Barrack O'Karma 1968

Barrack O'Karma 1968 (Chinese: 金宵大廈2; lit. Twilight Mansion 2) is a 2022 Hong Kong supernatural romantic drama television series produced by TVB. It stars Joel Chan and Selena Lee as the main leads. The series is a reboot of the 2019 drama Barrack O'Karma^[1] and centres around the theme of parallel universes.

Barrack O'Karma 1968
金宵大廈2
Genre	Supernatural Romance
Written by	Ruby Law Pui-ching
Starring	Joel Chan Selena Lee Christine Ng Candice Chiu Bob Cheung Hubert Wu Roxanne Tong Karl Ting
Theme music composer	Wong Fuk-ling
Opening theme	Goodbye (今宵多珍重) by Kayee Tam (Cantonese version)
Ending theme	Goodbye (今宵多珍重) by Vivian Koo (Mandarin version)
Original language	Cantonese
No. of episodes	20
Production
Producer	Yip Chun-fai
Running time	45 minutes
Production company	TVB
Release
Original network	TVB
Picture format	1080i
Original release	4 April (2022-04-04) – 29 April 2022 (2022-04-29)
Related
Barrack O'Karma (2019)

Production

Filming started in September^[2] and ended in November 2020.

Synopsis

Maurice (Joel Chan) had gone missing in Twilight Mansion. When he was found, Maurice has lost all of his memories. To find out what had happened to him, Ella (Selena Lee), Maurice’s girlfriend, went to Twilight Mansion...

Cast and characters

Main cast

• Joel Chan as Maurice, a barista and Ella’s boyfriend.
  • Chan also portrayed Joey Chow Yi (周意), a freelance journalist. (in parallel universe)
  • Chan portrayed a psychiatric patient in the 1960s as well. In fact he was Joey who travelled through different parallel universes.
  • Chan portrayed an architect in 1960s who designed Twilight Mansion in episode 20.
  • Curtis Ho as young Joey.
• Selena Lee as Ella, Maurice’s girlfriend.
  • Lee also portrayed Lydia, an actress. (in parallel universe)
  • Lee portrayed a psychiatrist in the 1960s as well.
  • Tse Yu-yan as young Ella.

Recurring cast

Ep. 1-2

• Timothy Cheng as Chan Hei-lik (陳喜力), a funeral director, Chan Kin-lik‘s father and Chan Sang-lik’s son.
• Randal Tsang as Chan Kin-lik (陳健力), a funeral apprentice, Chan Hei-lik‘s son and Chan Sang-lik’s grandson.
• Henry Yu as Chan Sang-lik (陳生力), Chan Hei-lik’s father and Chan Kin-lik‘s grandfather.

Ep. 3-4

• Christine Ng as Lee Shuk-fun (李淑芬), Kwok Miu-miu’s mother.
• Chloe So as Kwok Miu-miu (郭渺渺), Lee Shuk-fun‘s daughter whose face was disfigured by corrosive liquid.
  • Sophia Lam as young Kwok Miu-miu.

Ep. 5-6

• Willie Wai as Yam Sai-ka (任世嘉), Yam Tin-tong‘s father.
• Jazz Lam as But Tak-liu (畢得了), a game character.
• Enson Lau as Yam Tin-tong (任天堂), Yam Sai-Kay’s son who suffered from Lou Gehrig's disease, and teammate of Yeung Yeung, Ho-keung and Ah Ching when playing computer games.
• Zac Liu as Yeung Yeung (楊洋), teammate of Yam Tin-tong, Ho-keung and Ah Ching when playing computer games.
• Thomas Ng as Ho-keung (豪強), teammate of Yam Tin-tong, Yeung Yeung and Ah Ching when playing computer games.
• Aurora Li as Ah Ching (阿晴), teammate of Yam Tin-tong, Yeung Yeung and Ho-keung when playing computer games.

