DERREN BROWN :: MIRACLES FOR SALE

Derren Brown's next television special will air at 9 PM on Monday April 25th at 9PM on UK's Channel 4. "Miracles for Sale,"  takes on faith healers exploiting their followers.  According to the Guardian:

Brown grew up Christian and saw faith healers as "worrisome" but not to be taken too seriously – a view he didn't change until he abandoned his faith. "Coming out of Christianity altogether and having a slightly clearer sense in my own mind of what I believed and what I didn't believe … it was much clearer to me: no, no, this is just a scam," he says.

In Derren's own Blog he says:

The project was hugely difficult because a big business like faith healing is almost impenetrable. We tried to speak to those who had worked alongside the current big-name healers, as we knew of a few who had been allowed in the inner circles of trust and knowing the depths of the corruption had eventually turned against it. But these are people who live in fear. They were told for years by their charismatic, ruthless leaders that they lived under a curse and that to leave the clan would result in God ending their lives. Disturbingly, that may not always be too far from the truth: we heard of a couple of witnesses who had been brought to testify against a healer and had died mysteriously of heart attacks the night before the trial. Something dark may be afoot.

In an interview with UnRealityTV, Derren explains why he went to America to film this particular special:

Because it’s the heart of it. The charlatanism is much clearer out there because it’s a huge business and also that it’s the heart of it. It’s just more difficult, it’s more of a challenge, they are worthy targets out there. And here, I don’t know….the big names out there they put themselves about and you can find out what’s going on. Here, I have no idea. It’s probably all quite well meant here, I would imagine, and perhaps it becomes a slightly different thing. I just think you need to get at the heart of it to make the show meaningful.

 NOTE: Thanks to Jonathan Townsend for forwarding some of these links to me in preparation for this entry.