Trick or Treat (TV series)

Last updated

Trick or Treat
Derren Brown Trick Or Treat.png
Trick or Treat logo
GenreComedy
Created by Channel 4
Directed byBen Caron
Presented by Derren Brown
Theme music composerWill Slater
Opening themeFire
Ending themeFire (Unique)
ComposerMartin Dance
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons2
No. of episodes12
Production
Executive producers Derren Brown, Andrew O'Connor, Anthony Owen
ProducerSimon Mills
Production location Liverpool
CinematographyJeremy Hewson, Kevin White, Pete Rowe
EditorTim Thompsett
Camera setup 3SIXTYMEDIA
Running time30mins
Production company Objective Productions
Original release
Network Channel 4
Release13 April 2007 (2007-04-13) –
6 June 2008 (2008-06-06)

Trick or Treat is a British television show hosted by Derren Brown produced by Objective Productions and broadcast on Channel 4. The first episode was broadcast on 13 April 2007. The focus of the show is on one person selected from a pool of volunteers who responded to adverts in the national press to take part in the show. The experience the volunteer receives is decided by which card they choose. If they choose the card that says 'Trick' they receive a bad experience and if they choose the card that says 'Treat' they receive a good experience. This distinction is not always obvious, however: in Series 2, a participant's dark experience of being persuaded to (supposedly) kill a kitten was a 'treat' because of the positive attitude to life Derren believed she would consequently develop; similarly, a volunteer who chose a 'trick' was kidnapped, but had been taught escapology techniques which enabled her to easily escape.

Contents

Episodes of Trick or Treat are not preceded by Brown's usual claim that no actors or stooges were used in the filming of the shows. Indeed, some participants (such as the ambulance crew in the final episode of Series 1) are declared to be actors.

Episode list

Series 1

Series 1 of Trick or Treat began airing on 17 April 2007.

The cards that Brown used throughout this series of this show are deceptive as they are rotational ambigrams and can read either 'Trick' or 'Treat' depending on which way up Brown chooses to hold them, and thus the card chosen by the participant is irrelevant, in terms of the following events. The ambigram was designed by John Langdon. [1] To break up the stories of each episode, the series also includes separate routines with celebrities and also footage from the USA where Brown has been able to use his anonymity to try out new stunts.

Episode air dateTrick or Treat?Notes
13 April 2007TrickThe subject is put into a catatonic trance in a photo booth in London, and - over the next 13 hours - is transported to Marrakesh, Morocco. He wakes up in a photo booth in the back of a cafe near the main square. Also featured in this episode are the League of Gentlemen (razor in a chocolate roll trick) and a phone trick in the US.
20 April 2007TrickThe subject participates in a ventriloquism show where he becomes bound to the dummy. When the dummy is put in its trunk, the subject finds he cannot see. Also featured are the Chapman Brothers with Adrian Searle (an art critic for The Guardian) and Brown’s paying with paper routine in New York City.
27 April 2007TreatA novice elderly lady is taught how to read bluffs and play poker. After only one week’s practice, she takes part in a tournament with professional poker players and is beaten only by a fluked final hand. Also featured is Brown acting as a waxwork in Madame Tussauds and a trick to make an American lady think cars were different colours from what they were.
4 May 2007TrickThe subject is first kidnapped in a London taxi cab and then becomes a street madman. Also featured is Martin Freeman and the ‘Wisdom of Crowds’ routine in the Emigrant Savings Bank, Lower Manhattan.
11 May 2007TreatThe subject is taught to play the piano and gives a professional standard recital within weeks. Later it transpires that the subject had played piano earlier in her life, but Brown persuaded her to forget this, so that she could rediscover her lost joy of playing. Also featured is Simon Callow at Compton Verney House and Brown acting as a psychic waiter in New York.
18 May 2007TrickThe subject is put into a trance and wakes up at the scene of a staged road traffic accident in which she sees herself dead in her car. She is unable to move her legs and the 'rescue personnel' do not respond to her presence. Also featured in this episode are the 'Prediction Bag' routine in Covent Garden and the 'Lying Car Salesmen' in the US.

Series 2

Series 2 of Trick or Treat began airing on 2 May 2008.

The cards which Brown used in this series are not the ambigrams as used in Series 1, but are visually distinct 'Trick' and 'Treat' cards.

