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I'm not even Christian, and I find it offensive that Channel 4 is putting on DB's "miracle-debunking" show, complete with fake preacher, over the Easter weekend.

You might argue that it's a useful lesson in critical thinking, but it still doesn't have to be aired during the most sacred holiday of a major religion. Channel 4 being "edgy", I suppose.

Probably the same reasoning behind their alternative 'Dappy's Christmas Day speech' etc!

Robbie wrote:I'm not even Christian, and I find it offensive that Channel 4 is putting on DB's "miracle-debunking" show, complete with fake preacher, over the Easter weekend.

You might argue that it's a useful lesson in critical thinking, but it still doesn't have to be aired during the most sacred holiday of a major religion. Channel 4 being "edgy", I suppose.

I'm sure it'll be OK if you don't watch it!

The off button is awesome!

Agent488 wrote:I'm sure it'll be OK if you don't watch it!

The off button is awesome!

But the point is Channel 4 seem to thrive on offense as a way of upping ratings. How else can anyone explain the slice of pointless unfunny offense that was Frankie Boyle's Tramadol Nights?

Heckler wrote:

Agent488 wrote:I'm sure it'll be OK if you don't watch it!

The off button is awesome!

But the point is Channel 4 seem to thrive on offense as a way of upping ratings.

And my point was if you find it offensive, don't watch it. Save yourself load's of grief!

Heckler wrote:

Agent488 wrote:I'm sure it'll be OK if you don't watch it!

The off button is awesome!

But the point is Channel 4 seem to thrive on offense as a way of upping ratings. How else can anyone explain the slice of pointless unfunny offense that was Frankie Boyle's Tramadol Nights?

They do, its part of their remit

I'm not intending to watch it (not the sort to deliberately seek out opportunities to rant). Just pointing out that it does indeed smack of Channel 4's typical attention-seeking.

The good folks at 4's publicity department are probably seething at the fact that nobody's launched an anti-campaign.

Mandrake wrote:True - he seems to save that aspect for his stage shows these days. I wonder if that's his choice or Channel 4's?

A bit of both. It reeks of the same kind of thing that happens when a successful band decides to "take a new direction" and fails miserably, alientating their original audience and failing to pick up a new one.

I do love his earlier stuff but have found recent tv output (the non-Events, that tedious thing about a bloke in a flight simulator, pointless one-sided militant debunking) dull to watch and couldn't wait for them to finish.

TV wise, Derren has, how our friends in the US would put it, "jumped the shark".

The emperor's crown has slipped. He needs to cut out the self-indulgence and return to being one of the most exiting performers around, otherwise one of the new breed (such as the excellent Chris Beard) will step forward to steal his crown.

From the Mirror on-line:

Angry Derren, who turned against religion at university, said: “It is not like psychics and mediums, where people get some comfort.

“It’s genuinely dangerous.People don’t get better, and they are told to throw their medicine away."

Seems to be softening his position a tad on mediumship?

Mandrake wrote:Probably the same reasoning behind their alternative 'Dappy's Christmas Day speech' etc!

But Dappy is a spokeman for a generation. He's Dynamo without the card flourishes.

He and his bandmates were in the recording of The Magicians I saw last December - he didn't say a lot !

Maybe he's the intelligent, silent type. Or would rather people think him a buffoon than open his mouth and prove beyond doubt.

It's a possiblity, there was far too much other stuff going on to allow time for intelligent conversations .

One other thought which dares to creep across the void between my ears is that Objective Productions will have had a lot to do with the arrangements - perhaps it's their concept of what they think Derren ought to be doing on TV these days?

It's a shame he hasn't got the backbone to say: "I'm not doing this! It's boring and rubbish!". I have to say, his TV output over the last few years has been awfully uninspiring and the sad thing is, we all know how excellent he can be....