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PLEASE NOTE: Michael D's is currently in READ ONLY MODE. Anything submitted will simply not be written to the database.
Lots of stuff is still broken, but at least reviews can now be looked up and read.
Garth Marenghi's Darkplace (2004)

Garth Marenghi's Darkplace (2004)

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Released 14-Nov-2012
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Details At A Glance

General		Extras
Category	Comedy	Gallery-Storyboards Audio Commentary-All Episodes Featurette-Darkplace Illumination Featurette-Horrificata Illuminata Deleted Scenes Featurette-Behind The Scenes-Pam's Home Movies Radio Spots Additional Footage-Test Footage Audio Bites-One Track Lover Extended Version Gallery-Photo-In Memorium Darkplace
Rating
Year Of Production	2004
Running Time	144:00
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu	Cast & Crew
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Richard Ayoade
Studio Distributor	Channel 4 Reel DVD	Starring	Matthew Holness Richard Ayoade Matt Berry Alice Lowe Kim Noble Julian Barratt
Case	Amaray-Opaque	Starring
RPI	$24.95	Music	Andrew Hewitt

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	Full Frame	English Dolby Digital 2.0
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	None
16x9 Enhancement	No
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	1.33:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No	Miscellaneous
Subtitles	English	Smoking	Yes
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

NOTE: The Profanity Filter is ON. Turn it off here.

Plot Synopsis

    Back in the 1980s, hubristic horror author Garth Marenghi (Matthew Holness) wrote, directed and starred in the television show Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace with the assistance of his publisher Dean Learner (Richard Ayoade). Set in a hospital located over the gates of Hell, the show features Marenghi as the charismatic Dr. Rick Dagless MD, and Learner as the hospital’s administrator Thornton Reed. Their colleagues are Dr. Lucien Sanchez, played by egotistical actor Todd Rivers (Matt Berry), and the ditzy Dr. Liz Asher, played by Madeline Wool (Alice Lowe). Together, they battle supernatural occurrences, ranging from cosmic broccoli to sinister Scotsmen. Fifty episodes of the show were produced, but the series was ultimately rejected by Channel 4, reportedly because it was “too radical… too goddamned crazy.” It did enjoy a brief run in Peru, though. Two decades later, C4 exhumed the show, dusting off a selection of six episodes for broadcast.

    That’s the conceit behind Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace, an elaborate and brilliantly executed hoax that lampoons low-budget ’80s television, horror, science fiction and the wild arrogance of authors who genuinely believe themselves to be geniuses. Written by Ayoade and Holness, Darkplace is instantly addictive and uproariously hilarious on top of being devilishly creative and witty. It’s one of the most refreshing and original shows in years, as well, so it’s a shame that the series was so overlooked during its original run. Thankfully, it developed into a critically acclaimed cult favourite, leading to an eventual DVD release in the UK (now in Australia) and the spin-off Man to Man with Dean Learner. Darkplace’s failure is a tremendous injustice, as the parody of low-budget ’80s TV is pitch-perfect and anyone with real memories of such material will find the series to be side-splitting.

    Darkplace would have been hilarious if the episodes were merely aired in their standalone form, but Ayoade and Holness go one step further, inserting straight-faced interviews with the cast who reminisce about the making of the show. It’s truly priceless stuff. Marenghi features prominently, presented as a misunderstood genius who still believes the show is a masterpiece, aggressively defending the material and explaining the clumsy subtext behind each episode. Learner, seen with an oddly-angled beret and a cigar, is full of hilarious production anecdotes that are too uproarious to spoil. Then there’s Todd Rivers, the eccentric has-been theatre actor whose memory has grown hazy after years of heavy drinking. At times, Rivers even claims to have no recollection of having starred in the episodes.