Episode air dateEpisode TitleTrick or Treat?Notes
2 May 2008QuizTreatThe subject is taught a technique of speed learning, and spends a week scanning hundreds of books in preparation for a Night of the Champions pub quiz, in which he enters as the only solo participant and comes second [2] only to two teams who tied for first place.
9 May 2008KittenTreatThe subject is shown a kitten in a metal cage and told that it will be electrocuted if she presses a button. The subject would win £500 if she stays in the room for five minutes without killing the kitten. Derren's negative suggestion forces her to press the button at the last second. However, she finds the cat is still alive and thus wins the £500. The treat was that the subject would think back to the moment if she was ever being negative in future, and would then become a more positive person.
16 May 2008TimeTreatThe subject, guest star David Tennant, appears to have the ability to time travel. Through hypnosis, he is taken back to 29 September 1938 and gives out facts that appear in a newspaper from the following day. He then predicts what a member of the public will draw on a card, twenty minutes beforehand. Finally, he performs automatic writing, predicting two news items which would appear three days later in The Guardian newspaper. It was mentioned in the episode that Tennant had applied to the programme in the same way any ordinary member of the public would.
23 May 2008EscapeTrickThe subject is taught ancient techniques on how to get free from complicated, risky situations. Subsequently, the subject - with hands and feet tied - is inserted into a sack and thrown into a lake. The subject gets free. During the course of the show, Derren claims that the subject will be completely alone under the water, bar a stationary camera.
30 May 2008ConfidenceTreatThe subject is put through a round of speed dating, where his shyness and lack of confidence clearly hold him back. Derren then puts the subject through a series of exercises and visualizations to build the subject's confidence. The subject is then put through another round of speed dating, where many more women placed him on their "would like to meet again" list, and he even proactively begins dating one of the interested women. Over a month after the subject believes all of the filming has been completed, Brown tests the subject in a robbery.
6 June 2008SuperstitionNeitherAll previous participants from the series returned, and were placed in a room with a counter and several objects, saying that they had to score 100 points within half an hour. However, the points were awarded randomly and not by any actions performed in the room, referring to Skinner's pigeon experiments. [3] If they had realised that, they might have noticed there was a further element, and found the sign above them on the ceiling telling them that the doors were unlocked and £150,000 waiting for them if they went to get it, which they did not.

In another part of the episode, a superstitious woman was tested on her beliefs by being made to walk on pavement cracks and under ladders, smash a mirror, etc. (causing her to comment on whether she would be killed on the way home), to see if it affected her luck in a following experiment, which it didn't. A caption at the end of the show said that the episode was dedicated to her memory, having been killed on the way home from filming, although a continuity announcer later revealed that it was a joke.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Derren Brown</span> British illusionist (born 1971)

Derren Brown is an English entertainer, mentalist, illusionist, and writer. Brown began performing in 1992, making his television debut with Mind Control (2000). He has since starred in several more shows for stage and television, including Something Wicked This Way Comes (2006) and Svengali (2012) which won him two Laurence Olivier Awards for Best Entertainment, as well as The Experiments (2011) which won him a BAFTA for Best Entertainment Programme at the 2012 awards. Brown made his Broadway debut with his 2019 stage show Secret. He has also written books for both magicians and the general public.

<i>TFI Friday</i> Entertainment show on British TV

TFI Friday is an entertainment show that was broadcast on Channel 4 television in the United Kingdom. It was produced by Ginger Productions, written by Danny Baker, and hosted by Chris Evans, for the first five series. The sixth series was hosted by several guest presenters. The show was broadcast on Fridays at 6pm from 9 February 1996 to 22 December 2000, with a repeat later that night. Its theme tune was Ron Grainer's theme from Man in a Suitcase, in keeping with Evans' frequent use of 1960s television themes in his work.

<i>New Tricks</i> British police procedural television series (2003–2015)

New Tricks is a British television police procedural comedy drama, created by Nigel McCrery and Roy Mitchell, produced primarily by Wall to Wall, and broadcast on BBC One. The programme originally began with a pilot episode on 27 March 2003, before a full series was commissioned for 1 April 2004; New Tricks concluded after twelve series on 6 October 2015. The show had an ensemble cast, of which Dennis Waterman was the only constant over all twelve series; the cast variously included Alun Armstrong, James Bolam, Amanda Redman, Denis Lawson, Nicholas Lyndhurst, Tamzin Outhwaite, and Larry Lamb.

<i>The Real Hustle</i> British television series

The Real Hustle is a BBC British television series created by Objective Productions, Alexis Conran and R. Paul Wilson for BBC Three. The show demonstrates confidence and magic tricks, distraction scams and proposition bets performed on members of the public by hosts Alexis Conran, Paul Wilson and Jessica-Jane Clement. From series 10, entitled "New Recruits", Jazz Lintott and Polly Parsons joined the hustlers.

Chan Canasta was a pioneer of mental magic in the 1950s and 1960s, becoming the first TV celebrity magician in the 1950s, and then in later life he turned to painting. Born in Kraków, Poland, he was the son of a Polish-Jewish educator.

Andrew Mark O'Connor is an English actor, comedian, magician, television presenter and executive producer.

Chaotic is an American animated science fantasy television series produced by 4Kids Entertainment. It was animated by Canadian studio Bardel Entertainment for season 1 and South Korean studio Dong Woo Animation for season 2 and 3. It is based on the Danish trading card game of the same name, with most of the plot based on the original storyline of the Danish trading card game.

