HK web series OCTB (反黑) - A reunion of HK film industry veteran actors

As promised, here is the article I came across awhile back ago about the veteran artists who essentially stole the show due to their top notch acting in OCTB.  Note that this article came out several weeks ago, back when the first few episodes of OCTB were airing, so of course, many of the veterans who appeared later on in the series – such as Ng Man Tat, Dominic Lam, Carrie Ng, Gregory Rivers, etc. – weren’t mentioned in this particular article.  I am hoping that HK01 does an updated article later on that covers the other veterans as well so that current audiences can know who these veterans are and give them the accolades that they very much deserve!

I have decided that for this particular article, I am going to depart from my regular style – instead of directly translating the entire article pretty much word for word as I normally would, I will be paraphrasing portions of it and adding some of my own commentary.  The reason for this is because I’m actually familiar with all but one of the veteran artists mentioned in this article (I grew up watching most of them on TV) and have some additional knowledge of their backgrounds not mentioned in this article that I feel is necessary to add.  The parts in BLUE lettering are the “tidbits” that I added (not in the article) based on my knowledge of the artists.

**NOTE – there aren’t any spoilers for OCTB in the below article, however for those who never watched the Young and Dangerous movie franchise, some of the “collective memories” that are brought up below may be akin to spoilers for you, so just a heads-up….

Source: HK01

Article originally published 10/3/17

Hong Kong web series OCTB (反黑) has been taking the Chinese television industry by storm!   With only the first 10 episodes aired so far, the series’ viewership ratings in the Mainland has already exceeded 300 million and its popularity in HK has already reached new heights.   [TN: as of today, 10/14/17, with 22 episodes aired, viewership ratings in Mainland is close to 800 million already!]  In addition to praise for former category III actor Justin Cheung’s (張建聲) convincing portrayal of villain character ‘Chiu Jik’, audiences have also given high praise to the group of veteran actors – most of whom older HK audiences grew up watching on screen --  in the series who play the ‘bad guys’ (triad members) as well as the ‘good guys’ (cops).

From the moment all of these ‘uncles’ made their appearances in episode 1, audiences were already excited to see so many familiar actors back together on the screen -- as “icing on the cake” though, some of the characters that these actors portrayed were also ‘familiar names’ – for example, Frankie Ng Chi Hung’s (吳志雄) ‘Uncle Bee’ [his iconic role from the Young and Dangerous movie franchise].  With the resurgence in HK audiences’ penchant for “nostalgia” and “collective memories” in recent years, OCTB hit a sweet spot that has helped propel the series to almost instant popularity.

In this article, we will be taking a look back at these veteran actors and the ‘famous’ characters they portray.

Frankie Ng Chi Hung (吳志雄) – Uncle Bee from first installment of Young and Dangerous (古惑仔)

In the series OCTB, Frankie Ng’s character is also called Uncle Bee, except that this Uncle Bee is a triad boss already in his last days, with little to no power and essentially no say in anything.  In the Young and Dangerous movie franchise, Uncle Bee was a character who only appeared in the first installment, but the righteousness of his character and the way he took care of his juniors endeared him at the time to many audiences….so in the movie, when Uncle Bee and his family were tragically killed -- ‘buried alive’ by Francis Ng’s (吳鎮宇) character Ugly Kwan, it evoked a strong reaction from audiences.  Perhaps because of this, Y&D’s director Andrew Lau (劉偉強) decided to ‘resurrect’ Uncle Bee in the form of a different character played by Frankie in the third installment of the franchise – unfortunately, the effect wasn’t that great, as not too many people were able to recognize ‘Uncle Bee’…even his beloved ‘brothers’ from Hung Hing (Y&D’s triad society) didn’t recognize him!

My commentary:  I never got around to watching the entire Y&D franchise, but I did watch the first installment and I absolutely remember Uncle Bee and family’s death scene – it was pretty dramatic and intense…definitely not for the faint-hearted.  In fact, the entire franchise was actually quite violent with many intense scenes, though I’m not surprised that the franchise became so popular given HK audiences’ love of cop and triad-themed productions.  I can’t remember which installment of Y&D I stopped at, since it was so long ago (I think it was 3^rd or 4^th installment?), but whatever the case, I have no intention of finishing it up anytime soon, especially since I’m already getting my fill of Y&D nostalgia currently with OCTB (which is way less violent in comparisons).

