Trick or treat

MAGIC may be a genre ripe for lampooning, but illusionist Derren Brown has skirted around cliches for more than a decade with TV specials, stage shows and, in the case of Derren Brown: Svengali, a stage show that is a TV special.

Here, the entertainer ramps the wow factor up to 11 as he works his magic on punters in the Theatre Royal, Nottingham.

Brown could, of course, give us the next lot of winning Lottery numbers, but he already attempted that with C4’s The Event the other year. He might try risking his life with a game of Russian Roulette, but if you were one of the three million TV viewers who watched in October 2003, you’ll know that stunt is more dated than disco.

So what will the master of illusions be amazing us with here?

Well, he’ll be attempting to extract secret confessions from the audience, playing mind games and revealing the wonder of Svengali, an automaton allegedly created in the image of its owner’s dead son.

Was it used in early Victorian magic shows, or is it another of Brown’s eerie games? That remains to be seen, but we’re guessing this Olivier award-winning show should work its magic on millions who did not see it live.

One aspect of his life that rarely gets complaints is his artwork. Some celebrities with too much money and not much artistic skill can throw a load of paint on a canvas, call it “surreal” and then exhibit at a high-profile art gallery.

Considering the high calibre of Brown’s portraits, there is a good chance he could just do that full time and knock the old magic act on the head.

The softly spoken and rather bashful Brown is much quieter in real life than his cocky, public stage and TV alter ego, but that shyness doesn’t stop him from being a fascinating character.

He relishes being in front of a live crowd, saying: “It’s by far the most enjoyable part. On TV you get to do some interesting things, get to meet interesting people, go to places you otherwise would not go to.

“But as a performer, which is what I am, you get to do things night after night, change them and tweak them and make them better and better. That sort of thing is really rewarding.”

Tonight’sTV By Steve Pratt email: steve.pratt@nne.co.uk THERE is never a dull moment on the wards of Keller and Darwin, in Holby City, is there?

The interesting thing is that little of that drama actually comes from the patients.

This week, it is the turn of Jac to have a particularly rough time. Normally so cool and collected, and leaving the worrying to others, the tables seem turned as she thinks she and Jonny are the gossip fodder of everyone in the hospital. When she spies Mo whispering with Ollie, she flies off the handle.

Elsewhere, Eddi manages to grab a quiet moment alone with Max. Quiet, that is, until she is interrupted by the last person she expected to see again. Meanwhile, Chrissie approaches a birthday milestone, but is in no mood to celebrate.

THE series one finale of gripping and bloody drama Romanzo Criminale was a shocker, so it’s about time the programme returned to pick up where it left off and answer some questions in this 1970s-set drama, based on the award-winning film of the same name.

The protagonists struggle in their separate ways to adjust to new lifestyles.

Ice’s new status within Rome’s criminal underworld forces him to reconsider his future plans to move abroad to be with the woman he loves.

Meanwhile, the remaining gang members, overwhelmed by greed and unquenchable thirst for money, struggle to turn their backs on the criminal underworld they have dominated for so long.

The next episode is screened immediately afterwards.