Garth Marenghi's Darkplace

All hail Garth Marenghi (Matthew Holness), his creation "Darkplace" is true comic genius. In my estimation it is right up there with the likes of "Brass Eye", "Jam", "League of Gentlemen" and "The Office".

Although this programme may not be suitable for all audiences i.e. people who don't understand or appreciate great comedy when it comes along and would rather watch "My Family". This is the ultimate for fans of contemporary comedy, shows that look to push the boundaries and limitations of the human mind.

I dare you, or maybe not you but anyone who hasn't seen Darkplace yet to watch it. It will develop you as a human being.

Oh and by the way i was hooked on Darkplace after 1 minute.

When The show 'Little Britain' ended, I felt that TV was lacking in any hilarious new comedies. Then I saw an advert for 'Garth Marenghi's Darkplace' so I decided to watch it.

Since then I've been hooked, I have never seen anything like this show before. It is truly amazing. This proves that you don't need clever scripts, great acting or impressive special effects.

Highlights for me include, Episode 4's bike chase, Episode 1's graveyard shootout and well, pretty much the entire show.

This show is pure comic genious.

I'll finish with a quote...

"She was like a candle in the wind ... unreliable"

I'm Garth Marenghi. Author, dreamweaver, visionary, plus actor. You're about to enter the world of my imagination. You are entering my Darkplace. Garth Marenghi is genius, and as Dean Lerner himself said:"Garth is the most significant artist that I have ever worked with, and I have worked with Lulu and four other people.". And when Dean Learner says that. At the beginning of every episode Garth Marenghi reads excerpt from his novels that only further proves his masterful writing abilities (Mike stared in disbelief as his hands fell of from 'Slasher'.). Music by Stig Baasvik, based on melodies originally whistled by Garth Marenghi.

'Garth Marenghi's Darkplace' is fantastic horror and behind the scenes spoof. Probably the best there ever is. It ran only six episodes before the show was cancelled because the low viewer numbers, and it is sad. But on the other hand, the long run would have become repetitive and finally turned stale. Six twenty five minute long episodes is perfect length for such absurdity. The writing is masterfully bad as the acting and directing (all of this is on purpose of course). Constant continuity errors and bad dialogue offers laugh after laugh. But not most of the jokes are on your face, at least half the jokes are very subtle that you notice them on the second (or fourth or even on the sixth) viewing, or when someone points it out for you. TV show inside TV show have never been funnier, and the really funny part about it is that I actually cared about the show and characters Garth Marenghi had created.

Gun doting doctors in hospital constantly plagued by supernatural forces can never be any cooler than in Garth Marenghi's imagination.

Imagine a place between tuseday and purple - between the eighties and chest wigs. Now think back to Saphire and Steel, Deathwatch and certain episodes of Dr Who. Welcome... to Darkplace

Dodgy effects (forgivable - and amusing) and dodgy scripts (unforgivable - and hysterical) ruled the roost shamelessly and here they are aped to the max. I've only seen the first episode (as well as the 'Official' Garth Marenghi website) and I screamed in a miasmous catatony - I gaped shudderously at the incomprehousity of the spectacle - I laughed till I stopped laughing. It's looking good - and I hope it's a short run, as these things can be flogged silly.

As it stands, it is refreshingly sarcastic about nerd orientated broadcasting - and amazingly would stand as a series from the period. Whiffs of Michael Mann, William Friedkin, HP Lovecraft, Starsky & Hutch and hospital based soaps should have folk wincing and laughing till doomsday.

Plot snippets so far: the guy went axe happy in a trout farm. Nuff said.

I watched this show with trepidation expecting it to be another hit and miss, or even plain miss, of a mini-series. I was more then pleasantly suprised when the show proved not only to be hilarious but a much needed break from the vapid 'reality' shows that have come to expunge any palatability from our viewing pleasure. The 'bad acting', or 'showing the truth' as Garth puts it, is amazingly funny. This is especially true in the character of Garth's boss and the chef (The Office's Stephan Merchant). Overall, it can tend to be a bit tedious by the end but at the moment it is hysterical and I can't wait to see where they go from here.