Cheng plays Hong and also serves as the production's executive producer, and chief scriptwriter. The series marks his return to the small screen, as he has focused on directing movies, such as the Detective Chinatown franchise, in recent years.

Directed by Xie Ze and Chen Xitai, Great Expectations also casts actor Yuan Hong, actress Tong Liya (Chen's wife), Taiwan model-actress Amber Kuo and veteran actor Zhao Lixin.

Kuo, familiar to mainland fans for the hit franchise Tiny Times, plays a business tycoon's daughter, who is educated in France and has a crush on Chen's character.

Aside from Dickens, Chen says the TV drama also pays homage to the iconic filmmaker Stephen Chow and top martial arts novelist Louis Cha, both Hong Kong celebrities.

Some sequences feature Chow's stylish comic gestures, while other scenes are packed with stunts to create a martial arts production-like atmosphere.