HORROR MONTH #5: Garth Marenghi's Darkplace, by Richard Ayoade and Matthew Holness (2004)

Type of Media: TV Show

"Something was pouring from his mouth. He examined his sleeve. Blood? Blood. Crimson, copper-smelling blood, his blood. Blood. Blood. Blood. And bits of sick."

This line kicks off Garth Marenghi's Darkplace, a British horror comedy series and parody of both Stephen King and low-budget 80s TV shows. Looking at the high number of horror comedies is an indication that there's a fine line between scary and silly, and it's hard to get sillier than Garth Marenghi.

In the world of the show, Garth Marenghi, played by Matthew Holness, is an author with an extensive catalog of horror novels and a massive, completely undeserved ego. In the 80s he created the series Darkplace, a medical drama/horror TV show in which Marenghi himself plays star character Dr. Rick Dagless. Dagless spends episodes fighting against paranormal evil at Darkplace Hospital while saving lives, wooing women, and being the best at everything ever. Darkplace aired for fifty episodes, then got axed.

While Marenghi says the show was cancelled by the powers that be because it was too radical for its time, it soon becomes clear that the show was actually cancelled because it is incredibly stupid. Each of the six episodes of Garth Marenghi's Darkplace shows you one of the supposed episodes of Darkplace, mixed in with occasional commentary from Marenghi, his publisher/co-star Dean Learner (played by Richard Ayoade), and other co-star Todd Rivers (played by Matt Berry).

The main cast is played by some truly talented comedic actors. Holness' Garth Marenghi is a brilliant character, smug in his assumptions about his own talent and confidently making statements without any clue as to how ridiculous or ignorant they are. Ayoade's Dean Learner, a stooge who completely buys into Marenghi's self-deluded genius, is almost as good. One of the best jokes of the series is watching Learner, a first-time actor, start off Darkplace with comically bad acting that slowly becomes decent as he gets more experience over the course of the show.

Marenghi's buffoonery is further revealed in the monsters of the Darkplace episodes, from his sexism (a psychic woman who loses control and starts killing when her weight is insulted) to his prejudice against Scottish people (a band of highlander ghosts that can only be appeased when Dagless dons a kilt and makes them an offering of shortbread). The entire time the show keeps cutting back to a talking head of Marenghi, who is more than happy to double down on his bad ideas and explain his half-baked thought process.

Additionally, Darkplace absolutely nails the look and feel of a bad 80s TV show. From the film grain to the cheap special effects to the distorted analog synth background music, Darkplace is impressive in how closely it matches 80s TV bombs like Small Wonder and Manimal. Even better is the intentionally bad continuity, editing, and voice dubbing, implying the show was poorly produced in addition to being poorly written. It's a treasure trove of sight gags and blink-and-you'll-miss-it jokes.

Unfortunately Garth Marenghi's Darkplace didn't find much popularity when it aired, and it didn't get renewed for a second season. However, the six episodes that exist are truly something special. If you're a fan of cheesy horror or British comedy, you owe it to yourself to give Garth Marenghi's Darkplace a watch.