Garth Marenghi's Darkplace - S1E1 'Once Upon a Beginning'

You can tell they all learned from Chris Morris.

This might be my fave upload of yours and can't wait for the rest of them... only beaten by your reaction to the UK The Office Christmas special part 2.

So glad you got round to this! This was my (and a lot of others') top vote for you guys when you polled for what to watch, because of how you reacted to The IT crowd. Those reactions are what got me to subscribe to your Patreon in the first place! "Toast of London" is another great Matt Berry show where he plays a ham theatre actor.

Did you guys know that Garth Marenghi (Matthew Holness) also plays the IT guy in The Office UK. This is the guy that shows off about the Bruce Lee films to Gareth... the one you showed to your sons.

Wow. Brilliant, cant believe this passed me by all theses years. Going to really enjoy this. Think you guys would love toast of london. Peak Berry!

My dad introduced me to this show. Love it.

Me and Rob watched this last night. And I thought Green Wing was mental. I felt like I was in some sort of bizarre dream. I loved it though! I hope we see Jess in a blonde mullet wig next week 😂

Oh and Richard Ayoade directed every episode and cowrote it as well, with the actor who plays Garth

HELL YEAH!!! So glad to see you love this show.

Mike is already a Dr Sanchez enjoyer. This is gonna be good.

So glad you guys seem into this as it's such a weird show it could've gone either way! I bloody love it. Gives me Naked Gun vibes sometimes with some of the throwaway lines "I'm a big girl now and in a year's time I'll be a woman" 😆

Wow! Great to see this one pop up. Very underrated but absolutely brilliant. Stands watching over and over because there are so many little background things happening that u don’t see on first watch. Stick with this one PLEEEEAAAASE.

So glad they liked this, thought it was one that could go either way

This has made me realise it basically predicted House M.D and is a House M.D parody

Now remember that this show got the least amount of votes on the poll I’m sure, I knew it would be your kind of humour 🙂🫡

I LOVE the fact that you two instantly "got this"! It's a cult classic!

Can Mike make it through even 6 episodes without just noping out at some point? That'll be the entertainment value I think. You aint seen nothin yet Mike :)

Not for me this one but hope you all enjoy 😊

In case you didnt notice, the Priest at the burial was Julian Barratt? He's half of 'The Mighty Boosh' with Noel Fielding and is also married to Dawn from Gavin and Stacey (Julia Davis)

Hopefully one day they try The Mighty Boosh!

The blond lady in the pink, Liz, is the actress from the opening scene of Roy's 'chocolate on the head'. She is the one in the taxi and Roy wants to come in to the flat. She's been in a number of things, and written some as well.

Drifters (2016 I think) is another Good Channel 4 show. Well it is to me anyway

I’ve never heard of this series before but I thought I’d watch along with you two. How amazing! I thought I was in a fever dream 🤣 lots of laugh out loud moments and right up my street! Just what I needed after a loooong day

So so glad you seem to be liking this one

I remember seeing it week by week on tv, and feeling I was seeing something so special. Something that I could not miss! And the next day me and my mates were just talking 'Darkplace'..

I am so happy that you enjoyed this so much!

I have never heard of this, let alone watched it so thank you for introducing me to something new! It was also driving me mad that I recognised the face/voice and realised it was Chris Parker from Friday night dinner, the guy collecting the sofa bed 😅😅😅

Never seen this before but absolutely loved it

Brilliant choice! So what happened between you and this Renwick customehhhh? 🤨

Hi guys haven’t seen this show so I’ll watch it along with you 😃..a lot of comedy reactions on the channel (which is great ) but would love to see your reaction to something different like Line of Duty…pretty recent and very good British crime drama …thanks guys for all your reactions 👍

RIP Sir Patrick Stewart 🌿✝️

Fantastic choice. Seeing this pop up made me smile so much. You've made my day!

I think we get they like the younger gen humour so we need to recommend misfits and brassic and fleabag things like that thanks ❤️

“Glad it got made at some point because…not in this economy” - ironic as it was cancelled because nobody got it at that point, and it became a cult classic in this economy 😂

Yaaaaassssss!!!

Love this show, one of my favs (along with most of the other reactions) Just finished the Garth Marenghi books, amazing!!!

Wasnt expecting this! One of my favourites. Typing this before ive watched it, so hopefully they like it!

Never heard of this one so it’ll be my first time watching like with Green Wing! You guys didn’t lead me astray there.

