Matthew James Holness (born ) is a British comedian, actor, director and author. He is known for creating and portraying the fictional horror author Garth Marenghi.
Early life and education Born in Whitstable, Kent, Holness became a fan of Hammer horror films at a young age, to the extent that when, at the age of six, he asked Hammer star and fellow Whitstable resident Peter Cushing for his autograph, Cushing expressed concern that the child knew so much about the films. Holness attended Chaucer Technology School in Canterbury and went on to read English at Trinity Hall, Cambridge, where he received a Master of Arts degree from Cambridge, graduating in absentia due to his comedy work. As a member of the Cambridge Footlights, he appeared in a number of shows at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in the mid-1990s. He also served as vice-president when David Mitchell was president. Other contemporaries included Robert Webb, Richard Ayoade and John Oliver.
Career Holness first appeared on television as a cast-member of the short-lived BBC Two comedy series Bruiser in 2000. In the same year, Garth Marenghi's Fright Knight, a stage show written by Holness and Ayoade and starring the pair along with Alice Lowe, was nominated for the Perrier Award at the Edinburgh Fringe. The show was built around a spoof horror writer named Garth Marenghi. The sequel, Garth Marenghi's Netherhead, won the Perrier Award the following year.
He played the role of Simon, an arrogant and sarcastic computer technician in series two of The Office, which aired in 2002. About the same time, he appeared in the comedy stage play The Mighty Boosh, filling the role of Bob Fossil while regular cast member Rich Fulcher was overseas.
In 2004, the character of Garth Marenghi transferred to television with the Channel 4 horror comedy Garth Marenghi's Darkplace. Despite critical acclaim and later, a cult following, the series suffered from relatively low ratings when first broadcast.
In 2009, he appeared in the Channel 4 sitcom Free Agents. A year later he played the part of a bandleader in Cemetery Junction, a dramedy film by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant.
In 2011, he played a minor role in the first episode of the Channel 4 sitcom Friday Night Dinner. The same year, "A Gun for George" was released. This was a short film written and directed by Holness in which he plays an angry loner who writes pulp-fiction crime novels about a vigilante called the Reprisalizer. He played the part of a smug lawyer in Life's Too Short, a sitcom starring Warwick Davis.
Holness wrote and directed a 2012 short film for Sky Arts' Playhouse Presents series entitled "The Snipist", which depicted a dystopian alternative 1970s Britain stricken by rabies. Douglas Henshall starred, with John Hurt providing the voice of the Ministry.
Holness wrote and directed the 2016 "Smutch", a Halloween Comedy Short shown on Sky Arts, in which he played an embittered author haunted by a ghostwriter.
In 2018, he played the part of brooding Swedish detective Knut Ångström in the BBC Radio 4 Nordic noir parody Angstrom.
The following year, he played Prince Hector of Bulgaria in an episode of the Channel 4 sitcom Year of the Rabbit. The same year, Holness made his debut as a feature director with Possum, a psychological horror film set in Norfolk. He described the film as "not remotely funny". In interviews to promote Possum, Holness said he had written a script for another horror film which he was also hoping to get made.
In 2022, Holness announced a short fiction collection entitled Garth Marenghi's TerrorTome. This was written as Marenghi and presented as one of the character's own works, which Marenghi began working on in the 1980s. It was also released as an audiobook narrated by Holness as Marenghi. The collection was released in November 2022.
Two follow-ups to Garth Marenghi's TerrorTome were released: Garth Marenghi’s Incarcerat in October 2023 and Garth Marenghi’s This Bursted Earth in October 2025.
Filmography Film Year Title Role Notes 2005 Festival Roger 2010 Cemetery Junction The Band Leader 2011 A Gun for George Terry Finch Short film; also director, writer and composer 2018 Possum Director and writer
Television Year Title Role Notes 2000 Bruiser Various roles 6 episodes; also writer 2002 The Office Simon Episode: "Motivation" 2004 Garth Marenghi's Darkplace Garth Marenghi / Dr. Rick Dagless M.D. 6 episodes; also co-creator and writer 2005 Casanova Landlord Episode #1.1 2006 Time Trumpet Himself 6 episodes Man to Man with Dean Learner Various roles 6 episodes; also co-creator, writer and executive producer 2009 Free Agents Dan Mackey 6 episodes 2011 Friday Night Dinner Chris Episode: "The Sofa Bed"2011 Life's Too Short Ian Wold 3 episodesEpisode 4, Series 1 , Episode 6, Series 1 , Episode 7, Series 1 . Life's Too Short Episode Guide. BBC. Retrieved 31 December 2011. 2012 Playhouse Presents Episode: "The Snipist"; director and writer 2014 Toast of London Max Gland Episode: "Buried Alive" 2016 Smutch Oswin Television short; also director, writer and composer 2017 Back Laurie 4 episodes 2019 Year of the Rabbit Prince Hector of Bulgaria Episode #1.4 2020 The Haunting of Bly Manor Dominic Wingrave 2 episodes 2021 Bloods Phil 1 episode 2021 We Are Lady Parts Gameshow Host Episode: "Sparta" 2022 Toast of Tinseltown Richard Chickentoss Episode: "Doctor Grainger" 2023 Dodger Sir Denholm Havers 1 episode
Radio Year Title Role Notes 2004 The Department Keith Bilk 14 episodes 2018 Angstrom Knut Ångström 4 episodes
Bibliography Year Title Book Notes 2007 'Sounds Between' Phobic: Modern Horror Stories Anthology 2008 'Possum' The New Uncanny Anthology 2008 'The Toad and I' Black Static 3 Magazine 2014 'Possum'? Dead Funny: Horror Stories by Comedians Anthology 2014 'Introduction' Reminiscences of a Bachelor Reprint 2016 (voiceover) From Frazzled to Fabulous: How to Juggle Fatherhood, a Successful Career, 'Me Time' and Looking Good Audiobook 2017 (voiceover) The Scarifyers: The Gnomes of Death Audiobook 2017 'The Mastiff: A story of The Diggers' Protest: Stories of Resistance Anthology 2017 (cast: Eric Drazen) Doctor Who: The Lure of the Nomad Audiobook2022(Original author; audiobook narrator)Garth Marenghi's TerrorTomeNovel; audiobook2023(Original author; audiobook narrator)Garth Marenghi's IncarceratNovel; audiobook2025(Original author; audiobook narrator)Garth Marenghi's This Bursted EarthNovel; audiobook
References
External links
Matthew Holness - Twitter