Derren Brown Criticised

Derren Brown's Something Wicked show breaks Ofcom rules.

16:33 23 February 2016

Derren Brown has broken Ofcom rules when he suffocated himself as part of a trick on his Something Wicked show broadcasted on a Sunday morning.

 

The illusionist placed a plastic bag over his head and walked on broken glass.

 

Ofcom, the broadcasting watchdog, said that children could have imitated Brown's "clearly dangerous behaviour."

 

The episode, which aired on UKTV's Watch channel on 6 December, received five complaints.

 

Ofcom said: "Plastic bags are a common household item that children frequently have access to without parental supervision. They also present a widely acknowledged risk of harm to young children.

 

"Therefore, Ofcom took the view that Derren Brown's use of a plastic bag to asphyxiate himself was likely to be easily imitable by children in a manner that was harmful.

 

"This was particularly because self-asphyxiation was presented as a way to carry out acts which would not normally be possible because of the bleeding and pain that resulted.

 

"Further in this programme no negative consequences of self-asphyxiation were identified."