Dynamo: Magician Impossible

Last updated

Dynamo: Magician Impossible
Dynamo Magician Impossible.jpg
Genre Documentary
Directed by
  • Simon Dinsell
  • Mark McQueen
Starring Steven Frayne
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
No. of series4
No. of episodes17
Production
Executive producers
  • Dan Albion
  • Lucy Ansbro
  • Debbie Young
  • Helen Parker
  • Angela Robertson
Producers
  • Randeep Sandhu
  • Luti Fagbenle
Production locations
Running time45 minutes (approx.)
Production companies
  • Phil McIntyre Television
  • Inner Circle Films
Original release
Network Watch
Release7 July 2011 (2011-07-07) 
25 September 2014 (2014-09-25)
Related

Dynamo: Magician Impossible is a fly on the wall documentary series following the life of English magician Steven Frayne, better known as Dynamo. The show is produced by Phil McIntyre Productions and Inner Circle Films for UKTV's channel Watch and Universal Networks International. [1] [2] In 2012, the show was nominated for Best Entertainment Programme at the 17th National Television Awards. [3]

Contents

Four series of Dynamo: Magician Impossible were commissioned and broadcast on Watch between 2011 and 2014. The series reached over 30 million viewers in the UK [4] and over 250 million viewers worldwide across 193 territories. [5] After being broadcast on Watch, it was confirmed on 19 December 2013 that three episodes from the show's first series would air on BBC One the following year. [6] Repeats are now regularly broadcast on UKTV's channel Dave.

Background

In 2003, before Frayne created and filmed Dynamo: Magician Impossible, the Prince's Trust gave him a loan which allowed him to start his business and invest in camera equipment. [7] Frayne left his hometown of Bradford, Yorkshire, to move to London in 2004 to begin developing his career in magic. [8] [9] His plan was to create the first ever 'magic mix-tape', [10] where he set out with a small team to film his performances on the streets of London and backstage at events. In a year, Frayne had performed magic to talent including Coldplay, Gwyneth Paltrow, Snoop Dogg and more, [11] and quickly developed a fan-base after posting the clips on YouTube. [8]

Frayne first appeared on TV as Dynamo on Channel 4’s Richard & Judy, where the general public and television executives quickly noticed his kind-hearted and loveable attitude. [12]

Series overview

Series 1

The four-episode first series aired from 7 July 2011 until 28 July 2011. [13] To launch the show, Frayne walked on water across the River Thames outside the Houses of Parliament, in front of a crowd who had gathered on Westminster Bridge. [14] The first series was filmed in London, Miami and Los Angeles, and racked up 6.69 million viewers in the UK, leading to UKTV renewing the show for a second and third series in February 2012. [15]

No.Location(s)DateViewers [16]
(millions)
Watch
weekly rank [16]
1 London 7 July 20111.351
214 July 20111.731
3 Miami 21 July 20111.791
4 Los Angeles, London28 July 20111.821

Series 2

Series 2 of Dynamo: Magician Impossible premiered on 5 July 2012, [17] and was again four-episodes in duration. Episode 2 of this series saw Dynamo visit Rio de Janeiro, where he appeared to levitate in front of the Christ the Redeemer statue. [18]

The series generated 7.67 million viewers in the UK and won the award for Best Entertainment Programme at the Broadcast Awards, [19] show of the year at the Virgin Media awards [20] and was shortlisted for Best Entertainment Programme at the 17th National Television Awards. [21] This series also received a BAFTA nomination for Best Entertainment Programme. [22]

No.Location(s)DateViewers [16]
(millions)
Watch
weekly rank [16]
1London, Bradford 5 July 20122.101
2 Rio de Janeiro 12 July 20122.051
3 Arizona, Las Vegas, Los Angeles19 July 20121.951
4London26 July 20121.571

Series 3

In 2013, Frayne travelled to New York City, Ibiza, South Africa and London to film content for the show's third series. The first episode, filmed in New York City, was broadcast on 11 July 2013 and was viewed by 1.35 million people. The series was again nominated for BAFTA's Best Entertainment Programme award, alongside Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway, Derren Brown: The Great Art Robbery and Strictly Come Dancing. [23]

No.Location(s)DateViewers [16]
(millions)
Watch
weekly rank [16]
1 New York City 11 July 20131.351
2 Ibiza 18 July 20131.011
3 South Africa 25 July 20131.251
4London, Sheffield 1 August 20130.701

Series 4

A fourth and final series of the show was commissioned by UKTV in 2014, which aired in the September of the same year. [24] In this series, Dynamo performed street magic in California, India, Paris, London, Manchester and Bradford. For the third year running, Dynamo: Magician Impossible was nominated by BAFTA for the Best Entertainment Programme award. [25]

No.Location(s)DateViewers [16]
(millions)
Watch
weekly rank [16]
1 California 4 September 20140.801
2 India 11 September 20140.502
3 Paris, London18 September 20140.483
4 Manchester, London, Bradford25 September 20140.491

International syndications

CountryNetwork
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom Watch
BBC One
Dave
Flag of Ireland.svg  Ireland Watch
Dave
Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia Seven
7mate
Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada Casa
Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand TV1
Flag of the United States.svg  United States BBC America
Discovery Channel
TLC
Flag of India.svg  India History TV18
Flag of Spain.svg  Spain Discovery Channel
Flag of South Africa.svg  South Africa
Flag of Poland.svg  Poland
Flag of Italy.svg  Italy
Flag of the Netherlands.svg  The Netherlands
Flag of Denmark.svg  Denmark
Flag of Bulgaria.svg  Bulgaria
Flag of Romania.svg  Romania

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