Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace episode review — 1.4 — The Apes of Wrath

Original air date: February 19, 2004
Director: Richard Ayoade
Writers: Richard Ayoade and Matthew Holness

Rating: 8/10

The water supply at Darkplace Hospital is contaminated with some kind of thing that makes people turn into apes. This is probably the best Sanchez episode, so if you’re a fan of Matt Berry, then you’ll definitely get a lot out of it.

The climax of the show’s episode goes off the rails, but in a good way. It’s pretty much what I think of when I think of awful schlock, so it works.

I also love the way Garth narrates his nightmare in the least exciting way possible. It’s great. And I love Dean Learner’s revelation that he punched a child for laughing at Garth’s writing.

I also like how obviously the water is clearly what’s wrong, but it takes them forever to figure it out.

And this episode probably has the best moment of the entire series, with Garth’s line about subtext.