Michael Chan Wai Man (陳惠敏) – “Camel” Lok from third installment of Young and Dangerous

Michael (or Brother Wai Man as he is more commonly referred to) plays the ‘godfather’ crime boss of the Wo Hing Sing triad group in OCTB.  Everyone already knows Brother Wai Man’s ‘strong’ background in real life, so it is no surprise that in pretty much every movie / series he has been in, he almost always plays ‘big boss’ characters.   In the third installment of Young and Dangerous, he played the leader of the Tung Sing triad society, Camel Lok – a crime boss who valued friendship and doing things honorably and therefore encouraged co-existing peacefully with the rival Hung Hing gang rather than fighting them.  Unfortunately, Camel’s “underlings” were not of the same mindset as him --  feeling that he was ‘outdated’ and no longer fit to lead their group, he is killed by one of his “boys” Crow (Roy Cheung), who ends up framing the Hung Hing gang for the murder.

My commentary:  The article didn’t mention much about Brother Wai Man’s background so I will attempt to fill in the gaps for those who are interested.  Brother Wai Man can best be described as a veteran actor who has experience being on ‘both sides of the law’.  In his early days (before joining the entertainment industry), he had served as a correctional officer as well as a cop and was once a boxing champion (a hobby and passion that he still practices today).  It is well-known that Brother Wai Man used to be part of a few triad gangs and even though he is no longer “officially” part of those gangs anymore, he is rumored to still have “close ties” to some of them.  Due to his background, he obviously knows people from ‘both sides.’  In terms of acting career, Brother Wai Man is actually not really active in the industry anymore, as he has a wine business and a production company that keeps him busy, however he will still participate in some movies and/or TV series if he has time.  In a recent interview, Brother Wai Man confirmed that, regardless of his busy schedule and a few health issues he is dealing with, he has already ‘signed up’ to film OCTB season 2 (which is scheduled to commence filming early 2018).

Hugo Ng (吳岱融) – Big Mouth Lin from Jiang Hu – The Triad Zone (江湖告急)

With his oft-praised portrayal as the villain character in TVB series Brother’s Keeper 2 (巨輪2) last year, Hugo Ng not only made a successful comeback to the HK small screen, he has also successfully imprinted his name in the memories of a new generation of television-viewing audiences.  It’s no secret that Hugo participated in a few category III films in the 1990s -- because he often played ‘crazy, psychopathic’ characters in those films, there was a certain ‘villain air’ to him that also led to roles in a series of triad-themed films back then.  One of his most famous movie roles was in the Dante Lam directed Jiang Hu-The Triad Zone where he played a gangster character named Big Mouth Lin who lit up the opening scene by going against the main character played by the film’s star Tony Leung Ka Fai and eventually getting a bottle broken over his head.  Despite only having a brief appearance in the film and a few lines of dialogue, Hugo was able to leave an impression on audiences with his performance – definitely no easy feat!

My commentary:  Most of you may already know this, since Hugo has been active in HK again ever since re-joining TVB again in 2015, but I will give my spiel anyway, lol.  Hugo is originally from Singapore and before joining TVB back in 1987, he was actually already a popular leading actor in the Singaporean television circle.  He filmed quite a few series for TVB in the late 80s and was considered one of TVB’s most popular ‘wuxia’ siu sangs.  His most famous role at TVB was of course as Fa Mo Kuet in 1988’s Two Most Honorable Knights (TVB’s adaptation of Gu Long’s famous wuxia epic Jue Dai Shuang Jiao 絕代雙驕).  His wife is former actress (and beauty pageant winner) Lily Chung (鍾淑慧), whom he had met on the set of TVB series The Man, The Ghost, and The Fox (人·鬼·狐) back in 1992 – they married in 1995 and have a son who is currently serving in the military in Singapore.  Hugo was actually one of my favorite actors back in the 80s (believe me, my ‘favorites’ list was LONG back then, lol) – even back then, his acting was top notch and he was quite versatile, as he was able to handle the wide range of characters thrown at him – good guy, bad guy, and everything in between – with ease.  I know most people probably only remember Hugo’s Fa Mo Kuet role (not surprising, since he was so good in the role) and he was largely typecast in wuxia dramas back then, but he also did a few non-costume dramas as well that are worth watching.  I actually stopped following his career after he left TVB (similar to many other 80s artists, he didn’t part on good terms with TVB), but I did know that both he and his wife did some category III films during the 90s before he shifted his career to Mainland.  I’m glad Hugo is back on HK television screens, as he is a great actor who can definitely carry his weight in the acting realm (oh and I recently discovered that he is a talented singer too!).

