(From left) Desperate Housewives stars Marcia Cross, Felicity Huffman and Teri Hatcher

London, Dec. 16 (Reuters): The TV sensation Desperate Housewives will be shown in China starting on Monday in a departure for a country where the government typically keeps racy and politically sensitive material off the air.

The hit US show, a wry and steamy saga centred on four suburban women, will be dubbed into Mandarin and shown as three back-to-back episodes a night on state-run CCTV8, Walt Disney Co’s international distribution arm said yesterday.

The dark comedy from Disney’s ABC network, which was the top-rated new show on US television last season and won an Emmy Award for one of the show’s stars, will have to compete with pirated DVD versions of the series that have been sold on Chinese street corners for less than $4. It has already been taken to 202 other territories and was a top-ranked show in Australia, Singapore and Britain.

“Desperate Housewives has been breaking records around the world and we are sure it will be a hit with Chinese viewers,” said Steve Macallister, senior vice-president and managing director of Buena Vista International Television-Asia Pacific. The Chinese government usually maintains a vice-like grip over the media, but it has relaxed its attitude in recent years. In 2003, Beijing Television launched Pink Ladies, which was marketed as China’s answer to HBO’s Sex and the City, but it was panned by critics and viewers for being prudish and dull compared to the US programme.

Hatcher wins case

Desperate Housewives star Teri Hatcher won substantial libel damages today from a British tabloid called Daily Sport that alleged she used a camper van outside her home to have sex with a series of men.