Did you know that 11.11.11 is one of the luckiest days of the year?

8 November 2011

Derren Brown: The Experiments - The Secret of Luck - 11.11.11 - 9pm, Channel 4

 

Innovative entertainer Derren Brown ends his current run on Channel 4 with the final instalment of his brand new four-part series, "The Experiments".  In The Secret of Luck the final show in the series, Derren explores how quickly a rumour can spread and through this, attempts to convince an entire West Yorkshire community that it is the luckiest place in Britain. The show will TX on 11th November 2011 - currently pinned as one of the luckiest days of the year - coincidence... or not?

To pull this one off Derren needs an emissary and his experiment takes the form of a ‘documentary' fronted by Dawn Porter.  She is Derren's secret agent and her role is to start a rumour in a small community that the statue of a dog in the town has special powers.  The film then documents the spread and effect of that rumour.

Soon residents start to report great things happen to them. From lottery wins to Jason Manford turning up and doing a free gig in the local pub - everyone starts to wonder: is it really the statue? Even Dawn finds herself wondering. Have they inadvertently created a lucky dog?

What begins as a film about how ideas spread, soon becomes a tale about luck, and what it means to have good fortune. As the inhabitants each respond to the dog in their own way, we see what separates lucky from unlucky people in life. Finally, Derren must come to the town himself to tell them the truth, and does so with the suggestion of an extraordinary test.

On The Secret of Luck Derren says "this touches on some more positive aspects of human nature. There was no sense at the start of how it would finish: the subject was an entire community, and the mission of the film changed as we documented the story of the lucky dog. I once had a downtrodden lady ask me after a show if I could make her lucky. It made me sad: I hope this film provides an answer for her."

How lucky are you?