Derren Brown Plays Russian Roulette Live

Derren Brown Plays Russian Roulette Live was a 2003 television special in which the illusionist Derren Brown participated in a game of Russian roulette on live television. It was broadcast by Channel 4 to approximately 3 million viewers.

Derren Brown is a British illusionist.^[1] Prior to the television special, he was responsible for the Channel 4 television series Derren Brown: Mind Control, in which he demonstrated the concepts of mind control and mind reading.^[2]

The programme Derren Brown Plays Russian Roulette Live was broadcast on 5 October 2003 by Channel 4. Total viewership was close to 3 million people.^[3]

The first part of the program involved Brown selecting a volunteer who would load the gun. Brown made a group of 100 potential candidates partake in several games, eliminating contestants with each successive round, until one remained.^[4]

The volunteer then loaded a round into one of six numbered chambers of the Smith & Wesson revolver^[5] and returned it to Brown, and was asked to count upwards from one to six. Brown fired chambers 3 and 4 at his head, which were empty. He fired chamber 5 into a nearby haystack, however this was also empty. Following a pause, he fired empty chamber 6 at his head, then the loaded chamber 1 into the environment.^[4] Brown appeared to have punctured a sandbag with this shot, with sand seen pouring out of it.^[6]

The show was criticised by psychiatrists as potentially promoting suicide,^[7] and concerns were raised over its scheduling immediately after a documentary on the suicide of a government official.^[8] Complaints were made in this regard to the Broadcasting Standards Commission, but Channel 4 were ultimately cleared of wrongdoing^[8] with the regulatory body finding a 15–minute delay on the broadcast would have prevented viewers from seeing Brown being harmed had he shot himself.^[9]

Filming of the roulette game took place on Francheville Farm in Grouville, Jersey. This was supposedly because of less restrictive gun laws on the island,^[10] a claim which has been disputed.^[11] The States of Jersey Police later confirmed that no live rounds had been used on set; pyrotechnics were instead used to simulate the impact of a bullet on the sandbag^[12] and blank rounds were loaded into the revolver. Channel 4 marketing material had stated a "live bullet" would be used.^[3] Brown defended the use of blanks, a spokesperson arguing that "he would have died anyway" upon making a mistake.^[11]