The popular period drama about China's first female emperor has been halted and will resume in January next year, its broadcaster Hunan TV announced Sunday.
"The Saga of Wu Zetian," known as "Empress of China" by Western audiences, started airing on Dec. and stars international actress Fan Bingbing as the titular character Empress Wu, who ruled as China's only female emperor during the Tang Dynasty. Fan, best known to foreign viewers for roles in "X-Men: Days of Future Past" and "Iron Man 3," also served as producer for the series.
Hunan TV said the reason for the suspension was due to technical issues although observers speculate that the mature scenes and revealing costumes may have irked the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television (SAPPRFT), China's chief censors.
Earlier this year, the SAPPRFT issued a notice calling for the removal of shows that contain sex, nudity, pornography and other scandalous issues.
Early media reports also noted that the drama had been discussed within the censorship board, particularly the costumes for the female cast which were said to be too revealing, prompting speculation that the SAPPRFT did not agree to some of the scenes.
Another probable reason for the show's dismissal is that, with a price tag of over $45 million, it became too popular, according to the English broadsheet The Daily Telegraph.
"Calling stop in the middle of the show is either [SAPPRFT] admitting that it didn't do its job properly," reported the Telegraph, quoting an anonymous viewer, "Or it's to give way to a new show produced by [state broadcaster] CCTV, because the viewing figures are too high."