Derren Brown: Apocalypse

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.

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.

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.

I actually worked on this show rigging his house with the hidden cameras and I can assure you he is not an actor just an ordinary dude who didn't know what hit him. I watched it a while ago and I felt that the pyro of the meteors landing while he was on the bus and the scenes at the base weren't convincing me at all, but if I put myself in his shoes I can see why. All of the subliminal stuff on the radio and the BBC news feed about a meteor approaching, his hacked phone telling him the same and of course being hypnotized by Derren is more than enough to suspend his belief and make it real to him. I really enjoyed watching the show and the rest of Derren Browns stuff. Our reality is only what we take in with our senses and how we perceive those events if you change enough of those perceptions in your surroundings then you have a new reality. Quite an accomplishment kudos to the producers for making it happen it can't have been easy. Dave

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.