You could call long-running radio drama 18/F Block C the local equivalent of The Archers. Although not quite in the same league as the BBC series, 18/F Block C sets an impressive record as it celebrates its 40th anniversary tomorrow.
Commercial Radio launched the series in the wake of leftist-inspired violence in 1967, including riots sparked by Star Ferry fare increases. But the loss of one of its most outspoken broadcasters, Lam Bun, who burned to death in a petrol bomb attack on his car, was a particular trigger.
'The show is inseparable from Lam Bun,' says Fung Chi-fung, the show's producer for the past four years. 'It commemorates him as well as inheriting his bold spirit of speaking out.'
Set in a Wan Chai cha chaan teng, the daily half-hour show has won legions of loyal fans for voicing the sentiments of ordinary working people. The characters represent a cross-section of society: restaurant owner Boss Chow (veteran voice actor Chow Chiu-kit) stands for hardworking entrepreneurs; dishwasher Madam Cheung (Chu Shuit-mui) speaks for low-income workers and regular customer Moustachio (Chan Sham) for the money-obsessed segment, while Uncle Tok (Lee Kam) represents the thrifty elderly.
18/F Block C derived its name from the fictional magazine offices where a leading character was editor. Since there were few high-rises in Hong Kong in the 1960s, when the show was conceived, the address implied a special social status.
'Looking down from the 18th floor was therefore like looking at the world from the sky. Everything was crystal clear,' says Fung. When the actor playing the editor quit, the setting shifted to Boss Chow's cafe.