Derren Brown: Messiah is a British variety television special produced by Objective Productions in which Derren Brown travels to the United States to try to convince five leading figures that he has powers in their particular field of expertise: Christian evangelism, alien abduction, psychic powers, New Age theories and contacting the dead.
The special originally aired in the UK on Channel 4 on 7 January, 2005. It is an hour long.
Derren Brown: Messiah originally aired in South Africa on DStv's BBC Prime (now BBC Entertainment) channel on Tuesday 25 September 2007, at 19h30.
A rebroadcast of the special aired on BBC Entertainment on Sunday 14 September 2008, at 21h00.
Repeats
Monday 15 September: 01h00
Synopsis
First shown on Channel 4 in January 2005, Messiah showed Derren taking his debunking mission to America.
In a country where his mind control skills are unknown, he sets out once again to show us not that our beliefs are wrong, but just how easy it is to dupe people into believing impossible things before breakfast.
He tries to convince five leading figures that he has powers in their particular field of expertise: Christian evangelism, alien abduction, psychic powers, New Age theories and contacting the dead.
Using a false name each time, he succeeds in convincing four of the five "experts" that he has powers, and they openly endorse him as a true practitioner.
As well as the stated aim to get a reputable authority to endorse the results of his experiments, the other agenda in the programme is to encourage people to investigate what they believe more rigorously.
Derren Brown Shows
Mind Control
Russian Roulette
Séance
Messiah
Trick of the Mind
The Heist
Something Wicked This Way Comes
The Events
An Evening of Wonders
Enigma
The Experiments