Derren Brown: Miracles for Sale – Tonight 9pm
With the cameras in hot pursuit, Derren faces his toughest project yet, going in search of an unsuspecting member of the British public prepared to adopt the guise of a pastor and miracle worker.
His chosen one then has six months to learn the trade and flourish across the pond as a convincing pastor.
The final phase of the volunteer’s extraordinary challenge sees them attempt to perform faith healing miracles live in Texas, but will Derren’s new recruit be accepted as a faith healer or cast away as fake healer?
The show will air tonight at 9pm on Ch4, 10pm on Ch4+1 and will be available on 4oD here.
Feel free to leave comments below.
PLEASE investigate the placebo effect. Can your power of suggestion/hypnotic skills be used, if not to heal, then to ease the pain of people. I know it would be a risk, but with your ability to reach the inner depths of the human mind, don’t you want to know how it could be used for real good, not just debunking frauds? If you can make someone ‘forget their own name’, as the show suggested, what else can you do, particularly for soldiers with PTSD, victims of rape etc
I ‘m a christian, but also a scientist – not all christians are small-minded and ignorant. But I believe we are – to incur the wrath of the athiests! – CREATED with incredible minds, but don’t yet know what the human brain is capable of.
I’d like to communicate with christian/ex-christian” fans” of Derren!
Thanks for a fantastic show. I have been an Anglican Priest and was always troubled by the claims of faith healers as were many of my colleges and their dogmatic interpretation of the scriptures. Their acts seemed more about the pursuit of power and control than than for justice and empowering of others. So well done pity more people didn’t come along for the show
thanks again
Beautifully done.
It felt edgy but came across as honest and sensitive . I have a Christian background and so approached this with caution, and though I needed no persuasion about fraudulent faith healers I was impressed with the respectful approach to faith in general.
The inclusion of the concerns and difficulties over the fine moral line gave it a transparency that really helped delivery the message.
The excerpts of the closing speech moved me to tears, even though it was contrived for the situation – the sense of understanding and empathy really carried it.
” God doesn’t want your money to make you well. What a travesty to the message of Jesus to say you have to pay for God to heal you, that’s not what Jesus preached. ”
Nice one.
derren is, by his own admission, the master of miss direction and auto suggestion, this is clearly seen in the early part of the program when he sets up a company for making this program ‘ big wonder film.then when he introduces the winner , nathan, he does it in front of a classic hypnotic subliminal message about fake healers ect so you have already been subliminaly effected , so that if you see anything with the word ‘wonder’ linked with the word ‘ healing’ your mind will immediatly use confirmation bias ,a hypnotic trick to reject any future infomation on the subject .Not many of you will realise, this program is really a direct attack on two programs made by a production company called wonderlust called the’ finger of god’ and ‘furious love’ ..check these out on web then weigh it
Great show!!!
We all know you went through a lot making the show and exposing these frauds for us. Your hardship is definitely not wasted! Please don’t give up on making TV shows!!!! I LOVE THEM!!
Interesting how many people believe @DerrenBrown is ‘God like’, ‘God’ or ‘Jesus’ http://bit.ly/hcaBBM
I liked Dave’s last comment about checking out Finger of God and Furious Love. Darren if you get this message check out Darren Wilson (a film maker like yourself) who made these films. You can watch Finger of God on youtube – why not check it out. Great thing about the internet is you can check things for yourself. I’m involved in Healing Rooms where we see genuine healings – including leg lengthing.
Wow there is a lot of varied commons written here today. I empathised with Nathan’s emotional moral roller coaster on the show last night. An extremely pressured task ahead. I felt that even Derren’s conduct of changing plans on the poor chap added additional pressure to an already difficult and emotional task ahead. Derren excels in being able to adapt to audiences and his experience in preforming makes him mentally agile. I think DB even thrives on change. But most people in highly pressured circumstances need a stability in a plan. Know wonder he swore at DB and argued. That said I think both of you did a courageous and worthy job at presenting the truth about ‘Faith Healers’ I only wish the significant message of this programme struck a cord with a wider audience understanding.
This was amazing! 😀 I loved it. Hopefully you and all your shows will encourage people to think for themselves and question things more. I for have become a lot less gullible and have become very interested about how our minds work and how it can make us see things that aren’t really there etc. I used to live in a fantasy world I think, lol. Complete turn around. I love everything you do and you and your shows interest me greatly 😀 I’m glad you revealed how faith healing is a scam and how dangerous it can be for people :S It’s sad really.
