her native land.
Ratings.
In this table, represent the lowest ratings and represent the highest ratings.
It aired on GMA Network from October 20, 2014 to April 14, 2015, on weeknights (Monday to Thursday) at 10:00 PM PST for 100 episodes. Each episode runs 1 hour including commercial breaks. It was pre-empted on December 31, 2014 to give way to the "Countdown to 2015 GMA New Year Special" and on April 2 to 3, 2015 to give way on the "Holy Week" programming. The entire series was dubbed in Filipino. It was the highest rated Korean drama in the Philippines for 2015.
It was re-aired on GMA News TV from July 12, 2016 to January 20, 2017.