History YMMV / GarthMarenghisDarkplace

** One particular standout is Liz's "Black Hollow Ghost Eyes" in the first episode. They are the only part of the entire series ''not'' to suffer from SpecialEffectsFailure, and are fairly shocking as a result.

* HilariousInHindsight: Creator/MattBerry plays Dr. Sanchez, who at one point thinks about how he wishes he could get the ladies like Dagless (Marenghi's character)--his accent, however, makes it sound like he's saying "Douglas". Funny enough, Douglas actually is the name of [[Series/TheITCrowd one of Matt Berry's later roles]].

* TheWoobie: Madeleine Wool, Liz's in-universe actor, thanks to the extremely misogynistic script, where she plays a stereotypical, [[HystericalWoman hysterical]], [[DumbBlonde ditzy]] MenstrualMenace, despite having ostensibly been to "Harvard College, Yale." Madeleine herself is "missing, presumed dead, with the presumption heavily on dead." It's implied Dean Learner killed her

* CrossesTheLineTwice: During "Scotch Mist" Dagless tries to make amends with the Scottish people he offended years ago by explaining he didn't like being in Glasgow as he apologises he comes off as even more bigoted. And as the Scottish people talk in plain English, the show then adds subtitles to their lines as if they were speaking incomprehensible gibberish.

* CrowningMusicOfAwesome: The theme song, and One Track Lover.
** The chase theme from ''The Apes Of Wrath''. It's an absolutely classic chase theme that's tacked onto a hilariously awful chase.

* EarWorm: ''One Track Lover''.

** One particular standout are Liz's "Black Hollow Ghost Eyes" in the first episode. They are the only part of the entire series ''not'' to suffer from SpecialEffectsFailure, and are fairly shocking as a result.

* {{Narm}}: All of the dramatic moments deliberately invoke this.

* BigLippedAlligatorMoment: Intentionally invoked with the song "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3rNBAMt-kg One Track Lover]]".

* NightmareRetardant: Pretty much the whole point of the series.

* SpecialEffectFailure: Intentional, and [[PlayedForLaughs honed to an art form]].

* FairForItsDay: Garth Merenghi thinks he was this when making Darkplace in the Eighties.
-->'''Garth''': I've always been a vocal feminist. For example, I predicted that by 2040, the world would see its first female mechanic. And who knows- she might ''even'' do a decent job.

** The chase theme from ''The Apes Of Wrath''.

* JerkassStu: Dr. Rick Dagless, M.D.
* MartyStu: Dr. Rick Dagless, M.D.

* {{Wangst}}: Much hay is made about Dagless being a 'brilliant yet troubled doctor'. Given [[GenreSavvy the nature of the show]] and the quality of the writing, this usually translates to angsty, over-the-top brooding about ill-defined and ludicrous things.

* CultClassic: Invoked in-universe or, at least, presented as one by [[SmallNameBigEgo Marenghi]]. Ironically enough, has become one itself.

* SoBadItsGood: Intentionally So Awful It's Awesome. See also SoUnfunnyItsFunny.

* TooGoodToLast

* CultClassic

* TheWoobie: Madeleine Wool, Liz's in-universe actor, thanks to the extremely misogynistic script, where she plays a stereotypical, [[HystericalWoman hysterical]], [[DumbBlonde ditzy]] MenstrualMenace, despite having ostensibly been to "Harvard College, Yale." Madeleine herself is "missing, presumed dead, with the presumption heavily on dead." It's implied Dean Learned killed her

* {{Wangst}}: Much hay is made about Dagless being a 'brilliant yet troubled doctor'. Given [[GenreSavvy the nature of the show]] and the quality of the writing, this usually translates to angsty, over-the-top brooding about ill-defined and ludicrous things.

* TooGoodToLast: Only one series of six episodes was made, and it wasn't renewed due to low ratings, though it did receive a spinoff in ''ManToManWithDeanLearner''.

* PlotHole: The entire show is something of a gaping plot chasm, but even Garth seems aware of his lack of scope.
-->"What I couldn't work out was how he'd managed to [[MisterSeahorse make another man pregnant]]. I guess we'll never know. So, just to restate, that is something we'll ''never know'', you're not going to find out later."

** Also an example of TheCastShowoff: Matt Berry (who plays Todd Rivers, who plays Lucien Sanchez) loves to sing.

** He also goes into JerkassStu territory.
* {{Narm}}: ...where do we begin? Deliberate, though.

* TooGoodToLast: Only one series of six episodes was made, and it wasn't renewed due to low ratings, most likely because people didn't realize it was a parody. Ironically, the original ''Darkplace'' was cancelled as well. [[InvertedTrope A case]] of [[RealLifeWritesThePlot The Plot Writing Real Life?]]
** Although it did get what was effectively a second series: the spinoff ''Man to Man With Dean Learner'' is essentially a branching out of the concept, with Richard Ayoade reprising his role as Dean opposite a host of has-been celebrities all played by Matthew Holness (including Marenghi himself). Each episode is filled to the brim with parody videos in the vein of ''Darkplace''.

* AcceptableNationalityTargets: one episode is essentially a racist tirade against Scotland by the English Marenghi, featuring [[EvilForeigner evil, kilt-wearing, ginger-bearded Scots]] speaking with subtitles (even though their accent is perfectly understandable) that helpfully inform us that "highlander" means "Scotch person".
-->'''Sanchez''': My aunt lives in Scotland. She says it's quite nice.
-->'''Dagless''': Well she's ''wrong.''
** At the end of the episode, Dagless opens his apology to the Scotsmen by giving them shortbread.
*** It's made even more hilarious by Marenghi's attempts to justify his treatment of the Scottish as progressive, saying that it was meant "to heal Britain."
-->"I am not prejudiced! [[ViewersAreMorons But Joe Public is]]. [[YouBastard You probably are]]. [[HypocriticalHumour You look like a dropout.]]"
** The {{DVD Commentary}} ups the ante further: Garth refuses to believe that it's racist, while Dean freely admits that it's racist (and thought so at the time, too) but had no problem with it because he "doesn't like the Scotch".
** The best part is that Marenghi's attempts to appear tolerant just make him see more racist. "A Scots person meets an Englishman...fifty/fifty chance they won't have a fight, that's a very encouraging statistic". Oh, Garth...