Illusionist to examine prejudice and identity in six-part series

Derren Brown is to return to TV screens for the first time in nearly a decade with a psychological experiment examining prejudice and identity for Channel 4.

Produced by Brown’s indie Vaudeville Productions, Derren Brown: Incognito (w/t) is a six-part series that takes 10 strangers with wildly different backgrounds and moves them into a mysterious institution for a week.

The contributors share one thing in common: an identity that leads people to make instant judgements about them, such as being a soldier, spy, priest or porn star. Each of the strangers think they have one aim: to learn the identity of the other players whilst keeping their own hidden.

However, this is an experiment designed to explore how our identities shape who we are, how we behave, and how our prejudices can sometimes blind us from the obvious.

Every element of the experiment, from conversations to eliminations, will challenge the players’ preconceptions, making them re-evaluate the alliances they’ve made and the strategies they’ve adopted. As the twists keep coming, players will begin to question their own long-held prejudices, and maybe begin to feel empathy towards people they would normally dismiss in real life.

It marks the mentalist’s first C4 show since 2016’s Pushed to the Edge and his first TV programme since his 2018 Netflix special Sacrifice.