Derren Brown: Incognito - soldier, priest, porn star and spy among contestants in new reality show
Psychological illusionist Derren Brown is set to host a new social experiment disguised as a reality TV show - featuring contestants including a priest, a porn star and a spy.
A soldier, priest, porn star and spy are among contestants in a new reality show which is also the basis for a social experiment by illusionist, Derren Brown.
Brown, famed for his mind tricks and manipulation expertise, described the series – Derren Brown: Incognito - as a “beautiful and extraordinary thing to make”.
The Channel 4 programme will feature 10 strangers from “wildly different backgrounds” who move in together in a “mysterious institution” for a week.
Producers said each has the type of identity which leads people to make instant judgments about them and need to keep secret - with examples including a soldier, spy, priest and porn star. Each of the strangers think they have one aim – to learn the identity of the other players while keeping their own hidden.
However, the six-part series will show viewers a “mischievous psychological experiment designed to explore how our identities shape who we are, how we act, and how our prejudices can sometimes blind us from the obvious”.
Brown, 54, shot to fame in the early 2000s on the back of stage and TV shows such as Mind Control, Trick Of The Mind, and Derren Brown Investigates and said the new programme was "fascinating".
"With my previous shows I’ve normally had a clear idea of how things will conclude, this was very different," he said. "It’s a show about how we form opinions, live by our labels, judge others by them. And what happens when all that’s removed. It was a beautiful and extraordinary thing to make."
Contestants on Incognito will take part in games, while viewers can expect plenty of twists, as they try to conceal themselves - and find out more about others.
Head of live events for Channel 4, Tom Beck, said: "Any Derren Brown show is an event, but Incognito is unlike anything he has done before. A social experiment disguised as a reality show, it’s ambitious, mischievous, challenging and, with its central question about how our personal prejudices affect the way we judge others, it couldn’t be more timely.
"The end results are fascinating, moving and wildly entertaining and I can’t wait for people to see it."