PREVIEW: Derren Brown: Incognito

Image courtesy of Channel 4 Press

By Jon Donnis

Channel 4 joins forces with Vaudeville Productions and the mind of Derren Brown for Incognito, a new six part series that blends game playing with something far more probing. It starts with a familiar truth. We all make snap judgements about the people around us. Most of the time we do it without thinking, drawing quick conclusions shaped by years of social conditioning and our own personal prejudices.

Incognito takes that everyday instinct and places it under a microscope.

Ten strangers, each from wildly different backgrounds, are brought together and moved into a mysterious institution for seven days. They do not arrive empty handed. Each person carries an identity that tends to trigger instant assumptions from others. It might be a Soldier, a Spy, a Priest or a Porn Star. Labels that come loaded with expectation before a single word is spoken. From the outset, everyone believes they share the same objective. Discover who the others really are while keeping their own identity carefully hidden.

On paper, it sounds like a tense social guessing game. Watch closely, gather clues, decide who to trust. The sort of setup that encourages alliances, whispers in corners and second guessing every glance. Yet this is a project shaped by Derren Brown, and the straightforward version of events is never the whole story.

Behind the scenes, the series reveals itself as something more mischievous. Rather than simply testing deduction skills, Incognito becomes a psychological experiment. Every task, every conversation and every elimination is designed to challenge what the players think they know. First impressions are shaken. Assumptions start to wobble. People who seemed obvious choices suddenly look less certain. Those quiet, almost invisible prejudices begin to surface.

As the days pass, the group is pushed to re evaluate the bonds they have formed and the strategies they thought were safe. Twists disrupt any sense of comfort. Trust becomes fragile. The line between performance and authenticity blurs. In that pressure, the participants are forced to confront not just each other, but themselves.

The effect is not limited to those inside the institution. Viewers are invited into the same process, watching their own instincts at work and perhaps recognising how easily they too make judgments based on a title or role. Empathy creeps in where certainty once sat.

Set against an increasingly divided and polarised society, Incognito asks a quiet but pointed question. Can long standing views about other people really change when they are properly tested, or do those old prejudices return the moment the masks come off. Guided by Derren Brown's perspective and built as more than just a game, the series promises something unsettling, thoughtful and revealing in equal measure.

Coming Soon.

Derren Brown, "This has been a fascinating new venture. With my previous shows I've normally had a clear idea of how things will conclude, this was very different. It's a show about how we form opinions, live by our labels, judge others by them. And what happens when all that's removed. It was a beautiful and extraordinary thing to make." 

Craig Hamilton-Parker’s 2026 Predictions: Royals, Wars and a Spiritual Awakening

By Jon Donnis

As 2025 draws to a close, the annual cycle of psychic forecasts is already in motion. Craig Hamilton-Parker, whose 2025 predictions were largely inaccurate, has released a fresh set of forecasts for 2026 through his YouTube channel and his "Coffee with Craig" sessions.

This year, his predictions are significantly more dramatic than last. Moving beyond political reshuffles, they venture into territory that feels closer to a historical epic than a typical year-ahead forecast.

The Royal Transition

The most striking claim for 2026 concerns the British monarchy. Hamilton-Parker suggests that King Charles III may pass away in early 2026, specifically pointing to February as a significant date. In his view, this would lead to the immediate coronation of King William V. He describes William as a strong and decisive leader who will handle family matters with a firmer hand than his predecessor.

He further links this predicted change in leadership to the royal titles of the Sussexes and Prince Andrew. Hamilton-Parker suggests that King William will pursue parliamentary changes to remove Harry, Meghan Markle, and Prince Andrew from their royal statuses permanently.

Global Upheaval and a "Four-Nation War"

On the international stage, the forecasts take an even darker turn. Drawing on what he calls "Naadi readings" from ancient Indian palm leaf prophecies, Hamilton-Parker speaks of escalating wars and calamities spanning 2025 to 2029. He specifically mentions a "four-nation war," though the identities of the participants remain vague.

China also features prominently in his 2026 predictions. He forecasts the beginning of the end for the Chinese Communist Party and the downfall of Xi Jinping, potentially triggered by a symbolic event involving a building in Hong Kong. This event is described as a catalyst for wider revolutionary change.

A Spiritual "Golden Age"

Despite talk of war and royal deaths, Hamilton-Parker presents a recurring theme of a global "Great Awakening" in 2026. He argues that the chaos of the coming year could mark the start of a new "Golden Age." This is less about political peace and more about a shift in human consciousness, where people turn away from material concerns and move towards a deeper spiritual awareness.

It is worth noting that several of these claims, particularly the predictions about Harry and Meghan or potential royal health issues, are recycled versions of his 2025 forecasts that never came true. By changing the timing and adding extra drama, the stories stay engaging for his audience, even if the accuracy is highly questionable. As with last year, these predictions appear aimed more at entertaining the "Coffee with Craig" community than at recording events that will actually happen. History suggests that, despite the spectacle, Craig Hamilton-Parker's forecasts are far more likely to amuse than to predict.

