Exporting horror
Garth Marenghi sold to the US
Horror spoof Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace has been sold to America.
The Channel 4 show has been bought by the Sci Fi Channel, the sixth biggest cable network in the US, which will screen it later this month. It is only the second UK acquisition by the network, after BBC’s Doctor Who.
Garth Marenghi, the overblown Gothic writer created by Matthew Holness and IT Crowd star Richard Ayoade, first appeared at the Edinburgh Festival in 2000, winning the Perrier the following year. Their TV series parodied low-budget Eighties paranormal shows, and was based in a hospital ‘in pre-apocalyptic Romford’. It attracted around 1.2milliion viewers, about average for a Channel 4 comedy.
The Sci-Fi Channel will premiere Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace, made by Avalon Television, on its broadband service from Thursday, two weeks before it launches on TV in a prime-time 10pm slot.
Meanwhile, Holness and Ayoade, are currently editing a new Channel 4 called, Man To Man With Dean Learner, in which Garth Marenghi’s publisher, an’international playboy’ interviews showbiz ‘friends’ – all played by Holness - in his luxury penthouse flat.
The DVD of Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace is released in the UK next month. Click here to buy.
Published: 10 Jul 2006
