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Celebrated horror genius Garth Marenghi introduces his long-lost
television project: a haunting medical drama set in Romford.
The best-selling writer is already known to hundreds as the
creative force behind such classic chillers as The Ooze
(can water die?), Afterbirth (a mutated placenta attacks
Bristol) and Black Fang (rats learn to drive). Darkplace
was originally filmed in the 1980s and has since earned a
cult reputation as one of the most terrifying and radical
television programmes ever made. Even now, Garth warns that
the show, which he describes as an effort to radicalise men's
minds, may prove "too subversive, too dangerous, too
damn scary"...
Garth
Marenghi's Dark Place is an interesting concept. The basic
premise is that Marenghi, cult horror writer, conceived and
starred in a sci-fi/horror show in the '80s - a show that
had very poor viewing figures and was cancelled before it
really took off. Now the show has been revived as a "cult"
series and this DVD represents the only six episodes to have
survived intact.
The
show is an amalgamation of all things that were naff about
the '80s. If you can remember the clothes, hairstyles, decor,
dated camera shots and soundtrack then you'll have a pretty
good idea of what you're letting yourself in for. As the episodes
run, every now and then the main actors appear to talk about
what they remember of the filming of the show.
The
idea, on paper, sounds great. However, after watching the
first two shows it was apparent that this was really one gag
that was stretched to breaking point. While the whole thing
is tongue in cheek (obviously) the gag soon starts to wear
incredibly thin.
However,
by the third episode, the characters and story telling were
starting to grow on me and I realised that I had sorely misjudged
the show. While initially the fact that the whole series plays
like a couple of students messing about with a film camera,
was very annoying, the show soon starts to have a sort of
cheesy appeal. I've seen plenty of amateur web based productions,
and most of these are total naff. This is how the first couple
of episode of this show felt on first viewing. While the poor
acting, effects, editing etc are all intentional, they are
extremely frustrating to watch to begin with.
The
interviews of the actors, which are inserted liberally through
each episode, inform us about some of the things going on
at the time. We also discover that the main actress, Madeleine
Wool, has died since the show ended - although we never really
discover how she died. In fact, there's some initial confusion
as to whether she's missing or dead, but eventually we learn
she is indeed dead.
Extras
include audio commentaries for all six episode (with the actors
keeping in character throughout); Storyboards (fantastically
childish illustrations shown for key scenes); In Memorium
Dark Place (faked behind the scenes pics and publicity
shots); Darkplace Illuminata (32 minutes of interviews
- with the actors remaining in character. The highlight, for
me, was Learner's story about trying to hire Mr T - who wouldn't
fly: "He didn't say 'I'm not getting on no plane, fool'
or ask for milk though"); Misc. Horrificata Illuminata
(30 minutes of interviews. Highlights include Garth's conspiracy
theories that rats are running the country and the insistence
that mankind came from wasps); One Track Lover (music
tracks); The One Scene I Cut (a deleted scene set in
Scotland from the Scotch Mist episode); Pam's Home
Movies (4 mins of real behind the scenes footage - where
the soundtrack is removed in places so that the audience never
see the actors out of character); Test Screen (2 mins);
Original Radio Ad; and an Easter Egg.
There
are some great moments on the audio commentaries. These include
the fact that Todd Rivers was originally up for the part of
James Bond, but was beaten by Timothy Dalton; Dean moaning
about TV studios hiring continuity announcers with accents;
Why Keith Baron's brother is in the show; Dean panicking when
he learns that the Government know exactly what websites you've
been looking at; Dean complaining that George Lucas stole
his idea for the speeder bike chase in Return of the Jedi
from Darkplace; Dean's idea that a bit of racism is
good; Todd's observation that there are no black people on
The Antiques Roadshow, to which Garth says: "Maybe
the odd gollywog"; Garth's idea of romance is simply
"wine"; and Garth asking Todd if he's had a homosexual
experience - Garth feels that masturbation is a homosexual
experience, although Dean points out: "Not if you put
nail polish on your fingers and pretend it's a lady."