Love Darkplace! The way they make it look so much like the bad horror and sci-fi shows of that era is so perfect. Plus, with most of the cast from The Mighty Boosh in it, I feel like we’re getting a step closer 😆

I notice the main character who played the IT nerd in the office uk for a few episodes

Never seen or heard of this before a really enjoyed the first episode

In time for Halloween. Stunning.

matt berry looks so young damn

All i hope for is last one laughing

One of my all time favourite shows, and perfect for Halloween season.

I’d be willing to put money on you and the viewers enjoying: This country, stath let’s flats, outnumbered, inside no9 and people just do nothing

As you like Matt Berry, maybe check out "What We Do in the Shadows" next.

WHAT ? Are these negative comments called St Crock of Shit ?

Good evening friends ❤️ the Pirate girl is in a very good show called Not Going Out where our good friends Lee Mack and Tim Vine are meeting again after The Sketch Show ......

😊 all the shows I voted for 😊. I mentioned darkplace a few times, voted for derek and suggested blackadder🥳. Talk about spoiling me!. After darkplace ends you should 100% put Bottom in its slot, its legit funny and entertaining i know you will laugh 😆. Also, Black Books season 1 is amazing, though the other seasons kinda start to drag on, season 1 is gold.

Looks like I'm late to the party, but judging by the self entitlement of some members on here, who think this Patreon is designed to serve them only, I can probably guess what the deleted comments were like. 😆🙄

🎶Darkplace,Darkplace,Darkplace,Darkplace🎶 😃

This is a perfect introduction to the mighty boosh another surreal comedy

Bottom , men behaving badly, people just do nothing, and this country . NEED TO BE ON THE LIST

Great choice Darkplace is great, there’s a somewhat follow up called Man to Man with Dean Learner, staring the same cast and some characters, it’s only 6 eps as well Richard Ayoade is really good in it.

I remember hearing about this in school about 20 years ago and I never got round to watching it. Enjoying it a lot so far! Maybe there's hope for Toast of London at some point!

This is the best worst show of all time 😂 Absolute genius.

What a time to be alive. There could be another new show on Monday. I don’t know how we’ll cope.

When it comes to Channel 4, much like all television, they don't have as much money as they once did but they are still there doing stuff. They have a new show this weekend, it's just a one off, it's called Bradley Walsh's Million Pound Shot. It's not clear what it actually is but it will probably be a big deal, and even though it finishes at 10pm on Sunday, people will probably still be talking about it at 10:07pm Sunday at 21:00 on Channel 4. I'm looking forward to it.

I love this stupid show. But I'd never have guessed Mike and Jess would be into it. I think this demonstrates the wisdom of abandoning the polls and just going with what appeals to them. Y'know, the way most of us watch TV.

I’ve been actively running propaganda for this show for so long and recommended it for the polls, I can’t believe it’s randomly here! 🔥🔥🔥

Never seen this show before but that was frickin hilarious! 😂

Regeneration nation TV patreon has a cancerous comment section sometimes holy shit 😭you guys watch what YOU want to watch

That was awesome, thanks guys. I tried this show years ago and didn't feel it, but I guess sometimes you're not in the right headspace. Thought I'd try again with you, and I loved it. I'm looking forward to the rest of it now.

Never watched this myself, so will give it a go with you guys. Same went for Green Wing and now I can't believe I didn't watch that first time round, it's right up my street! I was new to Derek too and friends have always said I should watch it, but that's less my cup of tea, still quite like it though. Everyone's different - who knew! :D

Jess in a Madeline Wool wig next week! 😂👍

Comedy over all is very subjective some will absolutely love one thing while others will love something else. It is very unlikely when doing 7 different shows that everyone will like all of them. Thats just human nature. If there's something you don't particularly like, well thats just going to happen now and then. Not the end of the world. Just skip it or move on you always have a choice. Happy watching folks.

I’ve been waiting for this moment ever since joining a few years back. I never thought it would actually happen. So relieved to see you instantly get it.

Yaay! Watching this again is a real treat, I'm noticing things I missed the first time. Love the long walks towards the camera, and the badly timed footstep sound effects. Anything with Matt Berry is worth a watch imo, like Year of the Rabbit. Keep seeing Matthew Holness as the arrogant IT guy in The Office, because his character is kind of similar. So glad you are getting the humour.

I've just discovered that Matthew Holness is ACTUALLY writing horror novels as Garth Marenghi. I need to go shopping.

