TV Mindbender brainwashes teens to oppose fracking... with Thorpe Park ‘thought’ ride
HE’S the mind-bending TV star who has persuaded unwitting members of the public to take part in an ‘armed’ robbery and even commit a cold-blooded murder.
But master mentalist and illusionist Derren Brown’s latest trick may be his most controversial yet – brainwashing thousands of teenage theme park visitors against fracking by making them believe it could have apocalyptic consequences.
Fracking – a controversial technology that could transform Britain’s energy industry – was boosted last week by Prime Minister Theresa May offering five-figure ‘bribes’ to families who allow shale gas drilling near their homes.
Brown’s bizarre experiment in thought control is being conducted at a new £13million Ghost Train ride at Thorpe Park in Surrey, one of the country’s biggest theme parks.
The ride – which is advertised as unsuitable for anyone under 13 – uses virtual reality and illusions to spook thrill-seekers by subjecting them to a simulated train crash and demonic attacks.
Thorpe Park trumpeted the experience at its opening in July as one of the most advanced it has ever built and its biggest-ever investment. It boasts that the ride is ‘the world’s only fully immersive psychological attraction’ and that it will ‘blow your mind’.
Throughout the ride, which lasts about 15 minutes and is entirely designed by Brown, are overt and subliminal references designed to convince visitors to associate shale gas extraction with terrible consequences. As ticket holders wait in the queue they can see anti-fracking posters with slogans such as ‘Don’t fall for it’ and ‘Leave the bad stuff underground’. The ride itself implies that fracking could unleash a demon invasion to plague the planet.
Visitors then board a train carriage suspended from a ceiling before putting on virtual reality headsets. These show a video where there is a giant explosion as a result of a fracking accident.
The passengers are then evacuated from the train after supernatural demons begin to swarm the earth. Riders are told to cover their mouths ‘to prevent infection’ after poisonous gases leak into the air from drilling sites.
A spokesman for Thorpe Park said last night that the ride was ‘apolitical’ but that ‘everything Derren does has a hidden message in it.
‘He did want that hidden environmental message. The theme of the ride is to suggest the possible results of fracking, from Derren’s point of view. It’s based around an infection that spreads, and fracking is a part of that.
‘It’s done to disorientate and confuse you.’
But last night supporters of fracking criticised Brown. Michael Fabricant, a Conservative MP and chartered engineer, accused Thorpe
‘Everything Derren does has a hidden message’
Park of misleading the public. ‘It sounds like a fun ride, I might even have a go myself. It’s not, however, good geology,’ he said.
‘Fracking in the UK will be conducted at a depth greater than the height of Mount Snowdon and is nothing like the unregulated fracking that took place in the US.
‘Thorpe Park’s job is to frighten people on the ride, not frighten them because they think there will be a world apocalypse.’
Viscount Ridley, a pro-fracking member of the House of Lords, said: ‘Over many years, fracking, which makes millimetre cracks in rocks a mile beneath the surface, has proved to be extremely safe and is far less environmentally intrusive or damaging than most renewable energy projects. It offers the UK a golden opportunity for many years of secure and affordable energy with lower carbon emissions than coal.’
Thorpe Park is just over 20 miles from Bury Hill Wood in the village of Coldharbour and Horse Hill near Gatwick Airport, both areas where drilling licences have been granted despite protests, and close to other locations where there is potential for fracking. The chairman of the theme park’s parent company Mer-
lin Entertainments, Sir John Sunderland, lives just ten minutes from a potential fracking area near Guildford, but he is not known to have an opinion on the controversial practice.
The Mail on Sunday revealed last week that people who live on fracking sites could receive cash payouts of more than £10,000 from the Government to boost the drive for backing shale gas drilling. The change of heart from the Government comes after the Prime Minister abolished the Climate Change department.
Brown, 45, who lives in London, declined to comment on the Thorpe Park ride. He is well known for his stunts. In one controversial TV show, he manipulated three people into pushing a victim off a roof to their apparent death. In another, four members of the public staged a security van heist with a plastic gun they thought was real.
The ride at Thorpe Park has been plagued with problems, with visitors complaining on online forums. One said: ‘It’s annoying they keep having technical issues that mean the attraction has to be closed all day.
‘It’s probably annoying for them too, but nowhere near as annoying as it is for people who have travelled for hours to ride it.’
A Thorpe Park spokesman said: ‘With all new attractions, particularly something as ground-breaking as the Ghost Train, unfortunately there can be teething problems which are being addressed. It was closed but we do give people complimentary return tickets.’