I was telling my Grandad all about you and he was very interested and said he might catch the show…yay! It made my Monday night 😀 Love watching you and love you…. 🙂 teehee. x x x And may I say you were looking stunning…….as always.
although it was a bit bewildering that he mentioned the name of Derren’s show designers – or was there a little note stuck on the inside of the shoe that said ‘say D & G or else…’
All pastors that offer physical/outward ‘healing’ are fraudsters, regardless of whether payment (‘fellowship support’) is ever asked for or not. Those that heal by giving people confidence mentally through christianity for no cash however, is an entirely different matter, and would no doubt be supported by many, including the medical field. Dont confuse the two
in reply to: barbara says:
April 25, 2011
what a pity Derren labels all faith healers as frauds a dn money makers. Has he never heard of the thousands of genuine miracles that are happening every day and for which NO PAYMENT is required or expected. If he makes contact with The Healing Rooms inany venue in the UK he will meet ordinary people who ARE empowered by the Holy Spirit to heal both inwardly and outward
That chap Nathan had a lovely hairy chest. More of that sort of thing please.
Dave at 4.18pm. NO the programme was a direct attack on money grabbing fraudsters.
Derren We saw the programme about the faith healing in the USA it actually Highlights the Vulnerability people whom are in a situation of pain and turmoil of an incurable desease.
These Fakehealers latch on to those peoples misery and indirectly they do ask them to give money that is what makes them rich .I do believe in Miracles but not by the price of paying someone to heal you I believe it comes from within and not by someone perporting to do it for you yes I know that pain thresholds can be manipulated Mind over Matter or auto suggestion call it what you wish Ie; I have had tooth ache and I have thought in my mind that there is no pain and continually re inforcing the suggestion and actually overcome the pain. thank you for highlighting this!
Another fantastic show Derren. You and Nathan did an excellent job even under so much pressure – it was excellent to see the end result. I would have loved to have seen the rest of the clip of you being ‘healed’ – it would have been good to see what the pastor said after “Dolce et Gabbana”! 🙂 Also went to see your show at Sunderland on Sunday – absolutely amazing stuff. Keep doing what you’re doing – can’t wait to see your next TV programme!
Religion is the world’s oldest running con trick, all you bible bashers who believe each word is the “Truth” should do some investigating. For example, nowhere in the original Hebrew does it say Mary was a virgin, this was a mistranslation, so that wipes out the catholics for you in a single misquote! I suggest you read Richard Dawkin’s “The God Delusion”, but I’m sure you won’t. Anyway, great programme Derren and team, it’s a pity the world’s most powerful country can’t or won’t do anything about these shysters, but I imagine it’s easier to control the masses that are already being controlled!
Believe, plays havoc with our minds. With out it we would not exist, just a shame we full victim of things that are no good for us.
Keep up the good work Derren.
Amazing show Derren. Perfectly balanced in my opinion – just could have done with some reaction after the sermon. I’m curious to know what they thought.
A couple of the above comments I find a little disheartening. It seems some people still believe God does miracles on Earth (presumably through a human conduit). And therein lies the problem…
Dear God,
Please make religion (and yourself) disappear forever.
For that, I will forever worship you.
Amen
Two bits I liked were
“Thank God for slip-on shoes”
and
“Believe me, God will repay you with a Cadillac, jewelery and other wonderful things”
Great pity the show only attracted a “small crowd” of only about 20 people. I would have preferred the selected fake Pastor to be a non-believer, did Derren choose
a believer deliberately?
Just watched the show… and wonderring: does Derren have a thing against Easter? Some years ago, Robbin Williams got crucified. Now a pantomime about miracles and healings at the date where a major act of God -or the best con trick ever performed – occured.
Unless…. Derren is struggling to admit his faith… Maybe the same way he went with intimate partners. There is no shame in admitting something you can’t explain or justifiy, something that “won’t go away”.
It’s ok. Whatever the topic.
Hi – Miracles for sale was brilliant. Nice one!
I was recruited into a cult some years ago and now understand how and why the cult leader got us all so whooped up in order to control us and how she got information about us – she obviously had her cronies finding out what we were doing and saying and reporting this back to her ready for her to appear to have special powers of insight into our lives. Sad woman – but at the time we believed it and she took so much money from us all and was living the high life while many of us were desperate for a place to live or a proper job with a salary.
Anyone who wants help or to know more about cults check out freedomofmind.com or Encourage – help for suvivors of cults. There is help out there for those of us who get recruited into these groups.
Derren; hmm,something’s wrong with me but I don’t know what..oh I see one of my legs is longer than the other, fancy adjusting my dolce and gabanna shoe? 😉 brilliant show, well done Derren and crew, love Chloe x
A brilliant, shocking, absorbing, sickening programme. The part that touched me most of all was seeing how difficult, how painful it was for a bunch of honest guys to put another’s welfare at risk (PR guy). Of all the eye-openings scenes, which were plentiful, it was this demonstration of genuine anguish which illustrated to me the heartless ruthlessness of those conmen who do these things for real. Well done guys, shame you couldn’t preach the truth to a wider audience.