Weird

Absolutely adore this show! Going to a Garth Marenghi book reading this weekend

I’m so shocked Mike likes this and looks more confused with black adder 😂 once you gets it’s trying to be a terrible b movie then it becomes amazing

One of the best shows!!! Cult classic. Brilliantly shit in the very best way.

Looking forward to Plebs which I understand to be coming down the tracks at some point. Excellent. Plebs is great. And of course, not only has Tom Rosenthal from Friday Night Dinner but also Karl Theobald from Green Wing

It is love it or hate it

So glad you liked this. If you want another "genre fiction" comedy recommendation, give Red Dwarf a try.

I like how one interpretation of the title of the show is “Garth Marenghi’s Bumhole”.

as a brit, ive never heard of this, time to enjoy whatever it is lol

What a brilliant surprise - I knew you’d love this. Such an amazing show.

Not for me. Will miss your Taskmaster reactions. But hope you enjoy it.

I love Garth Marenghi, so, happy to watch this. The thing I can't understand is why there seem to be a fair few reactions to this show across a few channels. It's surrealist comedy, and it's great, but the biggest surrealist comedy was The Mighty Boosh, with a lot of the same actors and yet it never seems to get reacted to. I don't understand why.

Garth merengi is the computer nerd in the office talking about bruce lee. never realized that

Brilliant choice of show!!

Iv never seen this or even heard of it so looking forward to giving it a go with the pair of you

Matthew Holness plays the sofa guy in the first episode of Friday Night Dinner, he's also the IT guy from The Office.

'Oi no professionals' IYKYK

Never seen it before - absolutely loved it

Was Garth the fella who came for the sofa bed right at the start of Friday Night Dinner?

Great choice please do the mighty boosh next

Not sure if I missed it but do Mike and Jess realise it’s the computer guy from The Office?

Only true lovers of horror shows in the 80s can come up with an ingenious show like this.

So glad you liked it 😂

YESSSSS get in!!

The intro is so good lol twilight zone esque

At 26:24, in the background on the left, Dr. Sanchez is talking to the seated injured woman. He's leaning on her shoulder that she was shot in. A small but hilarious detail :) Also, she doesn't look anywhere near old enough to be Renwick's mother, lol.

Given your reaction to this, you might be up for the the Mighty Boosh. Absurd, sureal comedy from Noel Fielding. I would not have recommended it before now I don't think.

One of the all time greats.

Just to warn you....things start to get a little weird from here.....Great choice

Yay! This is one of my favourite shows. I've watched it countless times and it never gets old. Why was Douglas wearing a sling at the end? 🤔 🤣

Do men behaving badly after this. Your humour and very funny.

I'd not seen this show before but it worked for me too. In fact that's now , for the first time - a full 7 show-reactions each week from Mike & Jess that I enjoy 👍

For anyone just joining the conversation or wondering about some recently deleted comments, we want to provide some quick context. We recently decided to stop holding polls for our next reactions. When we left the choices up to votes, it led us to shows like Father Ted and I'm Alan Partridge, which we gave a fair shot but honestly did not enjoy as much as the other shows we've been introduced to. We chose Garth Marenghi's Darkplace ourselves. We are not just putting out random videos with no purpose. Our entire mission with RegenerationNationTV is to spread positivity. When a comment counteracts that mission, we take action. This space is not a public forum to tell people how much you dislike a show. It is our private Patreon, and we get to dictate what goes on here to protect the environment we have built. Simple as that. Mike and Jess

Hopefully you get to watch What We Do in the Shadows at duke point

Show is amazing - very different sort of humour for the channel. Perfect timing with Halloween at the weekend. It's incredibly weird and silly 😂

It’s strange how subjective comedy can be. This is excellent. A hammy pastiche of cheesy horror series from the 80s. Peppered with bad editing, terrible camerawork and OTT acting. The creative ‘genius’ of the show full of his own self importance. Even the sound design is hilarious. Great choice and I’m glad that Mike and Jess like it and ‘get it’. It has an excellent reputation amongst the comedy industry on both sides of the Atlantic.

I've never been afraid to hold a man's gaze, it's natural......lol

Oh amazing, don't normally check in on Thursdays as I've never got into Task Master. Love this show,I'm sure someone's already mentioned but you'll know Garth as the I.T guy in The Office who annoys Tim chatting to Gareth about Bruce Lee films etc, look forward to watching this with you guys cheers Legends🍻

Well I bloody loved this

You've only scratched the surface of absurd, dark, or surreal british comedy to date - there are many avenues and depths to it. Because Channel 4(partly) and BBC are publicly funded it has allowed them to take more chances than most in the past, though as budgets get squeezed that happens less now.