Ep. 7-8

• Geoffrey Wong as Ng Nai-keung (吳乃強), Chow Siu-hung’s husband, Lulu’s father, Ah Bong’s father in law and Louisa’s employer.
• Amy Fan as Chow Siu-hung (周小紅), Ng Nai-keung’s wife, Lulu’s mother, Ah Bong’s mother in law and Louisa’s employer.
• Franchesca Wong as Louisa, a Filipino domestic worker employed by Ng Nai-keung and Chow Siu-hung.
  • Wong also portrayed Lulu, Ng Nai-keung and Chow Siu-hung’s daughter, and Ah Bong’s wife. She had died in a traffic accident.
• Lam King-ching as Ah Bong (阿邦), Lulu’s husband, and Ng Nai-keung and Chow Siu-hung’s son in law.

Ep. 9-10

• Candice Chiu as Sei Ye (四爺), a real estate agent and Lee Mau-on’s supervisor. (in parallel universe)
  • Chiu also portrayed Jessie Yuen, a barrister, Ella’s good friend, Leo’s colleague and girlfriend.
• Derek Wong as Lee Mau-on (李茂安), a real estate agent and Sei Ye’s subordinate. (in parallel universe)
  • Wong also portrayed Leo Man, Jessie’s colleague and boyfriend.

Ep. 11-12

• Chiu Chung-yu as Law Yee-lai (羅伊麗), a single mother and Cheung Tsz-long‘s mother.
• Hung Cheuk-lok as Cheung Tsz-long (張梓朗), Law Yee-lai‘s son.
• Penny Chan as Raymond Ho Yee-sing (何懿星), a candidate in the District Council election.

Ep. 13-14

• Roxanne Tong as Lai Sin-yi (黎倩儀), a private tutor and Kim’s die hard fan.
• Arnold Kwok as Kim Seok-hun (金碩訓), better known as Kim, a popular K-pop singer and Lai Sin-yi’s idol.

Ep. 15-16

• Karl Ting as Kam Yat-hung (甘逸鴻), better known as Ah Kam (阿甘), a food deliverer and Suki’s boyfriend.
• Kelly Ng as Suki, a cosmetic sales and Ah Kam’s girlfriend.
• Chloe Nguyen as Nana Wong, better known as “Marble” (彈彈珠), chief creative director of MIA.
• Jason Lau as Tong Kwai-cheung (湯貴祥), who believed Jessica F was his missing daughter.
• Kayan Choi as Jessica F, a KOL who was suspected to be kidnapped.

Ep. 17-18

• Hubert Wu as Siu Ching (小程), a Qipao tailor who had a crush on Florence.
• Shiga Lin as Florence Yip Fo-wan (葉科雲), a secretary and Dave’s fiancée.
• Jeremy Wong as Dave Lee, Florence’s fiancé.

Ep. 19-20

• Bob Cheung as Ah Lam (阿Lam), the new owner of Ella father’s camera shop who knew about the existence of parallel universes in Twilight Mansion and could travel through different universes. He was in fact Lam Yeuk-sze (林若思) in the first series.
• Lau Kong as Lam Yeuk-sze (林若思). (Guest appearance in episode 20)

Controversy

In episode 7-8 of the series, Canadian-Hong Kong actress Franchesca Wong [zh] portrayed Louisa, a Filipino domestic helper. Her performance was praised by local media and audience.^[3][4] During filming, Wong applied cosmetics to darken her skin. However, this ignited criticisms of brownface and racial discrimination from overseas media.^[5][6] The controversy received international attention and was reported by media from Taiwan,^[7][8] Singapore,^[9] Malaysia,^[10][11] The Philippines,^[12] India^[13] and The United States.^[14][15]

On 14 April 2022, TVB publicly apologised and stated that there was no intention to express disrespect or discrimination against any nationalities.^[16][17] On 20 April, Wong publicly apologised via her Instagram account for the negative impacts caused by the series and her character, and expressed that she had no intention of disrespect or discrimination against any ethnicities.^[18]

Viewership ratings

Episodes	Broadcast date	Ratings	Ref
1-5	4–8 April 2022	18.8	^[19]
6-10	11–15 April 2022	18.5	^[20]
11-15	18–22 April 2022	16.5	^[21]
16-20	25–28 April 2022	15.6	^[22]
Average ratings		17.4

