The Ultimatum is a Singaporean Chinese drama which was telecasted on Singapore's free-to-air channel, MediaCorp Channel 8. It made its debut on 27 May 2009 and ended on the date 7 July 2009. This drama serial consists of 30 episodes, and was screened on every weekday night at 9:00 pm. Being the mid-year Channel 8 blockbuster of 2009, it was the first Channel 8 drama to be fully filmed in HD. Despite being touted as the 2009 blockbuster of the year and featuring many established actors and actresses like Zoe Tay, Li Nanxing and Fann Wong, the show's reception was lukewarm at best. Many viewers faulted the serial for improbable casting and for a lack of originality in certain parts of the scripting. The series also came under harsh criticism for being overly melodramatic. However, the performance of newcomers such as Jerry Yeo, who played an antagonist for the first time, were widely praised.