Jackson Booth-Millard
I have always enjoyed the television of the illusionist and mentalist, all of his shows are really watchable because he is so clever in influencing his subjects and the audience, and this series was no exception. Derren Brown presented this series of four episodes which would focus on and reveal the darker sides of the human behaviour, using the ordinary public with his famous abilities. The Assassin saw him influence a man to be hypnotised and controlled to carry out a fake assassination on Stephen Fry (Sirhan Sirhan claimed he was controlled to kill Robert Kennedy), The Gameshow presented a fake prank show for an audience to watch a man humiliate and embarrass himself with their two choice decisions, good and bad (it showed how our desire to see the bad is overwhelming), The Guilt Trip saw a man fooled into feeling a sense of guilt for a crime he did not commit, in a Cluedo style, to the point where he believes he has murdered someone and admitted to doing it, and The Secret of Luck showed how both the fortunes and consequences of believing in lucky things can influence decisions, for example gambling, including spreading a rumour creating good fortune, and man putting his life savings on a big gamble that show him the good side of believing luck. It was a fantastic documentary and entertainment format, Brown as usual is charming and clever with his mentalist tricks and explanations that make you follow and be gripped by what is happening to the unknowing participants, I would love there to be more programmes and specials like this from Brown. It won the BAFTA for Best Entertainment (Programme or Series), and it was nominated for Entertainment Craft Team. Very good!