    From every technical aspect, Darkplace is a home run - the recreation of low-budget telly schlock here is perfection. The show carries a rough, dated appearance, with grainy film stock, hilarious fashion, an old-fashioned colour palette, and spot-on lighting which makes everything look like a phoney set. The framing is awkward, the editing is clumsy and the writing is terrible, but deliberately so. Augmenting the illusion is the soundtrack, which sounds similarly dated and carries a distinct synthesiser score which would make any ’80s composer smile. And rather than relying on state of the art digital effects, director Ayoade leaned on old-school techniques, with hilariously obvious green-screening and visible wires. The attention to detail goes deeper as well; it kicks off with a retro Channel 4 logo, and the analogue music track is distorted at times as if the film elements have deteriorated. Luckily, the whole show is sold with a brilliant poker-face. You see, Darkplace’s incompetence does not feel manufactured; it feels as if everyone involved tried to do the best that they could, but were unaware of their shortcomings. It’s a fine line to walk, but Ayoade and his crew nailed it. As a result, if you were none the wiser, you would genuinely believe at a glance that this show was produced in the 1980s.

    The actors are staggeringly wooden and inept, but again this is deliberate, mirroring the type of stuff we see in low-budget television shows. Ayoade in particular is sensational, with emotionless line readings, deadpan expressions, stilted movements, and a tendency to forget what to do and look at the camera. Holness is equally brilliant, presenting Marenghi as a man consumed with ego whose every line delivery oozes confidence. Berry, meanwhile, delivers his dialogue in an ostentatious, theatre-like fashion, as if he’s spouting Shakespeare. It’s great stuff. Rounding out the primary cast is blonde bombshell Lowe playing the now-missing actress (presumed dead), who portrayed the token ditzy girl in the show. There are various other guest stars throughout the season as well, including Stephen Merchant and Noel Fielding, who are totally at ease with the so-bad-it’s-funny style of acting.

    Perhaps it’s for the greater good that Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace only lasted for six episodes. Like Fawlty Towers, further episodes is an enticing prospect in theory, but there’s always the possibility that another series may fail to recapture the lightning in a bottle, and tarnish the show’s legacy as a result. The new car smell of Darkplace was beginning to wane by the final episodes anyway, so let’s be thankful that Ayoade and Holness stopped while they were ahead. As a result, we have six excellent episodes, all of which are thorough gems. This show is perfection.

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Transfer Quality

Video

    It’s difficult to properly assess the video quality of Darkplace for review purposes. After all, the visuals do look pretty rough, almost like a VHS tape, but that’s entirely intentional. Presented in its original 1.33:1 aspect ratio, in full-frame 4:3, Darkplace is not meant to look crisp or sharp; it’s meant to resemble a cheapie show from the 1980s. And in that sense, it’s mission accomplished.

    The image is tinted brown, colours do bleed, and there’s video noise and grain that’s not especially well-defined. Detail is pretty shoddy - even close-ups are lacking in this department. There are artefacts floating around the video as well, with white specks and print damage popping up intermittently and some aliasing on edges of objects and clothing. And with the show being presented in standard-definition, it looks muddy as hell, in need of an extra pop of sharpness and detail.

    And yet, I wouldn’t want the show to look any different. The illusion is constantly maintained. It’s always irritating to see movies purported to be shot using old video gear that wind up looking crisp and sharp (looking at you, Paranormal Activity 3). Overall, fans will be more than pleased with this DVD.

    The case states that there are no subtitles, but English subtitles are available on the show and all of the extras except the commentaries. And the subtitles look just fine. Non-English buyers should be wary that there are only English subtitles.

*Video Ratings Summary*
Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    There are only two audio tracks here: an English Dolby Digital 2.0 mono audio track, and an English Dolby Digital 2.0 audio commentary. Again, the soundtrack is an accurate representation of what the creators were aiming for, so it’s hard to complain about the inherent issues that are traced back to how the show was produced.

    The audio, especially the dialogue and sound effects, suffer from all of the issues that one would expect from cheap recording equipment - it’s all quite lacking in clarity. Still, it works. Dialogue is easily heard, and the sound does have some oomph to it.

    No complaints from me.

*Audio Ratings Summary*
Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Extras

The creators have gone all-out on the extras here, which are executed in-character to maintain the illusion brilliantly, in turn rendering these supplements a welcome extension of the show.