It
was a shame that there were no serious behind the scenes footage,
or commentary with the actors out of character, but what we
do get is entertaining enough.
If
you can sit through the first two episodes, then you'll thoroughly
enjoy this show - although it won't be to everyone's tastes.
Live
from his luxury apartment in London's glittering East End,
Dean Learner: club owner, celebrity manager, restaurateur,
entrepreneur and publisher of high-class gentlemen's magazines,
invites you to meet some of his closest friends, Man to Man.
Offering an oasis of culture and sophistication in the rancid
scrubland of depravity that passes for modern television,
Dean's special guests include the living legends Garth Marenghi,
Steve Pising, Glynn Nimron, Merriman Weir, Amir Chanan and
the recently-deceased Randolph Caer...
Man
to Man with Dean Learner is
a spoof chat show in which Dean Learner (self confessed one
man brand) opens up his penthouse flat to the world and invites
one special guest each week to share their life story. Of
course there is a conflict of interest, as Learner is also
the manager for each of his guests.
Throughout
the six episodes (or seven if you include the pilot - which
is included as an extra) Richard Ayoade plays Learner and
Matthew Holness plays the various guests. Unfortunately
as the series progresses, Ayoade becomes more and more like
Alan Partridge - which is a shame - but then I suppose any
spoof chat show is going to be compared to Steve Coogan's
greatest creation.
Learner's
guests, each living legends (well, apart from one who tragically
dies the day before the show airs), include Gareth Merenghi
(the UK's foremost writer of horror fiction); Steve Pising
(former Formula Five Motor Racing World Champion); Glynn Nimron
(an actor whose most famous role is as Bot the robot in the
classic sci-fi series Galacticops); Merriman Weir (legendary
folk guitarist); Amir Chanan (self-confessed 'Master of the
Psychic Arts' and bender of keys); and the late Randolph Caer
(the underrated character actor famous for his roles in Nun
Party! and That Duck! 2 (Duck on the Run)).
Gareth
Merenghi (who fans of Ayoade and Holness will already know
from Garth Marenghi's Darkplace) kicks of the series
and, on reflection, is surprisingly the least entertaining
guest. This is probably because Marenghi is basically a one
gag character, and that one gag was practically kicked to
death in Darkplace. Steve Pising is obviously loosely
based on Nigel Mansell and Glynn Nimron, I was convinced,
was partly inspired by Robert Llewelyn (Red Dwarf's
Kryten) but is also an amalgamation of any sci-fi actor who
has found it almost impossible to break away from that genre.
The rest of the guests are caricatures of well established
celebrity types (the musician, phoney psychic and depressed
out of work actor).
While
the shows themselves are entertaining enough, what is really
impressive is the almost endless stream of extras that are
crammed onto this 2-disc DVD collection. I think, on balance
my favourite, just because it's so naff, is the 17 minute
Easter Egg where Pising provides 13 mins of raw home video
footage of a Camel park - with dull commentary.
We
also get to know Learner a little better. While in Darkplace
it is heavily hinted that he has a habit of killing people
who p*ss him off, in Man to Man it's obvious that it's
something he does quite often. At least one of his guests
has managed to survive Learner's attempts to kill him - Pising's
car crash was certainly not an accident.
Extras
the list of extras appear on the episode menu pages (so it's
easy to watch the deleted footage for each episode) and even
the menu pages themselves contain additional footage not in
the episodes. There's plenty of deleted scenes; trailers for
the episodes; and there's even a selection of music tracks.
But if there's one thing that lets this DVD down, it's the
fact that there are no audio commentaries, and at no point
do we get any behind the scenes material where the actors
are out of character.
While
not an overly original concept, Man to Man with Dean Learner
is extremely entertaining and is certainly a series you'll
want to watch more than once.
This
box set represents excellent value for money and is certainly
a collection I'd strongly advise you seek out.
Darren
Rea
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