Peter "Pete" Firman is an English magician, comedian, television presenter and actor.

<i>Catch 21</i> US television series

Catch 21 is an American game show broadcast by Game Show Network (GSN). Created by Merrill Heatter, the series follows three contestants as they play a card game centered on blackjack and trivia. The show is based on a popular online game from GSN's website and aired for four seasons from 2008 to 2011. It was hosted by Alfonso Ribeiro, with actress Mikki Padilla serving as the card dealer.

The Heist is a 2006 British Derren Brown television special that aired on Channel 4. In the special, Brown purports to use the cover of a motivational seminar and documentary to see if he can persuade four members of a group of thirteen businessmen and businesswomen to steal £100,000 in what they believe is a genuine "armed robbery" of a bank's security guard.

<i>Messiah</i> (Derren Brown special) British TV series or programme

Messiah is a Derren Brown special originally shown on Channel 4 on 7 January 2005 at 21:00. In the episode, Brown travels to the United States to try to convince five influential figures that he has special abilities in their particular field of expertise: psychic powers, Christian evangelism, New Age theories, alien abduction and contacting the dead, with the objective of getting them to endorse him as a practitioner in their field.

<i>Derren Brown: The Events</i> British television series

Derren Brown: The Events is a Channel 4 television series featuring the illusionist Derren Brown. Filmed in front of a live studio audience, this series is made up of four one-hour specials, during which Brown attempted what he had described as "some of the most incredible feats to date". The series consisted of a mixture of pre-recorded location pieces connected by theatre-based segments, with each of the four programmes building up to a major stunt performance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">How to Control the Nation</span> Episode of Derren Brown: The Events

"How to Control the Nation" is the second special in British psychological illusionist Derren Brown's The Events television series. It features Brown playing a short "subliminal film" intended to make viewers who watched the programme unable to stand up from their seats. Although most segments were pre-recorded and showed Brown investigating and performing subliminal techniques, the show was partially broadcast live, and Brown spoke with viewers who had been affected by the film on the telephone.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">How to Be a Psychic Spy</span> Episode of Derren Brown: The Events

"How to Be a Psychic Spy" is the third special in British psychological illusionist Derren Brown's The Events television series. In the programme, supposedly as part of an experiment into remote viewing, Brown invited viewers to guess what was painted onto a concealed canvas. He later revealed that he attempted to subliminally influence viewers' choices by placing advertisements in major newspapers instructing them to draw concentric circles.

"How to Take Down a Casino", also called "How to Beat a Casino" or "How to Beat the Casino", is the fourth and final special in British psychological illusionist Derren Brown's The Events television series. The episode featured both live and pre-recorded segments, and showed Brown attempting to win £175,000 by placing money that he had taken from a member of the public on a roulette wheel in an undisclosed European casino.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mat Franco</span> American magician

Mat Franco is an American magician best known for his personality driven, skill-based sleight of hand magic. He gained fame as the first magician to win America's Got Talent, in the show’s ninth season. Franco went on to produce and star in his own primetime TV specials on NBC, Mat Franco’s Got Magic. In 2015 he created and debuted his live stage show in Las Vegas, Mat Franco - Magic Reinvented Nightly, and he is currently headlining at The LINQ Hotel + Experience at the Mat Franco Theater. In addition to winning "Best Magic Show" at the Best of Vegas Awards, Franco's live production was the top-rated magic show in Las Vegas according to Billboard.com in 2021. Mat Franco - Magic Reinvented Nightly was awarded Best Show on the Las Vegas Strip again in 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Objective Media Group</span> Television production company

Objective Media Group(OMG), previously known as Objective Productions, is a media company that produces entertainment, factual entertainment, reality, factual and scripted programming. It has produced shows including The Cube, Lingo, The Gold, Feel Good, Peep Show, Fresh Meat, and Toast of London. The company has offices in London, Manchester, Glasgow, Scotland and Los Angeles, California.

<i>50 Greatest Magic Tricks</i> British TV series or programme

50 Greatest Magic Tricks is a one-off list show that was produced by Objective Productions for Channel 4. The programme counted down the fifty greatest magic tricks, as voted for by members of The Magic Circle. The illusion at number one was Death Saw by David Copperfield. The show was presented by British comedy duo Adam and Joe, who also wrote and narrated the programme. The show was first broadcast on Channel 4 on 6 May 2002.

Sacrifice is a 2018 Netflix special by Derren Brown. The special features an unsuspecting participant, Phil, taking part in a faked medical experiment to increase his bravery and empathy before he is put in a situation where he must decide whether to take a bullet for a stranger or save his own life.

References

  1. ↑ Johnlangdon.net Archived 25 September 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  2. ↑ Derren Brown - Channel 4
  3. ↑ Derren Brown, 4 minutes into episode
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.