Darkplace

One of the best (British) comedies on television at the moment, in my opinion, is Garth Marenghi's Darkplace (C4 Thursday, 10.30 p.m.)

Darkplace was a horror series based in a hospital in Romford and filmed in the 1980s. It was written by horror author Garth Marenghi, who also starred in it (as Dr Rick Dagless) along with his publisher Dean Learner. In every episode they have to battle against the evil that comes out of the hellmouth beneath the hospital. The series has never been seen until now and the action is interspersed with interviews with the cast about the show. I'm not going to say any more than that because it probably wouldn't help much.

What I will say,though , is that the script is excellent and the deliberate dodgy camera work and glaring continuity errors really make it a hit. The humour is deadpan and obvious but, because it is intentionally so, it is still funny. The clever use of layers (the interviews, the narration by Dagless and the acting itself) are also very good.

If you can stay awake long enough then I definitely recommend you watch it. If you want to know more then Garth Marenghi's website, which adds another layer to the whole experience by going into some detail about Marenghi's other work, will give you an insight into what to expect as the humour in the show is continued throughout the site.

Episode 3 (of 6) is on tonight.