# Garth Marenghi's Darkplace (2004)

> A self-serious horror writer's lost 1980s hospital thriller, in which a kiddy doctor must seal a Hellmouth beneath Darkplace Hospital in Romford while juggling paperwork.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/188

## Facts

- Seasons: 1
- Episodes: 6
- Episode runtime: 30 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: comedy, horror
- Created by: Richard Ayoade, Matthew Holness, Billy Brown
- Network: Channel 4
- Cast: Matthew Holness, Matt Berry, Richard Ayoade, Alice Lowe, Kim Noble, Stephen Merchant, Julian Barratt, Noel Fielding
- TMDB rating: 8.5/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0397150/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: brisk
- Intensity: mild
- Complexity: simple
- Violence: mild
- Tone: deadpan, earnest, absurd, campy, gleefully awful

## What critics say

Acclaimed as a cult spoof of 1980s horror and hospital drama, praised for its deadpan commitment to terrible-seeming production values and comic performances.

## Synopsis

Garth Marenghi's Darkplace (2004) is a British television horror spoof series created by Richard Ayoade, Matthew Holness and Billy Brown for Channel 4. Matthew Holness plays Garth Marenghi, the pompous bestselling horror author, and his fictional alter ego Dr. Rick Dagless M.D., a kiddy doctor, Vietnam veteran and former warlock who must close a Hellmouth opening beneath Darkplace Hospital in downtown Romford. Matt Berry plays his loyal best buddy Dr. Lucien Sanchez, Richard Ayoade plays the fiery hospital boss Thornton Reed, and Alice Lowe plays Liz Asher. The engine of the show is absurd self-importance colliding with ordinary hospital chores: each of its six half-hour episodes pits Dagless against occult forces while he struggles with paperwork, staff squabbles and hopelessly stilted dialogue. Presented as a lost 1980s masterpiece, the series wears its cheap production values, wooden acting and overwrought narration as deliberate jokes. Its tone is deadpan, earnest and gleefully awful, with a dark comedy edge. Fans of The Day Today, The Mighty Boosh and Twin Peaks will find resonance in its mix of cult absurdity and eerie small-town-style menace, and its single season makes it a compact cult favourite.

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