Ben Ng (吳毅將) – psychopathic rapist in Red to Kill (弱殺)

As the fiery-tempered For Shi (火屎) in OCTB, Ben’s character seems to be right up his alley!  But actually, his character here can be considered ‘mild’ when compared to the ‘psychopath’ roles he usually played in movies.  His first foray into the ‘psychopath’ role was 1994’s Red to Kill where his chilling portrayal of a psychopathic rapist left a huge impression on audiences, though it also resulted in him being typecast in similar roles later in his career.  In that movie, Ben had actually taken his performance to extremes, not only shedding his clothes for some of the scenes, but also shaving his head in efforts to make the character more realistic.  With that type of ‘extreme’ experience, asking Ben to play an impulsive gangster in OCTB is ‘a piece of cake’ in comparisons!

My commentary:  Not sure how familiar audiences are with Ben now but those who followed ATV and TVB back in the 80s/90s will definitely know who he is.  Ben was a graduate of ATV’s acting class and filmed various series for them up through the 80s, jumping ship to TVB in the mid-90s.  He started filming movies in the 90s and actually has had a simultaneous film and television career ever since.  Ben moved his career to Mainland a long time ago, which is why it’s not surprising if current HK audiences aren’t too familiar with him.  He’s actually a decent actor, though a bit too ‘crazy’ for my tastes, lol.  I remember many of the ATV and TVB series he was in, though I don’t recall any of his roles back then being memorable.  To be honest, I’m actually more familiar with his wife – former actress and Miss HK 2^nd runner up (1984) Joan Tong (唐麗球), even though she was active in the industry for less time than him (probably because she was in series/movies that I actually watched and am familiar with, lol).

Jones Soong (宋本中) – ‘Big Wong’ Ah Chun in 1999 film Street Kids Violence (三五成群)

The name Jones Soong probably won’t sound familiar to most people, but those who did watch the 1999 cult film Street Kids Violence will probably remember Jones playing the character Ah Chun in the film.  If you don’t though, it’s not surprising, as that movie was pretty much Jones’ only ‘memorable’ acting performance – after that film, he played mostly ‘kelefe’ roles in subsequent movies.  With a never-ending passion for film, Jones decided to take his love for the art behind-the-scenes and after much learning as well as hard work, he later became a director and producer.  Jones is co-owner of the production company Visual Brothers (alongside Danny Chan Kwok Kwan), which is the creative team behind OCTB – Jones is credited as executive producer / producer / director for the series and also has a cameo role in the series.  If you didn’t know who Jones was before, you probably know him now after the OCTB’s huge success!

My commentary:  I actually had never heard of Jones Soong until OCTB, lol.  Because of this series, I’ve been reading up on Jones a bit the last couple weeks (there isn’t much information out there unfortunately) and was a little surprised to learn that he’s actually quite well connected in the industry.  I guess it does make sense, since he’s been a producer and director a long time now and has undoubtedly worked with enough people in the industry to be able to establish a good amount of connections.  There were also a few things I learned about Jones and Danny’s company Visual Brothers that I feel are very interesting and also promising in terms of this company’s future endeavors in the area of film and television series production.  I won’t go into too much detail here but will do a separate post later on when I have time.

Philip Chan (陳欣健) – the entertainment industry’s real life ‘Dai Sir’!