Audio Commentary – All Episodes

All six episodes are can be played with optional audio commentary featuring Holness, Ayoade and Berry in character as Garth Marenghi, Dean Learner and Todd Rivers. Rivers is quick to criticise anything and everything, and finds it difficult to care about the show. The trio openly eat and drink during the track, mobile phones are answered, and they generally bicker and argue. It’s, in a word, hilarious. These commentaries are an absolute must-listen.

Storyboards

In here you’ll find a storyboard-to-scene comparison for a sequence in episode one (1:46), and three additional galleries for select scenes in other episodes. All of the storyboards are incredibly amusing, showcasing Garth’s dreadful drawing skills. Storyboard galleries are usually a bit tedious, but I was kept amused here.

Music

In this section there’s a selection of music from the show, highlighted by the extended version of Todd Rivers’s song One Track Lover (3:25). Also included is the Darkplace Theme (0:57), Darkplace Moodscape I (1:35), Darkplace Moodscape II (1:16), and Darkplace Moodscape III (6:40). All of this is good value for fans who are interested in listening to the isolated music. Also, the One Track Lover extended version is gold.

Radio Spots

An extremely funny assortment of radio spots, all of which feature the actors in character trying to drum up interest in the show due to poor viewing figures. There is some great stuff to unearth here.

In Memorium Darkplace

A selection of production photos and promotional images. I found this all to be of good value, and it’s easy to navigate.

Darkplace Illuminatum (32:25)

As with everything else on this set, there’s a story behind this: Over 200 hours of interviews were reportedly recorded for the 2004 re-release of the show, and this is a selection of the “least angry” material. This is a hilarious documentary, full of uproarious interviews featuring the cast in character sharing anecdotes from the filming of the program. It’s clearly improvised, but the performers are all so spot-on and witty that there are far more hits than misses. Every fan of the show needs to watch this.

Misc. Horrificata Illuminata (29:50)

This supplement includes another assortment of interviews for the re-release of Darkplace, except, as a title card informs us, these particular interviews were not included in the show because the subjects kept ranting about completely off-topic things. As with the previous documentary, this extra is pure gold, with the cast (in character, again) discussing various random issues. The actors are all very talented at the art of improvisation, so it’s easy to enjoy this supplement.

The One Scene I Cut (1:37)

Garth saw cutting as a sign of weakness, a title screen informs us, which meant that most episodes of the show couldn’t be aired as they exceeded nine hours. Anyway, this is a fairly amusing deleted scene from the Scotch Mist episode.

Pam’s Home Movies (4:17)

A title screen informs us that Garth’s wife was a regular on set to make sure the writer got his morning pie on time, and she often brought her camera to grab some behind-the-scenes footage. Impossibly, even the behind-the-scenes footage appears to in character. There’s some very funny stuff here. There is an option on the menu for “Pam’s Home Movies II,” but it cannot be selected; underneath, it says “Do Not Touch – Red Hot Content.”

Test Footage (1:54)

This is just some test footage of the show, but of course the creators had to create some kind of conceit for it: 43 episodes of Darkplace were shot before Dean Learner decided he didn’t like his hairstyle, and demanded everything to be re-shot, so this is all that survives of the “original” shoot.

R4 vs R1

NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.

Darkplace has not seen a disc release in America, but it was released in the United Kingdom on DVD back in 2006. I own both the UK disc and this Australian disc; they are identical. Buy local.

Summary

Fans of British comedy owe it to themselves to check out Darkplace. It's only six episodes, each of which runs around 25 minutes. It will take 2.5 hours of your time to binge through the series. Trust me, it's worth it.

This disc left me very satisfied as a fan of Darkplace. Video and audio are fine, and extras serve as a beautiful extension of the show. This disc comes as highly recommended.

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

Review Equipment
DVD	PlayStation 4, using HDMI output
Display	LG 42LW6500. This display device has not been calibrated. This display device is 16x9 capable. This display device has a maximum native resolution of 1080p.
Audio Decoder	Built in to amplifier/receiver. This audio decoder/receiver has not been calibrated.
Amplification	LG BH7520TW
Speakers	LG Tall Boy speakers, 5.1 set-up, 180W

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