As a reminder (to me as much as to anyone else!) with all due acknowledgements to
www.magicweek.co.uk:
MAGIC - Programme Six: Violent Magic - 9pm on Saturday 20th November (1 hour) on BBC 2.
The magician destroys ... and then restores
January 10th 1921, and a brand new illusion is performed in London. Sawing Through a Woman was to become an immediate and enduring sensation. It might be a magic cliché today but a member of that first ever audience described it as "like watching a murder in your own living room".
This programme tells the story of how magicians have always been drawn to illusions which feature the power of death and restoration. From the Decapitation of John The Baptist – the grisly highlight of the Elizabethan Mystery Plays – to performers like Penn and Teller and The Amazing Johnathan.
The programme also features Paul Daniels, and David Copperfield's sensational Buzz Saw illusion, where he actually cuts himself in half, together with rare archive footage.
(Now where did I put the VCR timer recording instructions again?....... 
)