References

1. 《金宵大廈2》李施嬅抱恙 隔空與陳山聰宣傳. TVB Weekly. 2022-04-04
2. "【金宵大廈】李施嬅+陳山聰做足防疫措施開工 《金宵大廈2》開鏡：開工大吉". Hong Kong Economic Times (in Chinese). 2020-09-02.
3. "金宵大廈2｜《姐姐》玩墮胎極恐怖 黃婉華塗黑自己扮外傭似過姜麗文". am730 (in Chinese). 2022-04-12. Retrieved 2022-04-14.
4. "金宵大廈2｜黃婉華演姐姐被讚 3個月苦練菲式英語 猛料背景公開". hk01 (in Chinese). 2022-04-13. Retrieved 2022-04-14.
5. "Video: Hong Kong TVB drama ignites 'brownface' row with Filipina role". Hong Kong Free Press (in Chinese). Agence France-Presse. 2022-04-13. Retrieved 2022-04-14.
6. "金宵大廈2｜黃婉華塗黑扮外傭變國際新聞 被斥對菲律賓人不尊重". hk01 (in Chinese). 2022-04-13. Retrieved 2022-04-14.
7. "黃婉華「身體塗黑扮菲傭」挨轟…外媒斥不尊重！電視台道歉急下架". ETtoday星光雲 (in Chinese). 2022-04-14. Retrieved 2022-04-14.
8. "香港實力女星「塗黑身體+菲律賓腔」扮外傭 外媒罵翻！電視台急刪影片". China Times Daily (in Chinese). 2022-04-14. Retrieved 2022-04-14.
9. "為扮演菲傭將身體塗黑 《金宵大廈2》黃婉華遭外媒轟歧視". 8world news (in Chinese). 2022-04-14. Retrieved 2022-04-14.
10. "【金宵2】外傭Louisa"塗黑"變國際新聞 被斥不尊重菲律賓人". Oriental Daily News. 2022-04-13. Retrieved 2022-04-14.
11. "黃婉華塗黑演外傭挨轟 TVB道歉：無意不尊重". Chinapress Sdn. Bhd. (in Chinese). 2022-04-14. Retrieved 2022-04-14.
12. "Hong Kong show gets flak for actress wearing brownface to play Filipina". Rappler. 2022-04-14. Retrieved 2022-04-15.
13. "'Blatant racism': Hong Kong TV series 'Barrack O'Karma 1968' receives flak for actor wearing brownface". The Indian Express. 2022-04-15. Retrieved 2022-04-15.
14. "A Hong Kong TV drama features brownface—and some local media are celebrating it". Quartz. 2022-04-13. Retrieved 2022-04-15.
15. "Hong Kong TV series sparks 'brownface' controversy after actor darkens skin". CNN. 2022-04-14. Retrieved 2022-04-15.
16. "金宵大廈2｜黃婉華塗黑扮菲傭惹爭議 無綫︰絕無不尊重或歧視任何國籍". am730 (in Chinese). 2022-04-13. Retrieved 2022-04-14.
17. "金宵大廈2｜黃婉華塗黑扮外傭被指不尊重 TVB：無意表達不尊重". hk01 (in Chinese). 2022-04-13. Retrieved 2022-04-14.
18. "Franchesca Wong 黃婉華 🇨🇦🇭🇰 on Instagram".
19. "三台收視報告｜《金宵大廈2》成績令人意外 與劇集質素不成正比". hk01 (in Chinese (Hong Kong)). 2022-04-11. Retrieved 2022-04-11.
20. "三台收視報告｜《機智女法醫》發威排本年第二 《金宵2》仍需努力". 香港01 (in Chinese (Hong Kong)). 2022-04-19. Retrieved 2022-04-19.
21. "三台收視報告｜《食腦喪B》流失30萬觀眾 《金宵大廈2》收16.5". 香港01 (in Chinese (Hong Kong)). 2022-04-25. Retrieved 2022-04-25.
22. "《金宵2》結局收視再跌 《聲生不息》平穩 《勁騎26》吸24萬觀眾". Mingpao OL (in Chinese (Hong Kong)). 2022-05-03. Retrieved 2022-05-03.

External links

• Official website (in Chinese)