Anyone else watching Derren Brown: The System?

[pinkspottywellies]

Oh my God. £4k! I don't think he's put it on.

I just saw it on Sky Plus - brilliant idea - can't believe he spent 9 hours tossing a coin. Must have put 4 K on each and somehow swapped the ticket. How did he do the thing with the four experts though? Cant have done that 1.48 billion times.

It made for quite entertaining tv although I think most of it was a sham.

There were loads of inaccuracies in the racing part ie. understand why small fields but one had 16 runners in it. Also I can't understand how they filmed so many people at the early stages. At the end he obviously hoped the favourite - Moon over Miami - would win and then he'd just say "that's magic". However we never actually saw what he had bet on - just had his word for it and he could pay her out of the production fees. He went to a tote window and yet gave her a betting shop counterfoil - that isn't how it works. Also how come he supposedly then picked up the winnings off a rails bookie? I also know it would be extremly unlikely they would have 13 grand in cash all neatly bundled like that.

Why didn't he just splice the coin trick. I can't believe he really spent 9 hours doing it when he had no live audience.

The actual "system" is sadly perpetrated daily by con men. They send tips to gullible people in the post. They have different horses on each sheet and they hope that the ones who are given winners will then subscribe to expensive tipping services.

In the early stages the people filmed themselves with video diaries. It was only in the last but one race that they filmed six people at the races. I can't remember seeing 16 runners in one of the races..... could easily be wrong though. Yes I think the winning of the last race was a set up but it wouldn't have been fair on the woman for her not to have taken home big money after being effectively tricked for television. I think he had to do the coin trick properly for the illustration to work. What was amazing to me was how fresh he sounded and how confident when he had obviously failed so many times before.

I suppose it is not suprising that this system is really used by con men - shame.

It is also very similar to Richard Dawkins' explanation for the the evolution of life against the odds. Very unlikely but so many planets where it could have happened and if it hadn't been on this one then we wouldn't be here to talk about it.

sorry origin of life - not evolution