Out of interest: anyone else heard of gold dust appearing in palms and feathers descending during services – but never experienced them (And wondered – why? And thought – Biblical?)? And the whole ‘gold teeth’ appearances during the ‘Toronto Blessing’ – anyone ever see a gold tooth and know it was a ‘real act of God’ with proof? I heard of two people who had ‘received gold teeth’ but didn’t know them well enough to ask to have a look – and didnt know their dentist.
Derren, would love to see you properly check out: Benny Hinn, Paula White, Bill Johnson, Kenneth Copeland and other ‘Word of Faith’ and ‘Prosperity gospel’ preachers. Guess it would be impossible….. but wouldn’t you love to see a real behind the scenes thing of these ‘tele-evangelist’ multimillionaires
PS: I’d love to see an interview with Nathan online: how the whole experience was for him….
Another fascinating show from Derren. What a shame about the small crowd but I fully respect the decision to disengage from the PR company. Nathan had great presence and entertainment value! He lost it a couple of times but his complaints seemed legitimate even if the reaction was OTT
I’ve always been an outward sceptic with things like faith healers, psychics and the like. Load of old cobblers, but hey – each to their own. Previously took a stance that it’s not hurting anyone so what harm can it do?
Seeing programmes like this (and the specials on the paranormal) though really does bring to light the fact that it’s not a “victimless” crime – it is a form of legalised theft. Peddling fraudulent hope to vulnerable people is at best teetering on the border of what is/isn’t morally “right” and at worse, as we see here, potentially life-threatening.
Have been trying to “wean” my own mother off seeing psychics (at £50 a pop she can ill-afford) for some time now, and shows like this – I feel – help to objectively reveal the truth. So Derren & team – simply, thanks….
Thank you Mr Brown. Simply amazing…there are no other words for this show. You have done a great gift to the world…(or at least to the poor desperate people!).
Thanks
@Lady Linda : totally relate to your Toronto blessing experience. I’ve had exactly the same criticism when I didn’t ‘respond’ to being pushed over by a well-known local christian speaker:…. Women with independent minds: ego-centric christians tend to see us as ‘evil’, huh? Still remember my ex-husband (not an intellectual) telling my highly intelligent aunt she was seeking to destroy his faith when she talked about scientific explanations for the ten plagues. Still he’s out there ‘healing’ people on the streets of Bath now, so what do I know!
I hope there are other christians out there who don’t dismiss the rational and scientific worlds!
@ Dee: thank you for you kind words.
Excellent programme Derren!
One question, what happens to Nathan now?
I’m a Baptist Minister and thought it was excellent. For me the biggest question it posed is to Christians that genuinely believe that they can heal. They need to carefully reflect on whether they are getting caught up in their own hype and rhetoric.
i found it very interesting but the ending was a bit lacklustre. they should have gotten more people, and talked to them afterwards, some were very emotional, and would have been worth interviewing their reactions instead of running off like there was gonna be a bomb going off or something.
also, thought about wearing a pair of very tight shoes – that would have made their life more difficult! 🙂
Loved it! Derren at his best! What an interesting, thought provoking show.
I was just wondering, when the guy at the end took off Derren’s shoes, and said Dolce & Gabanna, why did he pause?
And what happened after that?
I posted a link to the fake faith-healer site you put up.
A woman responded saying
“I have never heard of this guy, but on his website the statement of faith looks Biblically based. I am somewhat suspicious of “healers” just because there are so many frauds out there. But I do know several people who have experienced divine healing, so I know that God does heal.
I don’t know – the healing on the video might be legit.”
It’s such a shame people think like this…
Upon Tom and Dave’s suggestions I started watching Finger of God on youtube. The first segment involves people “miraculously” getting gold teeth and gold dust showing up on people. Look, I used to be a believer, and I tried hard to keep the faith, but, like Derren, actually reading the bible is what put cracks in my belief. Firstly, the teeth thing just reeks of parlor trick. Like Shermer asked: is that the best He can do? Secondly, you can find examples of people forgetting they had fillings before. cont…But here’s what bugged me the most, that like these faith healers, even this can cause heartache: “However, almost a week after receiving them [the teeth], the brilliance has gone and they have both changed back to a dull grey colour. .. My friend is a Spirit-filled Christian woman walking with the Lord and a woman of faith. She does not understand why this has happened, and is feeling she must have not testified enough about them to others, or not had enough faith to keep the gold. This experience has left her hurt and confused. Has anyone else had a similar experience, or does anyone know of someone who has?”
BTW, Tom and Dave, I’m going to still keep watching the video.
P.S. I’m in the US, so I haven’t seen the show. Otherwise, I’d say something nice about it/Derren.
