Dean Learner
Encyclopedia
Dean Learner is a fictional character created and performed by British
comedian
Richard Ayoade
in stage shows and television shows. Learner is a famous publisher, mostly of pornography, but also of the books of the fictional horror writer, Garth Marenghi
(played by Matthew Holness
).
Ayoade first played Learner in the Edinburgh Fringe
stage shows Garth Marenghi's Fright Knight
and Garth Marenghi's Netherhead
in 2000 and 2001 respectively. In 2004 he appeared in Channel 4
's spoof
horror
comedy
Garth Marenghi's Darkplace
, and in 2006 in his own TV show, Man to Man with Dean Learner
, which aired on Channel 4
from October 2006. It was recorded in Teddington Studios
in April-May 2006 in front of a live audience and featured Learner interviewing celebrity guests - all of whom happen to be his clients (and played by Ayoade's writing partner Matthew Holness) - including Marenghi.
A more famous quote from one of the episodes sees Learner praise Marenghi's talents: "Garth is the most significant artist I've ever worked with and I've worked with Lulu and four other people. So, er, we're talking creme de la creme."
Learner's attempts to first sell Darkplace were fruitless; he took the reels of 60 episodes of the show to Channel 4
, whom he expected to take the footage and air it, no questions asked. However the Channel told him they did not ask him to make the show, which Learner had no idea they needed to do. Eventually the show enjoyed a brief stint in Peru, with Learner declaring: "Thank God for the Peruvian market!"
In the Garth Marenghi's Darkplace
show within the show, Learner plays Thornton Reed, a camp hospital administrator who bears a trademark shotgun and cigar and answers to Hospital boss "Won Ton." He is known in this respect for his brilliant but sometimes pathetic attempts at comedy, one of them being "If Won Ton hears about this my arse is grass, and he's got a lawnmower!" (from Darkplace episode 4). This was not Learner and Marenghi's first major creative collaboration. Learner directed the seventies film adaptation of Marenghi's novel Bitch Killer, and also appears as Reed in Marenghi's 2006 movie, War of the Wasps. Clips of both projects were shown on Learner's chat show.
Apart from publishing Marenghi's books, appearing in Marenghi's TV shows and films and publishing various gentlemen's titles, Learner also has many other side projects, including the running of the Formula Five motor racing team "The Dean Team", with whom Steve Pising won four world titles. After leaving The Dean Team, Pising suffered a major crash in his first race with his new team, a crash which may or may not have been caused by Learner. After several years, Pising worked with Learner again on a new TV show, "The Learner", where they held auditions for a new job at Pising Parts, now owned by Learner. Dean has also released his own autobiography, "I Have A Dean", which has now been reduced to the special low price of £90.
Ayoade plays Learner as a very sleazy and underhand person. For example in the Darkplace special features, when asked what happened to "Ahmed", the original financial backer of Darkplace, Learner says: "Ahmed very sadly died. He was shot dead in his flat." and looks very conspicuously away from the camera. In another interview he also says that when Marenghi joined another Manager in the '80s, the manager very quickly died and Garth returned to Learner. It is also implied he knows something about the disappearance of Darkplace co-star Madeline Wool who played Liz Asher.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
comedian
Comedian
A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience, primarily by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting a fool, as in slapstick, or employing prop comedy...
Richard Ayoade
Richard Ayoade
Richard Ellef Ayoade is a British comedian, actor, writer and director best known for his role as Maurice Moss in The IT Crowd.Ayoade was born an only child to a Norwegian mother, Dagny , and a Nigerian father, Layide Ade Laditi Ayoade. Ayoade studied at St...
in stage shows and television shows. Learner is a famous publisher, mostly of pornography, but also of the books of the fictional horror writer, Garth Marenghi
Garth Marenghi
Garth Marenghi is a fictional horror author and actor, created by English comedians Matthew Holness and Richard Ayoade, and played by Holness. To date, the character has appeared in two stage shows, the Perrier Award-nominated Garth Marenghi's Fright Knight and Perrier Award-winning Garth...
(played by Matthew Holness
Matthew Holness
Matthew Holness is an English comedian and actor from Whitstable in Kent. He attended Chaucer Technology School in Canterbury and read English at Trinity Hall, Cambridge, where he was vice-president of the Cambridge Footlights...
).