In OCTB, there is definitely no shortage of police officers!  The main leads Jordan Chan (陳小春) and Danny Chan (陳國坤) both portray police officers in the series, but let’s not forget that there was another significant police figure above both of them – ‘Dai Sir’ Cheung Kwok Jim, portrayed by veteran actor Philip Chan (陳欣健).  Younger audiences who don’t know Philip Chan’s background might be wondering – what’s so special about this ‘uncle’?  Well, let’s start with the fact that he has been in the entertainment industry for more than 40 years already and has had one of the most prolific careers in the industry – in addition to being an actor, he was also a screenwriter, director, producer, singer, TV program host, record company executive, etc. – the list goes on.  In the 80s and 90s, Philip served as MC for numerous shows and events (both on screen and off) and at one point, was also a high level executive at record label Capital Artists.  It can be said that Philip is truly one of the first generation of HK artists to find success in the industry in various capacities across multiple media platforms.  But Philip’s biggest legacy involved his career prior to entering show business  – in 1965, Philip officially joined the HK Royal Police force and within 9 years, was promoted to Superintendent of Police.  One of the most famous cases he was involved in during his tenure was the Shanghai Street bank robbery hostage case back in 1974 – Philip was the top level officer in charge of the case and was personally at the scene directing police operations…at the time, TVB had sent reporters out to cover the case and even interviewed Philip on site! 

My commentary:  I wouldn’t be surprised if the current generation of audiences don’t have a clue who Philip Chan is, since he was most active in the industry back in the 80s and 90s.  While he is still involved in the industry even now, he mostly does behind-the-scenes work and also hosting for major business and charity events, plus he also has his own companies that do entertainment consulting and event arrangement type stuff.  For those who are wondering how Philip ended up joining the entertainment industry, he’s actually told the story many times over the past 4 decades – in 1975, Philip was offered the opportunity to write a script (in his spare time of course) for a movie about cops that one of the production companies at the time planned on making.  Due to his experience in the HK police force, Philip was able to write a script that was true to life in its portrayal of police officers and the film went down in history as being the HK film industry’s first realistic cop film -- the name of the movie was Jumping Ash (跳灰), which was officially released in theaters in 1976.  [Side note: For all you OCTB fans out there, here’s a fun fact – the theme song to Philip’s movie (in Chinese, the name of the song is 大丈夫, which is loosely translated as “Masculinity”) is the same song that OCTB’s production team decided to have re-produced and used as OCTB’s theme song currently!]  This brief foray into film sparked Philip’s interest in film-making and in 1976, when he was invited by the head of his film’s production company to join their team, he accepted the offer, deciding to give up his high-paying job as police superintendent to enter showbiz.

Review of “The Legend of Master Chan 吉星報喜” (1989)

It’s been a long time since I watched this series, so of course, when I saw that it was coming on TV, I was ecstatic. Despite having watched this series several times already, I didn’t mind rewatching again, since I love old TVB series (“old” meaning from the 70s/80s/early 90s) and this series in particular is especially enjoyable.

Even though this series is set in the Qing Dynasty era, it has nothing to do with the Imperial palace or anything of that nature – this is important to note because in recent years, most of TVB’s Qing dynasty era series have been dramatic epics filled with stories about the Imperial palace, the emperor, and infighting between various magistrates, concubines, etc. (to the point that I’m sick and tired of watching series with that theme). This particular series is way different – first of all, it is a comedy rather than a drama, and second, it focuses on the “adventures” of ordinary people as well as those who work for the government bureaucracy…the emperor and his wives are nowhere to be found and in fact only get a mention or 2 in the series (thank goodness!!).

There is definitely a lot to like about this series – the “intelligent” comedic humor interspersed throughout the series (the jokes and such are genuinely funny, to the point that I got a stomach ache afterwards from laughing so hard – and the humor is very wisely done..there’s none of that stupid raunchy slapstick stuff that is characteristic of many TVB comedies nowadays), the storyline is well thought out and fast-paced, the characters are well-developed and believable, etc. But what really drew me in to this series was the cast, which consists of many of my favorite actors/actresses (many of whom are no longer active in the HK TV industry).

