#Garth marenghis dark place episodes professional#
#Garth marenghis dark place episodes series#
#Garth marenghis dark place episodes tv#

Asher is the token ditzy girl who is subservient to all the men and the victim of the show's often sexist characterisations.Īll of the performances are excellent, with each actor totally at ease with the so-bad-it's-funny style of acting required.

#Garth marenghis dark place episodes series#

Sanchez is Dagless' 'best buddy' and has the curious ability to speak an octave higher than a normal person!Īlice Lowe completes the main cast as platinum blonde Madeleine Stowe, a now missing actress (presumed dead), who starred in the series as Dr Liz Asher. Matt Berry plays Todd Rivers, an overly-theatrical Hispanic actor with an exaggerated 'fruity' accent, who plays Dr Lucien Sanchez in the show.

In the show, Learner plays shotgun-toting Thornton Reed, the hospital's administrator, and is the least capabale actor thanks to his deadpan expressions, stilted movements, emotionless dialogue, and tendency to glance at the camera and forget what to do.

#Garth marenghis dark place episodes professional#

and bits of sick'), and elaborating on the difficulties in bringing his vision to the screen.Īs Dr Rick Dagless, Holness essentially plays a romanticized version of Marenghi himself: a swaggering professional who takes the time out to chat with sick kids whilst saving the world from the horrors that emanate from his wards.Ĭo-creator Richard Ayoade plays nasal-voiced Dean Learner, Marenghi's publicist, who defends Darkplace and Marenghi's career whilst chomping on a huge cigar. Marenghi spends the series quoting from his books ('Something was pouring from his mouth. Marenghi is a short man with spectacles, slicked-back hair and leather jacket, who's convinced he's a literary genius.

These 'talking heads' allow for another level of comedy, as the cast still consider the show to be a misunderstood classic, when in fact it's clearly a piece of forgotten trash.Īs Garth Marenghi, Matthew Holness is the undoubted star. On a technical level, Darkplace is very good at being very bad atrocious editing, poor audio, shaky sets, cheap props, incompetent framing, inept special effects, idiotic plotting, bad writing, and terrible performances.Įach episode is introduced by Garth Marenghi from his crypt-like basement, and occassionally interruped by the show's cast in the form of retrospective interviews. The failure of Darkplace is one of the great injustices of British comedy, as the series is a superb parody of bad low-budget television drama, and hilarious for anyone with real memories of such material. The 6-part series was critically acclaimed and became an instant cult favourite, but ratings were low and the show was only repeated in October 2006 to promote this DVD release and spin-off show Man To Man With Dean Learner.

#Garth marenghis dark place episodes tv#

The ex- Cambridge Footlights duo had won the prestigious Perrier Award at the 2001 Edinburgh Festival for their stage show Frightfest (another Marenghi-starring horror spoof), before being signed up by Channel 4.ĭarkplace was their unsuccessful move to the small screen, effectively satirizing low-quality 80s TV shows. Smith), and Darkplace is a spoof horror series from Holness and co-creator Richard Ayoade. In reality, Garth Marenghi's a fictional character played by Matthew Holness (based on James Herbert and Guy N. too goddamn crazy', but 6 episodes were finally shown by the channel in early-2004. The series was canned by Channel 4 for being 'too radical. Back in the 1980s, Marenghi and his publisher Dean Learner filmed 50 episodes of a horror drama called Darkplace, about a Romford hospital that sits over the Gates Of Hell. Garth Marenghi is a self-absorbed horror author who has written a staggering amount of bad quality fiction. WRITERS: Richard Ayoade & Matthew HolnessĬAST: Matthew Holness (Garth Marenghi/Dr Rick Dagless, M.D), Richard Ayoade (Dean Learner/Thornton Reed), Matt Berry (Todd Rivers/Dr Lucien Sanchez) & Alice Lowe (Madeleine Wool/Dr Liz Asher)