I have literally just finished watching the first part of Derren Brown’s new special, ‘Apocalypse’ and I simply cannot wait for the conclusion.
I am a HUGE fan of, the incomparable, Mr. Brown – seriously, I own and have watched every televised show and I have had the great pleasure of seeing him live on two separate birthday outings – so I am always glad to hear that there is something new coming from his magnificent maniacal mind of the mentalist himself. Ah, I love the smell of alliteration in the evening.
I will, as always, keep this as spoiler free as possible because I prefer experience such things as uninhibited as I can be but bear with me a little here.
As you can probably imagine, with something entitled ‘Apocalypse’, the subject matter of this show will be dealing with Derren’s own spin on the fabled end of the world however, things are never quite as simple as that with him.
The events of the show revolve around a 21 year old young man named Steve. Steve lives at home with his parents and pretty much epitomises the notion of a carefree, goalless, complacent, moody, spoilt brat of a teenager. (His behaviour seriously made me want to uppercut him… →↓↘+P…) Steve is portrayed and described by his family as one of many individuals who takes life for granted so, what Derren hopes to achieve with this particular chain of events is to teach Steve valuable life-lessons through instillation of bravery, decision making and compassion – or, as the whimsical wizard said “courage, a brain and a heart”. All of this will, if successful, reshape Steve into a person who values his life and appreciates what he has as well as those around him.
WARNING: Here comes a very minor spoiler…
In order to create the desired results, Derren began the process back in July of this year. He was searching for a self-centred individual with which he could conduct this experiment and he found that in Steve. From here we see Derren implant the idea that our world is under a very real threat of an event so cataclysmic, it would be the end as we know it and the arrival of the apocalypse that many already fear. On August 31st, for Steven, the world ended.
I will not go into any more detail than that as I would rather you just watch the show and experience it first hand but, with what I have mentioned, it does raise the very pertinent question; if the world was to end this year, as some believe it will, have you been the type of person that you would be proud to die as? Have you lived you life being the type of person you would be happy to have lived with? Would you be remembered fondly, or as little more than a bane by surviving family and friends – assuming there were any survivors – and, when you consider the fact that so many people have less than what you do, have you lived your life with even an iota of appreciation for the things you have as opposed to always complaining about what you wish you had?
Apocalypse, part one, is available to watch on 4oD right now so go ahead and use the hyperlink provided. (Go on, click it, I dare ya!) I had trouble getting it to play on Firefox or Chrome so use Safari if you encounter the same issues as me. Part two will air Friday November 2nd on Channel 4 at 9pm. If you are reading this from anywhere other than the UK, then I can’t be sure where it will air for you but at the very least I think you can catch up on 4oD.
The show is perfect for the Halloween season and it is one of those things that are brilliant to watch, because it really does make you think.
If you have seen part one, then let’s talk about it! Send me a message, tweet, dm, carrier pigeon, whatever! I want hear your views.
I leave you with these:
Much Love,
Jack
As I See It 