The main cast consists of Deric Wan, Kathy Chow, and Margie Tsang, with a strong supporting cast (for the most part) with the likes of Hugo Ng, Paul Chun, Lau Siu Ming, Bak Yan, Michael Tao, Nixon Pang, Gallen Lo, Angelina Lo, etc (there are many more people in the series – I only named the ones that most audiences would be familiar with). The chemistry between this particular cast – especially the trio of Deric, Hugo, and Paul – is absolutely awesome, which is interesting given that it was the first time that a few of the main actors had worked together.

I will admit that one of my primary reasons for watching this series was because of Deric Wan – he is just such a brilliant and versatile actor, it’s very hard not to be drawn in to his series. “The Legend of Master Chan” was actually Deric’s first ancient series and -- if I remember correctly – the only Qing dynasty era period drama that he starred in at TVB (it’s known that Deric dislikes acting in period dramas because he hates shaving his head)….so of course, this series is particuarly special for Deric fans.

As is typical of most of my series reviews, my focus will be on the characters / cast rather than the storyline itself, since most of the time, certain aspects of the storyline end up being revealed in the character analyses anyway.

Here are the highlights:

Deric Wan (Chan Mong Gat) – Deric plays the historical scholar Chan Mong Gat, who is known for his intelligence and wisdom. In the series, his character is extremely smart and talented, but because he has a very playful personality, he sometimes lets that get the better of him and does some mischievious things that make people think that he is a “brat”. His dad (played by Lau Siu Ming) owns a rice shop in the Chan village and is constantly lamenting to his wife (played by Bak Yan) how naughty his son is and how it’s her fault because she spoils him so much. Instead of being serious about his studies in school (which he could definitely excel in if he had put in the effort), Mong Gat spends most of his time hanging out with his classmates and playing tricks on others. Later on, he ends up fleeing the village because of the woman he loves (To Yi Mui) and settles down in Guangdong, where he meets Lau Wah Dong and Fong Tong Gang (more on them later). Also, he re-encounters the ‘fiancee’ Kam Ngin Fung, whose family used to live in the same village, however the parents broke off the engagement when both were just children (mainly because at the age of 10, Mong Gat didn’t know how to talk and Ngin Fung’s family thought he was a mute). They are enemies at first, constantly arguing but then end up falling for each other.

Of course, it’s Mong Gat’s smarts that eventually makes him successful, as he soon becomes a rich and successful businessman (with ties to both the underground world as well as the bureaucracies) and later on, becomes one of the “Three Great Advisors of Guangdong” due to his quick thinking and intelligence. The interesting thing about the character is that he may appear to be a ‘brat’ on the outside, but on the inside, he is actually a very righteous, good man who has a great sense of humor but also is willing to help others and has a certain amount of respect for elders – also, he has no problem forgiving those who have wronged him, primarily because he is able to see the good qualities in them and he respects them.

I love Deric’s performance as well as his character in this series! He is so funny in this series and his interactions with the other artists / characters comes across so natural that you feel like you are right there with him, experiencing what he is experiencing. His portrayal of Chan Mong Gat is very endearing and also refreshing (he’s wearing ancient costume, yet has cool sunglasses on – now how often do you see that?). Watching how Deric’s character deals with the two women in his life (who are constantly arguing with each other) is just plain hilarious – despite his “smarts” and his success everywhere else, his one “weakness” lies in the difficulties he encounters in ‘taming’ these two strong women.

As for how close Deric’s portrayal of Chan Mong Gat is to the actual historical person – well, to be honest, I can’t really comment on that piece because I don’t know too much about the real person. Therefore, when I watched the series, I pretty much took out the historical aspect and treated it as a regular series.

