What is Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace?
I’m glad you asked. Launched in 2004 on the UK’s Channel 4, Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace is a hilarious series designed to resemble a cheesy, poorly-made 1980s TV series. In the world of the show, Garth Marenghi (Matthew Holness) is a horror writer (modeled, at least partially, on Ramsey Campbell) who describes himself as “author, dream weaver, visionary, plus actor.”
In the 1980s, Marenghi made a TV series called Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace. The show was intended for Channel 4, but it never actually aired. Now, decades later, Marenghi says that Channel 4 came to him and asked for the unaired shows. Marenghi obliged, and the show gives us the “unaired” original series spliced with new interviews with Marenghi and his publisher Dean Learner (Richard Ayoade), who also appeared on Darkplace. In the show-within-a-show, Garth Marenghi plays Dr. Rick Dagless, M.D., a doctor who works at Darkplace Hospital alongside his boss Thornton Reed (Ayoade), and fellow doctors Dr. Lucien Sanchez (Matt Berry) and Dr. Liz Asher (Alice Lowe). Darkplace was built over the gates of hell and as a result, all sorts of supernatural happenings unfold within its walls. The end result is very, very silly, and funny as hell.
By Chris Evangelista/July 26, 2021 7:58 am EST
What is Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace?
I’m glad you asked. Launched in 2004 on the UK’s Channel 4, Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace is a hilarious series designed to resemble a cheesy, poorly-made 1980s TV series. In the world of the show, Garth Marenghi (Matthew Holness) is a horror writer (modeled, at least partially, on Ramsey Campbell) who describes himself as “author, dream weaver, visionary, plus actor.”
In the 1980s, Marenghi made a TV series called Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace. The show was intended for Channel 4, but it never actually aired. Now, decades later, Marenghi says that Channel 4 came to him and asked for the unaired shows. Marenghi obliged, and the show gives us the “unaired” original series spliced with new interviews with Marenghi and his publisher Dean Learner (Richard Ayoade), who also appeared on Darkplace. In the show-within-a-show, Garth Marenghi plays Dr. Rick Dagless, M.D., a doctor who works at Darkplace Hospital alongside his boss Thornton Reed (Ayoade), and fellow doctors Dr. Lucien Sanchez (Matt Berry) and Dr. Liz Asher (Alice Lowe). Darkplace was built over the gates of hell and as a result, all sorts of supernatural happenings unfold within its walls. The end result is very, very silly, and funny as hell.
In the 1980s, Marenghi made a TV series called Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace. The show was intended for Channel 4, but it never actually aired. Now, decades later, Marenghi says that Channel 4 came to him and asked for the unaired shows. Marenghi obliged, and the show gives us the “unaired” original series spliced with new interviews with Marenghi and his publisher Dean Learner (Richard Ayoade), who also appeared on Darkplace.
In the show-within-a-show, Garth Marenghi plays Dr. Rick Dagless, M.D., a doctor who works at Darkplace Hospital alongside his boss Thornton Reed (Ayoade), and fellow doctors Dr. Lucien Sanchez (Matt Berry) and Dr. Liz Asher (Alice Lowe). Darkplace was built over the gates of hell and as a result, all sorts of supernatural happenings unfold within its walls. The end result is very, very silly, and funny as hell.