Definitely not for me but I hope you enjoy it, just wish you would let us know what you're reacting to

So glad that you self-selected this slot and are discovering this gem of a show. I'd had this, and a couple of others that would likely not win public polls on my 'wishlist' for a reaction for a while. Hope you enjoy the next 5 episodes. Also, having watched this show today for the first time in a while, it has confirmed that I will never not find Ayoade's quickly-cut glances to camera mid-scene hilarious. 👀 😂

'Cos the regime don't like it man!

Green Wing, Gavin and Stacey, Black Adder now this. Almost giving me an education on British comedy now :L This looks like a lot of fun, can't wait.

I love this show! It is so wonderfully ridiculous! Occasionally they dub over themselves, so if Matt Berry's voice appears to change, it's a voice-over.

Definitely a cult show this one. Much like the work of Chris Morris which I personally much prefer but doubt would ever see covered here for various reasons. Similar with The Thick of It. By the way Matthew Holness who plays Garth Marenghi had a little cameo in the UK Office. He was the IT guy that was a total pedant with Gareth about the Bruce Lee films and told that spurious tale of being a legendary racing driver. He also plays a much bigger part in the show that followed Extras (Life's Too Short), which is underrated and hopefully on your list somewhere.

Oh hell yea. You won't be disappointed guys 🫶🏻

I'm more curious than anything to see how they take this..... 💜💚

I'm so happy you're doing this. You can never have enough Matt Berry in your life. Hilarious .

Not my cup of tea but I hope people are having a good day

Delighted you guys have started this. Top tier 😎

So glad you're watching Darkplace! It's an absolute gem and I love that you're enjoying it already. Very rewatchable as well; even now I'm spotting things I hadn't before, despite seeing this multiple times. Also completely agree with the comment you made about being glad they made this when they did, Mike. No way something like this would be greenlit now - far too risky.

Why was I expecting to start the day with Ryan Sampson in a sack?

I had never, ever, even heard of this show. Talk about cliche city! I thought Green Wing was very clever, but very silly and I laughed a lot at it. This one also clever and silly but I only laughed once. I'm really glad you are enjoying it and I'll watch along with you but it is a little too silly for my taste.

I think I’m gonna die hahahah

Omg what a treat! You're spoiling us

Need to watch my hero staring Ardal O'Hanlon or britas empire starring Chris Barrie

Thanks for doing this really appreciate it :)

Nice choice. See your delving deep! It's quite short, so may I recommend you try: Inside no 9; People Just Do Nothing; Black Books; The Thick of It. Check out the trailers! Hope u have a good day x

Ugh. Do spaced!

How have I never seen this? Definitely enjoyed this, it gives me “black dynamite” vibes with its weird awkward and purposely bad edits!

This is the guy who thinks bruce lee is alive in the office

Channel 4 was an absolute powerhouse during this time. They basically took the comedy reigns from BBC and pumped tons of cash into new ideas. Of course, youre only seeing the cream of the crop, but UK TV was pretty crazy back in the day thanks to channel 4. Btw, theres a spinoff to this show called "Man to Man with Dean Learner" - basically a chat show with the characters from the Marenghiverse. If you finish this series and want more of the characters, you can just go straight into that show to continue the chills.

I'm a big fan of this show. And it is quite obscure so I'm glad your doing it.

One of the best written shows ever made. It’s not for everyone. But if you like the vibe, it is fucking hilarious.

This was such a joy to wake up to. Some people won't get it but that's their loss.

Well that was like a fever dream blimey!

Absolutely love this

Has it been said what the Taskmaster schedule is moving forward? Darkplace is 6 episodes, so is TM back in 6 weeks for a while, or are they taking longer off from it? Budgeting my subscriptions for the next while, unfortunately only shows I like on here atm are TM & Gavin & Stacey

Honest;y I’m surprised you didn’t just do a blackadder and react to this thinking it was the next episode of green wing. 😝

It’s hilarious show, once you get it it becomes very re-watchable especially as the eps get better each one

You know it makes sense. Even after 25 plus years I still find new things to laugh at in this show. So many supltle things going on all the time

Wow, people really have some strong opinions on this one. Ignore the haters, this show is a hidden gem and I feel like a lot of people just don’t understand the premise

Heavily inspired by a show called The Kingdom, a Danish supernatural horror set in a hospital. Created, written and directed by Lars Von Trier.