Kathy Chow (To Yi Mui) – I would have to say that Kathy is really the female lead in this series (over Margie), as she has the most screentime (appearing throughout the entire series). Kathy’s character Yi Mui is the daughter of a group of ‘Robin Hood’ type bandits (led by Angelina Lo) and so growing up, she has always carried with her a sense of justice and righteousness, sticking up for people and situations whenever she feels that an injustice is being carried out. Even though she is not too educated, she is a smart woman and very strong-willed, plus she is extremely skilled in martial arts. She is actually a great match for Deric’s Chan Mong Gat, as she is very much on the same level as him in terms of ‘street smarts’. In the beginning of the series, she passes herself off as a male, as her mother sends her to the local school in the village town so that she could get an education (the school only accepts males) – therefore, she has many opportunities to ‘match wits’ with Mong Gat and his classmates. Initially, she falls for Mong Gat’s classmate Chan Gwan Yat (played by Nixon Pang), but after he betrays her and cuts ties with her (and she sees the guy for who he really is), she realizes that Mong Gat is truly good to her and so ends up falling for him.

I like Kathy’s character in this series – she’s smart and loud, but not annoying. Plus she’s a strong character, not meek and shy like traditional Chinese women of that era – I also like how she is very straightforward and isn’t afraid to show her emotions (she is definitely not what I would characterize as ‘weak’ or ‘stupid’, which is great because everyone knows how much I hate weak, badly developed characters).

I also enjoyed the interaction between Deric and Kathy in this series – knowing how many times the two have collaborated, mostly in modern series (though not always paired together), it was interesting to see how they interacted in an ‘ancient’ setting and in a comedy. These two definitely shared a lot of funny scenes together!

Margie Tsang (Kam Ngin Fung) – Margie actually does not have as much screen time compared to Kathy, as she really only appears in the later half of the series (after Deric and Kathy escape to Guangdong). Her character Ngin Fung is supposed to be the polar opposite of Kathy’s Yi Mui, as Ngin Fung had a more Westernized upbringing and so she dresses and talks like Westerner as well (she even has a Westerner boyfriend when she first appears). As is typical of an only child of a somewhat well-to-do family, Ngin Fung is spoiled and has a very willful personality – she likes to throw her weight around and have people heed her every whim. She’s also quite strong-willed as well (yay – another strong character) and sometimes, when she encounters someone she doesn’t like, she purposefully tries to be unreasonable, just because she can (for example, her relationship with Mong Gat in the beginning). When Ngin Fung ends up falling for Mong Gat later on in the series (in the typical TVB formula), she does change her ways a bit in that she is less obnoxious and willful, but still loud-mouthed and strong-willed.

I’ve always liked Margie as an actress and I definitely enjoyed her performance in this series, even though her role was not unique (she’s usually typecasted into playing willful characters). As always, Margie’s acting is very natural (which is one of many reasons why I like watching her performances). Her endless bickering with Kathy in the series is funny, though to be honest, I find Deric’s reaction (as well as the reactions of the other characters) to the arguing to be even more hilarious – the things that they do to try and sabotage each other in order to gain Deric’s attention are a bit formulaic, but funny nonetheless.

As for the Deric and Margie pairing – well, considering how rare it is for the two of them to be paired together (I’m having difficulty thinking of another series that they even collaborated on, let alone being paired together!), I have to say that I would have loved to see more of them. Too bad they didn’t have a whole lot of screen time together (compared to Deric and Kathy, that is).

Paul Chun (Fong Tong Gang) – Paul’s character is a smart aleck who is cunning and smart but can't exactly be described as 'righteous'. I wouldn't call him a villain, but he's not necessarily a 'good' person in the traditional sense because he does things in a way that can be deemed 'inappropriate' or 'outside of the rules'. Most of his time is spent trying to outwit and outsmart Chan Mong Gat, though in the end, he proves unsuccessful in this endeavor and ends up submitting to Mong Gat, even becoming his friend and confidante. And it's pretty much because of him that Mong Gat and Ngin Fung end up together.

As always, Paul Gor puts in an awesome performance as the devious assistant to the magistrate who eventually reforms and changes his ways. Paul Gor has always been one of my favorite veteran actors (I've been watching his series since the 80s) -- what I love about him is that he always puts 100% effort into his roles and whether he plays a good person or a villain (or a somewhat comedic role as with this particular series), he is ALWAYS convincing with his acting. It was alot of fun to watch the 'battle of the wits' between him and Deric in this series, with their characters constantly trying to outsmart and outdo the other, yet in the end, they are able to see each other's good qualities and mutually become friends.


