By R.J. Melby 

Writer/Reporter 

Sometimes you don’t need inspiration for motivation. Sometimes, something can be so terrible that it drives you to make something better.  

“Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace” is about a fake 1980s television series of the same name, written by and starring fictional horror writer Garth Marenghi. He and a company of doctors battle the strange occult happenings of Darkplace Hospital; from psychic phenomena, rubber monsters, and Scottish ghosts. The show was released in 2004 on Channel 4, running only six episodes, and features commentary from the fictional actors and director.  

Starring Matthew Holness, Matt Berry, Richard Ayoade, and Alice Lowe, the cast give convincingly cringe-worthy deliveries of their lines, complete with stiff acting and over-the-top emotion.  

One scene involves a long rant about the horrors Dagless experiences on a trip to Glasgow, while other episodes involve members of the hospital turning into monkeys, a woman turning into broccoli, and Dagless adopting a one-eyed baby monster. 

We learn from the terrible. When I’ve run out of motivation as a writer, I’ve found a strange comfort in a show with the worst writing and acting. And this is by design.  

“I’d often read a bad horror novel and say, ‘can you believe how rubbish this is,’” Matthew Holness tells Richard Herring in a 2023 interview, looking back on the inception of the series. The show lovingly pokes fun at wacky seventies and eighties horror pioneered by the likes of Stephen King. And it is in this rubbishness that “Darkplace” finds its niche.  

Matt Berry, who plays Doctor Rick Sanchez, said in an interview with Tom Scharpling, “[At the time] I didn’t even think they’d play the full series. I thought they’d play the first one and get so many complaints.” 

And yet, twenty-Two years after “Darkplace” released, there is still a strong cult following. Various video essays about the show populate YouTube, while cosplayers still dress up as Doctors Rick Dagless, Lucien Sanchez, and Liz Asher at conventions.  

If you’re the type of person who finds joy in ridiculous horror like “Maximum Overdrive” and classic episodes of “Doctor Who,” “Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace” will serve as an unforgettable treat.