The Christmas That Never Came: Dorothy Martin’s Failed Prophecy

By Jon Donnis

In the early 1950s, Dorothy Martin, a housewife in Oak Park, Illinois, captured the attention of a small circle of followers with extraordinary claims. She said she received messages from beings on another planet, warning that a catastrophic flood would destroy the United States on 21 December 1954. The only salvation, she insisted, would come from flying saucers that would arrive just in time to rescue her followers.

As the date drew near, Martin's adherents prepared with a mixture of anxiety and anticipation. They followed her instructions closely, retreating into their homes and awaiting the promised salvation. When 21 December passed, the predicted flood did not come. No waters rose, no ships appeared, and the catastrophe Martin had foretold failed to materialise.

Instead of abandoning their beliefs, Martin and her followers rationalised the failure. They set a new date: Christmas Eve. On that evening, the group gathered outside Martin's house, singing carols and awaiting the arrival of the promised extraterrestrial rescue. Once again, nothing happened, leaving the spectacle as a curious public event rather than a miraculous salvation.

Psychologists Leon Festinger, Henry Riecken, and Stanley Schachter later studied the group in depth, producing the classic work When Prophecy Fails. Their research highlighted the phenomenon of cognitive dissonance: when firmly held beliefs collide with reality, people often experience psychological discomfort yet may cling even more strongly to their convictions. Many of Martin's followers insisted that their faith had spared the world from destruction, even after the prophecy failed twice.

The story of Dorothy Martin remains a striking example of how human belief can persist despite repeated disconfirmation. It illustrates why skepticism is essential when evaluating psychic predictions and prophecies. By tying her prophecy to a culturally significant date like Christmas, Martin's story drew attention, inspired hope, and ultimately offered a vivid lesson in expectation, faith, and the complexities of human psychology.

Christie Bosch reviews Documentary The Psychic Swindler

 

Below you can watch as Christie Bosch (‪@Thatdocumentarygirl‬ on YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok) reviews The Psychic Swindle Documentary. 

She breaks down five ways one man scammed people out of millions.

Below that is the full documentary itself, although it is geolocked to Canada only, but if you are clever I am sure you can find a way to watch it.

The Psychic Swindle: Canada's $200M scam (Use https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4G7gXz7C9Q to find other ways of watching.)

Halloween and the Science of the Supernatural: Why We Still Believe in the Occult

Article by Jon Donnis

Every year, as October fades and pumpkins begin to rot on doorsteps, the same old stories come crawling back. Haunted houses. Witchcraft. Curses. Ghosts. Halloween has always been tangled up with the occult, but what keeps these ancient superstitions alive in an age that's supposed to be ruled by reason? The answer isn't found in the spirit world. It's found in the human mind.

Many of Halloween's darker traditions stretch back centuries, to a time when fear filled the spaces that science hadn't yet explained. The Celtic festival of Samhain marked the end of summer and the start of the cold, dark months, when people believed the dead could wander among the living. Without any understanding of infection, decomposition or changing weather, unseen forces felt like the most logical explanation. Fires were lit to keep spirits away. Faces were carved into turnips to scare them off. Disguises were worn to blend in with the restless dead. These rituals weren't proof of ghosts, they were ways to make sense of an unpredictable world.

From a scientific point of view, it's easy to understand why such beliefs endure. Humans are built to find meaning in chaos. Our brains constantly search for patterns, even when they don't exist. It's the reason we see faces in clouds or hear whispers in static. Psychologists call it "agent detection", and it once helped our ancestors survive. Mistaking the wind for a wolf was safer than missing the real thing. The problem is that instinct hasn't gone away. It now fuels ghost sightings, possessions, and the odd Ouija board story that gets passed around after a few drinks. When we expect to see something supernatural, our minds make sure we do.

Modern Halloween rituals still play on the same tricks of perception. Haunted houses use darkness, sudden noises and tight spaces to make our bodies panic before our minds can catch up. The racing heart, the jump scare, the flood of adrenaline, it all feels like proof that something real is happening. In truth, it's only proof of how easily fear can bend reason.

The occult, from séances to spells, feeds on that mixture of doubt and desire. People want to believe that there's something more, that the dead might not be gone, that coincidence might carry meaning. Psychics and mediums know this, and many are skilled at turning human vulnerability into business. Techniques like cold reading and suggestion create convincing results, but under proper testing they fall apart. Remove the cues and the emotional hooks, and the "spirit world" falls silent.

Halloween is curious because it lets us indulge in all of this without shame. For one night, skeptics join the believers. We watch ghost films, light candles, and tell each other stories that make the skin crawl. It's not that we think any of it's true. It's just fun to let the irrational side out for a while. Maybe it's even healthy to remember that our ancient fears are still there, humming quietly in the background.

Science can explain every part of the Halloween myth, from why our ancestors feared the dark to why ghost stories still get under our skin. But it can't quite erase our appetite for mystery. That's the beauty of it. The real magic of Halloween isn't found in spirits or spells, but in our strange, brilliant ability to invent them.