Hugo Ng (Lau Wah Dong) – Hugo’s character is another wise and intelligent man who, when he first appears, works for one of the bad guys, but eventually realizes his faults and becomes a righteous person, going over to Mong Gat’s side and helping him manage his businesses. Wah Dong is actually a friend of Fong Tong Gang’s and even though he didn’t work for him, he supported Fong Tong Gang at first in trying to ‘outwit’ Mong Gat and sabotage him, until he realized that both of them were no match for Mong Gat. He is moved when Mong Gat easily forgives him for doing him wrong and becomes dedicated to helping him, evenutally becoming a good friend.

Hugo does a great job in this series, however his role is very small in here – in fact, I would venture to say that he has even less screentime than Paul Chun. I’m not sure if he was perhaps filming other series at the time because I noticed that there were some group scenes in the latter half of the series where it seemed like he should have been in the scenes, but he wasn’t.

Anyway, I’ve always felt that Hugo was a bit underrated as an actor. He certainly had the potential to be ‘leading man’ material (the looks as well as the acting), but for some reason, he just never really made it very far. I’m actually used to seeing Hugo play serious characters or villains (he’s one of those actors who is perfect for ‘ancient’ series because he looks good in ancient costume and just has that overall ‘ancient’ era feel), so to see him play a somewhat comical character like this one is quite refreshing.

Nixon Pang (Chan Guan Yat) – The best way to describe Nixon’s character in this series: A PIECE OF WOOD!!! (hey, that’s actually pretty similar to his acting in real life…LOL!). His character is one of those ‘book-smart’ types who excels in school, but pretty much sucks in everything else. He’s the “boring” type who doesn’t really know how to think for himself (relies on his dad and the servant boy who takes care of him to think for him and give him advice on stuff) – because he is so ‘rigid’ and ‘by the book’, he is not able to think outside the box and so in a sense, is inferior to Mong Gat, who may not do well in school, but has the street-smarts and intelligence to survive in the ‘real’ world. Nixon becomes a magistrate in the second half of the series, but that’s only because he got lucky (and also because of his dad’s ‘connections’ as the village leader). Both Yi Mui and Ngin Fung like him at first, but after he betrays Yi Mui and then later avoids Ngin Fung because of her “incident” with Mong Gat, he ends up in an unhappy marriage with a woman that his dad arranged for him.

If I had to choose a character to dislike, it would definitely be Nixon’s character – his character is so dense and weak, it’s not even funny! I got so annoyed and bored with his character that I just kept wishing for his scenes to hurry up and be over!

I hate to say this, but I’m glad Nixon is no longer in the industry – the guy just cannot act! He wasn’t in very many series to start with and was only the “lead” in one series while at TVB (bad decision on TVB’s part) – good thing because his “acting” his extremely wooden and boring. Can’t stand watching him!


Angelina Lo (To Dai Leung) – Angelina plays Kathy’s mother and also the leader of the bandits who steal from the rich and give to the poor. Despite being a bandit, she is still a very ‘righteous’ and ‘upright’ woman who understands very clearly right from wrong. Even though she always has to appear strong on the outside because of her position as a leader, it’s obvious that she is also a loving and caring mother, as is constantly looking out for her daughter and wanting what’s best for her future (one of the reasons why she sends her to the village school to get an education). Also, when she finds out that Gallen’s character is actually her long lost son, she is overjoyed that she is finally able to reunite with him, but also understood that in his position as magistrate, he may not want to acknowledge her as a mother, so she was ready for that (luckily, he did acknowledge her).

Angelina is another veteran actress whom I enjoy watching – I remember the first time I saw her was in the “The Seasons” (which coincidentally also starred Gallen Lo) and I’ve watched most of the series that she was in before and after that. She’s a very versatile actress who can play both the benevolent mother as well as the evil, bxxchy roles really well!


