Derren Brown: Apocalypse

Don't get me wrong I understand it's appeal I really do, we would all like to know how we would react in an end of the world situation and that's what Darren's Brown Apocalypse does. It explores that idea. We imagine ourselves in Steve's shoes, We want him to overcome the horrors he faces and watch as an everyday man steps up and becomes a leader. However the entertainment values should not justify such a manipulative and grand experiment. Personally I tend to believe that the whole show was in fact faked and we as the audience are really the ones getting manipulated. At least this is what I have to believe in order not to lose a little bit of my faith in humanity. I find it really difficult to think that an experiment were the subject is unknowingly Hypostasised, his phone is hacked, is exposed to fire and explosions and then lead to believe that the world has ended would ever get the all clear from TV studios and psychologists. But lets just say that it's not fake and everything we are seeing is real. In fact your not just risking trauma to the main subject but could possible be endangering lives of actors, What if Steve all off a sudden had an instinct to fight back against the zombies and killed an actor. What if the stress of the situation was so much that Steve had a complete mental breakdown. Calling Steve lazy and saying that it's for his greater good and it will teach him a lesson should not excuse something this extreme and more importantly should not be grounds for good and acceptable film making. Peoples lives are not something to be played with and the human minds are fragile things and should not be experimented on for the entertain of others. I really hope this is not a glimpse into the future of TV and film making.

As someone who has been subjected to and the target of a prolonged and systematic harassment campaign. Where many of the same (albeit only the tip of the iceberg and significantly watered down) tactics of gross invasion of privacy, harassment, and unrelenting 24/7 physical and psychological harassment - I am disgusted to see similar tactics packaged here as "entertainment". What this show does do is provide context at the perverse nature that some people possess who are willing to go to extremes to manipulate people into an outcome through any and all and totally unacceptable means. The same elements apply these tactics in criminal ways in devestating, life destroying and sadly life ending ways. Manipulations designed to discredit their victims and force responses that mimic mental illness and in some cases death as they seek escape from the abuse. To see this minimalised and trivialised as harmless pranks and excuses made as "life lessons" is in my opinion, criminal in itself as it provides cover, and a perception of social acceptance for the violent criminals who practice more extreme versions of this manipulation. Seeing a show like this is to me akin to watching a show that would teach a rapist how to select a victim and how they could manipulate their victim into situations where their crime could be accomplished where the victim would not be believed. Perhaps if they made that show, we would all see humour in rape and condone the excuses for those who practice it. Of course that show shouldn't be made, and neither should a show like this. Absolutely disgusting.

Absolutely amazing! This is maybe Darren Brown's best TV programme. The man who was the person who went through all this must have really appreciated what it did for his life.

What a horrific thing to do to someone. Going to such invasive extremes to make someone believe the world and everyone they love are gone all because they were lazy? The subject was not a bad person and certainly didn't serve such a traumatic experience thrown at them. I couldn't even finish the show. The fact that this level of audacious experimentation was ever even allowed to happen makes me feel shamed to be part of the human race.

Look at the close camera work. It can be seen in chase scenes and in Ian's hideaway. Secret cams don't follow you in close-up. Secret cams don't follow your lower legs/ feet. Nice movie, Derren but it's a 2 out of 10 from me.