For 50 weeks of the year, Derren Brown should be locked up and kept away from civilised society in a plastic prison, like X-Men’s Magneto. Then for the other two weeks, he should be let out, under constant supervision, to make television shows as brilliant as this – The Heist, from way back in January.

To jog your memories, this was the show where The Diabolical One convinced a select group of people to commit an armed robbery (fake guns, but they used them as if they were real). When I heard this premise, I thought he was going to be with them, urging them on, but it turned out to be much more impressive…

In fact, he trusted that the time he’d spent teaching them how to get into ‘motivated/aggressive’ state, and that shoplifting’s ok, would mean that they would see a possible robbery situation, and just go for it. And that’s exactly what happened. He’d planted a few triggers in their heads which occurred as they walked down a street, and got them all pumped up, and then strategically placed a Securicor employee loading a van. The instant decision of three out of the four people to stick a gun in this guy’s face was unbelievable – as were their corny ‘stick ‘em up’ lines, including my personal favourite: ”Scuse me, mate, sorry to bother you but… this is a hold-up’. Classic.

When they’d got the money, and were running off down the road, they slowly came back to their senses, and you’ve never seen three people look more scared and confused. Somehow, though, Brown managed to make them think that this was a wonderful experience and it seemed everyone went home happy… The viewers on the other hand, had to cope with the knowledge that there’s a man in this world with that much power. Get him locked up, and be quick about it. [annawaits]