Ayoade first played Learner in the Edinburgh Fringe
Edinburgh Fringe
The Edinburgh Festival Fringe is the world’s largest arts festival. Established in 1947 as an alternative to the Edinburgh International Festival, it takes place annually in Scotland's capital, in the month of August...
stage shows Garth Marenghi's Fright Knight
Garth Marenghi's Fright Knight
Garth Marenghi's Fright Knight was a low-budget comedy horror stage show written by Matthew Holness and Richard Ayoade, and starring Holness, Ayoade and Alice Lowe...
and Garth Marenghi's Netherhead
Garth Marenghi's Netherhead
Garth Marenghi's Netherhead was a low-budget comedy horror stage show written by Matthew Holness and Richard Ayoade, and starring Holness, Ayoade and Alice Lowe...
in 2000 and 2001 respectively. In 2004 he appeared in Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
's spoof
Parody
A parody , in current usage, is an imitative work created to mock, comment on, or trivialise an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...
horror
Horror film
Horror films seek to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's most primal fears. They often feature scenes that startle the viewer through the means of macabre and the supernatural, thus frequently overlapping with the fantasy and science fiction genres...
comedy
Comedy
Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...
Garth Marenghi's Darkplace
Garth Marenghi's Darkplace
Garth Marenghi's Darkplace is a British dark comedy show made for Channel 4 by Matthew Holness and Richard Ayoade. Following on from Garth Marenghi's Netherhead, which won the 2001 Perrier Awards, the show revolves around fictional horror author Garth Marenghi and his publisher Dean Learner...
, and in 2006 in his own TV show, Man to Man with Dean Learner
Man to Man with Dean Learner
Man to Man with Dean Learner is a British comedy chat show that was first broadcast on Channel 4 on October 20, 2006 and released on DVD on September 3, 2007...
, which aired on Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
from October 2006. It was recorded in Teddington Studios
Teddington Studios
Teddington Studios is a large British television studio complex located in Teddington, South-West London, providing studio facilities for programmes airing on BBC television, ITV, and Channel 4 along with others...
in April-May 2006 in front of a live audience and featured Learner interviewing celebrity guests - all of whom happen to be his clients (and played by Ayoade's writing partner Matthew Holness) - including Marenghi.
Character
The character is Garth Marenghi's publisher, and regards Marenghi and his (highly dubious) talents with a respect that sometimes borders on worship (he has been known to assault small children for criticising Marenghi's writing). No matter how tatty or ridiculous Marenghi's output is, Learner is forever in awe of Marenghi's gifts. Marenghi, of course, accepts Learner's praise without question, although he doesn't seem to have any great fondness for Learner in return.A more famous quote from one of the episodes sees Learner praise Marenghi's talents: "Garth is the most significant artist I've ever worked with and I've worked with Lulu and four other people. So, er, we're talking creme de la creme."
Learner's attempts to first sell Darkplace were fruitless; he took the reels of 60 episodes of the show to Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
, whom he expected to take the footage and air it, no questions asked. However the Channel told him they did not ask him to make the show, which Learner had no idea they needed to do. Eventually the show enjoyed a brief stint in Peru, with Learner declaring: "Thank God for the Peruvian market!"
In the Garth Marenghi's Darkplace
Garth Marenghi's Darkplace
Garth Marenghi's Darkplace is a British dark comedy show made for Channel 4 by Matthew Holness and Richard Ayoade. Following on from Garth Marenghi's Netherhead, which won the 2001 Perrier Awards, the show revolves around fictional horror author Garth Marenghi and his publisher Dean Learner...
show within the show, Learner plays Thornton Reed, a camp hospital administrator who bears a trademark shotgun and cigar and answers to Hospital boss "Won Ton." He is known in this respect for his brilliant but sometimes pathetic attempts at comedy, one of them being "If Won Ton hears about this my arse is grass, and he's got a lawnmower!" (from Darkplace episode 4). This was not Learner and Marenghi's first major creative collaboration. Learner directed the seventies film adaptation of Marenghi's novel Bitch Killer, and also appears as Reed in Marenghi's 2006 movie, War of the Wasps. Clips of both projects were shown on Learner's chat show.
Apart from publishing Marenghi's books, appearing in Marenghi's TV shows and films and publishing various gentlemen's titles, Learner also has many other side projects, including the running of the Formula Five motor racing team "The Dean Team", with whom Steve Pising won four world titles. After leaving The Dean Team, Pising suffered a major crash in his first race with his new team, a crash which may or may not have been caused by Learner. After several years, Pising worked with Learner again on a new TV show, "The Learner", where they held auditions for a new job at Pising Parts, now owned by Learner. Dean has also released his own autobiography, "I Have A Dean", which has now been reduced to the special low price of £90.
Ayoade plays Learner as a very sleazy and underhand person. For example in the Darkplace special features, when asked what happened to "Ahmed", the original financial backer of Darkplace, Learner says: "Ahmed very sadly died. He was shot dead in his flat." and looks very conspicuously away from the camera. In another interview he also says that when Marenghi joined another Manager in the '80s, the manager very quickly died and Garth returned to Learner. It is also implied he knows something about the disappearance of Darkplace co-star Madeline Wool who played Liz Asher.