Oh man, what an unexpected treat! Legendary show.

Les Dawson was a 70s/80s comedian. He had an act that involved deliberately playing the piano badly. Anyone can bash away at a piano but it won't be funny. It takes skill to do something badly... well. There are bad TV shows and movies that are so bad they're funny but that's luck. Most bad shows are just boring. (Florence Foster Jenkins was the exception rather than the rule.) There are many attempts to be deliberately bad that fall horribly flat and are completely unfunny. There are few attempts that work: that get the tone and comedic timing right. Garth Marengh's Darkplace is one of them and one of the best imo: It's a very rare gem. And apparently, some people don't get it, which blows my mind to be honest. I can't understand why. Do they not recognise the tropes, not notice or appreciate the details (like the gravestone swaying in the wind), not appreciate the skill, not enjoy spoofs at all? I don't know but, like the fact I'm not Jesus, I've learnt to accept it.

I think they might enjoy Red Dwarf if they enjoy this

As a lover of Taskmaster I was dreading that you were going to replace it with some absolute shite like Mrs Brown's Boys. I'm not sure how Mike's logical brain is going to deal with this though 😂

It gives me "Threat Level Midnight" vibes 😂

Great choice love itn

Wondered when this would show up. Another new one for me 😊 I’ll look forward to watching this later.

Amazing choice. Richard Ayoade directed the whole thing, and co-wrote it with Matthew Holness (who you’ve seen before, he briefly appeared in The Office and Friday Night Dinner).

Thanks for finding this. Never seen it before but I love it already, dang it. ( your phrases rub off on us too, jeez Louise ). When you said you didn’t know what you were getting into I felt the excitement. Maybe I should start a channel reviewing American comedy. Name suggestions please.

What an absolute delight, you’re treating us guys…! 🕺

Its ok folks, they get it :-)

I watched this with King and Queen Boomer and they absolutely loved it! It's very important to not think too logically but instead have a total open mind and expect the most random things to happen. If you ever get round to watching Bottom with Richie (played by Rik Mayall) and Eddie (played by Adrian Edmondson) you need to have a similar mindset whilst watching! This type of comedy is like Marmite some love it and some hate it...Richie and Eddie were part of my childhood in the early 90s and I loved them! RIP Rik you LEGEND!

Ignore the haters. This is great

I always struggled with this show but very happy to give it another go through your reactions

Thank you Mike and Jess for keeping a slot for those of us who like the weird stuff! Amazing show and such a clever concept behind the silliness

One of my all time favourites, with Richard Ayoades greatest ever character and the birth of my love affair with Matt Berrys voice. There's nothing quite like Darkplace.

Two types of people in the world. Those that love Darkplace and those that love Derek.

Genius production

So glad you liked it!

Love that you guys are doing this, it's so funny

Love this, one of my favourite shows!!

Since I've never taken to 'Taskmaster', I haven't watched your reactions of it. Therefore, it's quite a surprise (but a pleasant one) to see you guys react to a different Thursday show :) This one is weird and hammy in all the right ways - and with a few recognizable people on and off camera. And for anyone finding this a bit of a miss; there's only 6 episodes, so you guys will be alright by early December ;P

A valiant effort Mike and Jess. It’s good to try new things.

Such a happy surprise. This is an amazing series! Only gets better

Part of my is delighted, part of me is worried. One of my all time favourites but it’s absolutely wild. Writing this before I watch it but I hope you love it.

This programme is so weird ... will be interesting to see how you get on with it! Jury is out for me.

Yikes! Does this mean PEOPLE JUST DO NOTHING is not happening? If so there are no shows I want to see on your Patreon right now.

Ah I was hoping for a return to WILTY, they were originally doing it with Taskmaster so I thought they would go back to it

Thank you so much for doing this one.

Yesssssss what a choice!

Ooh! I never got around to watching this first time round, it seemed too weird for me at the time. I can share your journey with you. (assuming its not so weird that you give up that is 😄)

Here we go. One of Noel Fielding and Richard Ayoade (Moss from IT Crowd)'s earliest projects and one of my favourite comedy series. A parody show with tons of great cameos, overacting and perfect for October

This show is so weird.. But funny 😂