''Barrack O'Karma'' (; lit. ''Twilight Mansion'') is a 2019 Hong Kong supernatural romantic drama television series. It stars Joel Chan and Selena Lee as a pair of

star-crossed The terms "star-crossed" and "star-crossed lovers" refer to two people who are not able to be together for some reason. These terms also have other meanings, but originally mean that the pairing is being "thwarted by a malign star" or that th ...

lovers, with Samantha Ko, Kelly Cheung,

Zoie Tam Zoie Tam Hoi-ki (; born 10 October 1981) is a Hong Kong actress, singer and television presenter currently under Television Broadcasts Limited (TVB) management. She debuted as a singer in Japan and previously acted in Japanese and Hong Kong televi ...

, Stephen Wong,

Jazz Lam Lam Tsz-sin ( zh, c=林子善; born 1982) is a Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong K ...

Lau Kong Lau Kong () is a Hong Kong actor known for his roles in TVB dramas. He left the network in 2020, after starring in over 300 dramas in his 38 years with TVB. Biography Little is known of Lau's private life, but he has been acting since 1976, when ...

, Geoffrey Wong and Gloria Tang in the supporting roles. The series made its premiere on 16 September 2019 on

TVB Television Broadcasts Limited (TVB; zh, t=電視廣播有限公司) is a television broadcasting company based in Hong Kong. The company operates five free-to-air terrestrial television channels in Hong Kong, with TVB Jade as its main Canton ...

. The series was renewed for a second season, titled ''

Barrack O'Karma 1968 ''Barrack O'Karma 1968'' (; 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 '' Barrac ...

'', premiered on 4 April 2022. The drama takes inspiration from the Champagne Court located in Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong. Creator Ruby Law was inspired by the Mandarin song "Jin Xiao Duo Zhen Zhong" () to write a story about a man and a woman who sees each other in their dreams. ''Barrack O'Karma'' has central themes of a parallel universe,

Mandela effect In psychology, a false memory is a phenomenon where someone recalls something that did not actually happen or recalls it differently from the way it actually happened. Suggestibility, activation of associated information, the incorporation ...

, and the

butterfly effect In chaos theory, the butterfly effect is the sensitive dependence on initial conditions in which a small change in one state of a deterministic nonlinear system can result in large differences in a later state. The term is closely associated w ...

. The series features 10 sub-plots about characters that live or work in the building. Principal photography began in February 2018 and concluded in June. ''Barrack O'Karma'' was nominated for six awards at the 2019 TVB Anniversary Awards and won three, including Best Supporting Actress for Candice Chiu, Most Popular Female Character for Selena Lee, and Most Popular Onscreen Partnership for Joel Chan and Selena Lee.

Synopsis

Throughout his life, unambitious Siu Wai-ming ( Joel Chan) always has dreams of a woman in a

qi pao ''Cheongsam'' (, ), also known as the ''qipao'' () and sometimes referred to as the mandarin gown, is a Chinese dress worn by women which takes inspiration from the , the ethnic clothing of the Manchu people. The cheongsam is most often seen ...

. He is hired as a security guard at the old and decrepit Twilight Mansion by book store owner Lam Yeuk-sze (

), who is the chairman of the building's committee. Siu encounters flight stewardess Alex Cheung ( Selena Lee), who appears just like the woman in his dreams. Meanwhile, the building seems to have supernatural powers over its tenants and strange things happen, leading to changes in their lives. Back in the 1960s, escort Coco Yeung ( Selena Lee) worked at the Twilight Nightclub located in the basement of Twilight Mansion. She dreamt that she became a flight stewardess and had fallen in love with a man who resembles Lau Yuk-fai ( Joel Chan), a policeman she met at the night club. Her dreams were written into a book by young Lam Yeuk-sze (Bob Cheung). In present day, Siu discovers the book and the truth behind his destined romance with Alex.

Cast

* Joel Chan as Siu Wai-ming and Lau Yuk-fai * Selena Lee as Alex Cheung Wai and Coco Yeung Yuk-wah * Samantha Ko as Chow Siu-wai * Kelly Cheung as Kelly Cheung Hei-man (herself) *

as Carmen Fong Ka-man *Stephen Wong as Ho Sai-hin *

as Yuen Ka-koon *

as Lam Yeuk-sze ** Bob Cheung as young adult Lam *Geoffrey Wong as Wan Chi-kai * Gloria Tang as Wan Ching * Akina Hong as Yuki Kut Suet * Billy Luk as Choi San * Candice Chiu as Wong Man-yi * Tammy Au-yeung as Mia Sum Heung-lin (Baby Mia) * Mark Ma as Lee Ka-chun * Kirby Lam (voice guest) as Simone *

Rosina Lam Rosina Lam (Chinese: 林夏薇; Jyutping: Lam4 Ha6-mei4; born 30 June 1987) is a Hong Kong people, Hong Kong actress currently signed with :zh:邵氏兄弟, Shaw Brothers Pictures. Biography Early life Rosina Lam is the only child of her family ...

(guest appearance) as Dr. Poon Dor-lai

Reception

Critical response

The drama series was positively received by viewers. It has a 8.5/10 rating on

Douban Douban.com (), launched on 6 March 2005, is a Chinese online database and social networking service that allows registered users to record information and create content related to film, books, music, recent events, and activities in Chinese ci ...

. ''Barrack O'Karma'' was praised for its original and thrilling story line. It was the third-most viewed TVB drama in 2019.

Awards and nominations

At the 2019

TVB Anniversary Awards The TVB Anniversary Awards (), officially known as the TVB Awards Presentation, is an annual awards ceremony honouring TVB's programming achievements in Hong Kong television; despite claims that it is the region's equivalent to the American E ...

, Selena Lee won the Most Popular Female Character award for her dual role as Alex/Coco. Lee and Joel Chan were awarded the Most Popular Onscreen Partnership award, and Candice Chiu won the Best Supporting Actress award. The series was nominated for Best Drama (Top 3), and Chan and Lee were nominated for Best Actor (Top 5) and Best Actress (Top 5) respectively.

References

{{Reflist Hong Kong drama television series TVB dramas