Thanks for exposing pastor James. It was evident from the outset he was a fraud. Googling around I found no evidence of his scuba dive school in Uganda. Can’t wait to see what DB does next. Praise the Lord.
Ok I made it thru part two of Finger of God (not Miracles for Sale). I think that’s enough. It’s just depressing, Tom and Dave.
Another brilliant work… Kudos to Derren Brown, Nathan, and the whole team! I’m giving this video to my friend, who’s a college professor, and he’s going to show it to his class. Well done, folks! Really remarkable.
I enjoyed the program but thought the decision not to use the US agent was wrong. If the agent is happy to promote faith healers, and be paid to do so, then he is complicit in their deception. The lack of agent led to a pretty poor turn out at the theatre which made the climax to the show a bit of a damp squip.
Upon reflection, I can’t understand why Nathan was chosen. His faith led to needless “moral” dilemmas that distracted from the subject in hand rather than adding to the tension. I also wonder why the program makers felt the need to generate incidents, such as the trespass. Presumably they didn’t feel the programme would be interesting enough without seeing the police do what was inevitable in the circumstances? I found the program interesting but also a missed opportunity.
Despite the evidence, so many comments from Christians who, typically for religious types, claim the healings THEY have seen/heard about are the REAL ones.
This was an engaging programme! My only concern is that people may throw the baby out with the bath water on this one. Although I am against taking advantage of the vulnerable including financially with hyped up messages. Having met people both physically healed and healed from problems such as drug addiction (without cold turkey) I can’t deny that God does heal some people but I couldn’t tell you why some and not others! I think we are asked to have faith with or without physical signs and wonders.
for lor-ca at 7.25pm
i agree it is a direct attack on money grabbing fraudsters,but watch the program again and see how many subliminal messages have been put in , he hypnotized nathan infront of the flashing screen by laying his hand on his shoulder ,classic trick , read his books he has used practically every technique in this one program. why does he need to do this ? think think think whats his hidden motive, did you know he was a christian once and has a big issue with faith? just allow the possibility that there is something in it for him apart from do gooding
What a great Prog,
Just shows what belief can do, unfortunately there are always unscrupulous lowlifes who exploit the vulnerable in society.
Well done to Derren, ‘Pastor’ John and the team for highlighting these sort of people.
p.s did you notice when Nathan , delivering his heartfelt, speech of truth at the end, the ‘guest’ pastor rocking back and forth in his chair ?
A clear sign of a comfort mechanism when someone is under stress, classic sign.
Found the bits about the effects of adrenalin very interesting. That’s got all sorts of useful applications. I’ll be mindful of it. if But also offers opportunities for manipulating. Interesting that the successful churches in the US have gradually moved to the ‘rock concert’ format and perhaps why born again churches, etc perfer to play modern songs.
I’m not religious but the clear message is if you want your church to make money go rock concert get the believers jumping up and down, singing their hearts out and then pass the collection plate out. I bet if you did it at the beginning of a service they would contribute less! Good experiment to try
fascinating show…on so many levels.
sadly, it will probably never air in the USA, let alone Texas
then again, there’s always the power of youtube….
just sayin
Did we also see a snippet of the mighty Brown Towers at the beginning, perhaps the master at work old Phillis?
Peter, if Nathan had been an atheist, I think the programme might’ve been dismissed as ‘Christian-bashing’ by more people, when that wasn’t the intention of it.
What saddens me is that, looking at responses online, it’s often people that are being preyed on by these scammers that are defending them the most vigorously. I get the impression that it’s almost like the ‘dollar auction’ game theory experiment… when people have invested in these scams, they don’t want to open their eyes to the fact that they are in fact being scammed, because that would remove even the chance of it being right after all and then their investment will have been in vain. They’d rather fool themselves than feel like fools…
Saw the show last night and this is a very serious issue that needs attention. Thank you for doing that. I was once a christian, and these kinds of faith healers were a significant reason for me to reject my faith, (as well as a number of theological and philosophical reasons.)
I have seen Benny Hinn live once, and I have seen an Australian faith-healer, Tim Hall several times. He is probably the most creepy human being I have ever heard speaking. His private session with Hillsong College students back in 2001/2002 (can’t remember which year) must have been one of the most nauseating and corrupt displays of this I have ever seen. That session was not about money, but it was pure manipulation of a crowd.
Brilliant programme Derren – an innovative, necessary and yet still credible way to take on such a corrupt industry.
Re “Bluesian” – I agree with everything you say except that we should all read The God Delusion. It really is the most self serving load of bollocks to have ever been published, and I include the Bible in that. There are so many more interesting atheist writers out there, I suggest you take your head out of Richard Dawkins and find them, “but I’m sure you won’t”.