DERREN BROWN: 20 YEARS OF MIND CONTROL: LIVE

Channel 4, 9.00pm

“He’s the nation’s chief tease,” says Mark Gatiss in what is probably the most astute summation of illusionist and trickster Derren Brown, who returns to our screens with what he promises will be one of his best stunts yet. Exactly what that might be is, naturally, shrouded in mystery. But it takes place as part of this documentary looking back at his 20 year stage and screen career, and the workings behind some of his most famous tricks throws up some entertaining surprises of its own. Chief among those is Brown’s apparent willingness to delve deeper into the thinking behind some of those best-known moments, most notably the muchloved Hero at 30,000

Feet, which saw a shy man save the day on a packed aeroplane.

While it’s no surprise to learn that he prefers stage to screen – it’s hard to beat the adrenalin rush of pulling off a live stunt – it is interesting to hear that Brown feels that his career has evolved from the earlier days of “almost preying on the public”

(as Stephen Merchant describes it) towards work that asks you to “engage with bigger feelings”. It’s followed at 11.10pm by a behind-thescenes look at Brown’s greatest stunts as voted for by the public, from Russian Roulette to The Heist. Sarah Hughes

am Rango (2011)

Comedy with the voice of Johnny Depp (S) pm Ice Age: Collision Course (2016) Animated sequel with the voice of Ray Romano (S)

Edward Scissorhands (1990) Tim Burton’s fantasy starring Johnny Depp (AD) (S)

Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events (2004) Comedy starring Jim Carrey (S) The Simpsons Movie (2007) Animated comedy with the voice of Dan Castellaneta (AD) (S) Jason Bourne (2016) Former government operative Jason Bourne is drawn out of hiding to uncover more truths about his father. Action thriller starring Matt Damon (AD) (S)

(2014) Thriller starring Philip Seymour Hoffman See Films of the week, p20 (S)

Mask off: Derren Brown performs a new stunt

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