Audiences drawn to changing times

Biggest advantage

Pan said the success achieved by The Long Season underscores the need to resonate with audiences.

"People's emotional patterns are worth writing about, which is our biggest advantage in connecting with audiences. We cannot ignore the very soil of our lives," she said.

From discussing the plot and the actors' performances, to exploring details of costumes, makeup, music and even posters, Chinese audiences have always shown great enthusiasm for and anticipation of high-quality domestic TV dramas, especially those they can connect with.

They are less concerned about big-name directors and actors, but more interested in whether the overall quality of a production is good enough.

Domestic suspense dramas have been particularly popular in recent years, and online video platforms such as Youku, Tencent and iQiyi continue to broadcast new works.

In March, two suspense dramas were released on Youku's Suspense Drama Theater and iQiyi's Mist Theater — Who Is He, starring Zhang Yi, lead actor in this year's hit drama The Knockout, and Echo, directed by Feng Xiaogang. However, both productions were criticized for their slow-paced plots, receiving scores of 5.8 and 6, respectively, on Douban.

Last month, the new 24-episode suspense drama Thirteen Years of Dust, which focuses on an unsolved murder case in 1997, found favor among audiences, who gave it a score of 8.1.