When the Hellmouth opens beneath Darkplace Hospital in downtown Romford, kiddy doctor, Vietnam veteran and ex-warlock Dr. Rick Dagless M.D. is the only man who can close it. Joined by best buddy Dr. Lucien Sanchez, fiery hospital boss Thornton Reed, and woman Liz Asher, Dagless must fight the forces of Darkness while dealing with the burden of day-to-day admin. From the chilling pen of best-selling horror writer Garth Marenghi comes this lost masterpiece of televisual terror. Dare you enter Garth's Darkplace?
Episodes
Once Upon a Beginning
New doctor Liz Asher is tipped off by a psychic cat that evil lurks in the cooridors of Darkplace. When a patient mysteriously dies, Dr. Rick Dagless M.D. must scalpel-up and close a standard-sized hell-mouth beneath Romford. Contains mild swearing and the naked top-half of a man.
Hell Hath Fury
The hospital chef is savagely attacked by a ladle and then a fork. Who or what threw one or both of them? And why are objects flying about of their own accord, attacking innocent civillians and disrupting hospital procedure? Meanwhile Dagless has his own problems with a suspicious-looking temp with an attitude problem.
Skipper the Eyechild
The past is stirring in the halls of Darkplace, and for Dr. Rick Dagless M.D., that means Trouble. With a capital T (the rest of the letters lowercase). A giant eye has been born on 'B' Wing. Winner of the Prix de L'Oeil International Opticians' Television Award for Best New Drama.
The Apes of Wrath
Monkey business most macabre. A terrible sickness is spreading from ward to ward as humans regress to a primal state. Dr. Rick Dagless M.D. must kill the beast within us, and fast. i.e. before it's too late.
Scotch Mist
A lethal mist surrounds Darkplace, tartanning the hides of unwary travellers, while phantom bagpipes play on regardless. Dr. Rick Dagless M.D. must face more than the music as he unravels the secret behind its sudden appearance. The truth, when it comes, lies as a little too close to home, even though Romford would seem a safe enough distance from Glenrothes.
The Creeping Moss from the Shores of Shuggoth
Dr. Sanchez falls in love with a patient infected with cosmic broccoli, but when it threatens to spread Dr. Rick Dagless M.D. is forced to intervene. But love is blind, and the only eye Sanchez has open is at the end of a trouser snake. Can Dagless save his buddy and the world? (Yes, he can.)
Top Cast
Matthew Holness
Garth Marenghi / Dr. Rick Dagless M.D.
Matt Berry
Todd Rivers / Dr. Lucien Sanchez
Richard Ayoade
Dean Learner / Thornton Reed
Alice Lowe
Madeleine Wool / Liz Asher
apartment Production Companies
Channel 4 Television
Avalon Television