Gallen Lo (Magistrate Wun) – Gallen’s character only appears in a few episodes near the end of the series, so I wouldn’t really say that his role was even ‘supporting’. He plays one of the higher Magistrates (Chan Guan Yat’s boss) who comes to Guangdong for the purpose of capturing Mong Gat’s ‘sifu’, who has been on the run for over 20 years (the ‘sifu’ is a blind monk who used to work for the emperor in the palace but ends up going on the run because he accidentally revealed the ‘fate of the Heavens’, which the emperor didn’t like, so he became a fugitive). The Magistrate is actually a very ‘rigid’ person who is very upright and does everything by the rules, so it’s very hard to find fault with him. It is later revealed that he is actually To Dai Leung (Angelina Lo)’s long lost son and because he is a very filial person, he accepts and acknowledges Dai Leung despite her ‘bandit’ lifestyle.

This was actually one of Gallen’s earlier series and it’s obvious that his acting skills were not very polished back then – as is typical of his earlier series, Gallen’s acting in this particular series is a bit wooden (though in my opinion, better than Nixon’s). The thing that stood out most to me about Gallen in this series is that he looked extremely thin and pale, almost as though he was sick or something (maybe filming too many series and didn’t get much sleep?). Anyway, those who are interested in seeing how much Gallen has changed in terms of appearance as well as acting, this series is a good choice for the ‘earlier works’ part.

Michael Tao (Yat Dim Hong) – Michael’s role in this series is also relatively minor, as his character is one of the members of the bandit group led by Angelina’s character (his name Yat Dim Hong comes from the big red mole that he has on his face). He’s the type of person who acts before he thinks (he’s already not very bright to begin with, but add to that the fact that he sometimes acts brashly and doesn’t use his brain when he should, and you’ll see why he finds himself in ‘awkward’ situations more often than not).

Michael may not have much screen time in this series, but his character is absolutely hilarious! I know I had said once that Michael’s strength in terms of acting skill is in dramatic and villain roles, but he doesn’t do too well with comedic roles – at the time I said that, I completely forgot about his role in this series. I definitely enjoyed Michael’s performance in this series – it was funny seeing him make a fool of himself in a lot of different situations!

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Honorable mentions:

Lau Siu Ming / Bak Yun (Mr & Mrs Chan) & the actor who played Deric’s ‘sifu’ – Definitely need to give an “honorable mention” to these 3 veteran artists, especially Ming Sir, who had some of the funniest scenes in the entire series (special ‘kudos’ to Ming Sir for maintaining his hilarious accent throughout all of his scenes!). I don’t know if it’s the tremendous amount of experience that these artists have or if it’s just that they are truly excellent actors – whatever the case, it was a joy to watch these artists’ performances!

Gregory Lee (the young Chan Mong Gat) – Yup, you guessed it – child-actor (at the time) Gregory plays the ‘kid’ version of Deric’s character…I guess you could say that he has a cameo in this series because he’s only in the first episode and only in a few scenes. As usual though, he does a great job with those crying scenes!

Lam Yien Ming (Lo Yuet Ngor) – She plays Chan Guan Yat (Nixon Pang)’s precocious, outspoken cousin who at first is ‘smitten’ with Kathy (when she was pretending to be a guy), but then when she finds out Kathy’s true identity, she supports her cousin’s efforts to court her. Her character is actually quite funny because of all the ‘messy’ situations that she gets herself into – especially near the end when she ‘re-appears’ after being gone for a number of episodes and almost messes up all of Deric and Kathy’s plans (another funny moment)! An interesting fact about Lam Yien Ming (the actress) – for those who may not know, she is actor Kent Cheng’s wife in real life…of course, she retired from the industry long ago and nowadays, is a housewife taking care of her children with Kent.

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I definitely recommend this series for many reasons. First of all, if time is of the essence, this series is only 20 episodes, so it won’t take too long to get through (plus the storyline is quite fast-paced, so that adds to the overall ‘quickness’ of it). Also, the fact that this is a comedy is another advantage, as you will probably spend most of your time laughing, which will help you forget some of the flaws in the series (which is pretty much what happened in my case). The biggest reason why I recommend this series though – obviously – is the CAST….this series has an absolutely great cast (with a few exceptions), so definitely it is high on the ‘recommend’ list for me!