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 and centres around the theme of parallel universes.
Contents
Production
Filming started in September 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
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.
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.
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.
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.
Controversy
In episode 7-8 of the series, Canadian-Hong Kong actress Franchesca Wong portrayed Louisa, a Filipino domestic helper. Her performance was praised by local media and audience. During filming, Wong applied cosmetics to darken her skin. However, this ignited criticisms of brownface and racial discrimination from overseas media. The controversy received international attention and was reported by media from Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, The Philippines, India and The United States.
On 14 April 2022, TVB publicly apologised and stated that there was no intention to express disrespect or discrimination against any nationalities. 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.