Secrets Of The Super Psychics

''Secrets of the Super Psychics'' is a

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

documentary special in the UK, first shown in the ''Equinox'' strand in 1997, later reformatted as a shorter

The Learning Channel TLC is an American multinational cable television, cable and satellite television, satellite television network owned by the Warner Bros. Discovery Networks, Networks division of Warner Bros. Discovery. First established in 1980 as The Learn ...

episode in 1998. Staff reporter Henry Mietkiewicz comments on the show in

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saying, "Viewers eager to know more about the differences between science and claptrap should tune in". An 11-minute version is available on YouTube. The 90-minute film, made by

Open Media Open Media is a British television production company, best known for the discussion series ''After Dark (TV series), After Dark'', described in the national press as "the most original programme on television". The company was founded in 1987 ...

, was first shown in the UK under the title ''Secrets of the Psychics''.

Simon Hoggart Simon David Hoggart (26 May 1946 – 5 January 2014) was an English journalist and broadcaster. He wrote on politics for ''The Guardian'', and on wine for ''The Spectator''. Until 2006, he presented '' The News Quiz'' on BBC Radio 4. His journa ...

wrote in ''

The Spectator ''The Spectator'' is a weekly British political and cultural news magazine. It was first published in July 1828, making it the oldest surviving magazine in the world. ''The Spectator'' is politically conservative, and its principal subject a ...

'' that this was

the first show ever to take on the notoriously litigious
Uri Geller Uri Geller ( ; ; born 20 December 1946) is an Israeli-British illusionist, magician, television personality, and self-proclaimed psychic. He is known for his trademark television performances of spoon bending and other illusions. Geller use ...
. They showed how all his parlour tricks could be easily duplicated by jobbing magicians without any help from paranormal powers.

In 1998 the

Broadcasting Standards Commission The Office of Communications, commonly known as Ofcom, is the government-approved regulatory and competition authority for the broadcasting, internet, telecommunications and postal industries of the United Kingdom. Ofcom has wide-ranging p ...

in the United Kingdom rejected a complaint made by

Uri Geller Uri Geller ( ; ; born 20 December 1946) is an Israeli-British illusionist, magician, television personality, and self-proclaimed psychic. He is known for his trademark television performances of spoon bending and other illusions. Geller use ...

Susan Blackmore Susan Jane Blackmore (born 29 July 1951) is a British writer, lecturer, sceptic, broadcaster, and a visiting professor at the University of Plymouth. Her fields of research include memetics, parapsychology, consciousness, and she is best known f ...

summarized the conclusions as saying that it, "wasn't unfair to have magicians showing how they duplicate those 'psychic feats', and experts saying there is no reliable scientific evidence for his psychic powers whatsoever". {{reflist, refs= {{cite web , title=Psychology Video Library, url=http://www.psy.ed.ac.uk/VideoLibrary/titleinfo.html#s%3Et , publisher=

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

, access-date=28 July 2024 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721194857/ , archive-date=21 July 2011 {{cite news , last1=Hoggart , first1=Simon , title=Mumbo-jumbo , work=The Spectator , date=30 August 1997, url=http://findarticles.com:80/p/articles/mi_qa3724/is_199708/ai_n8772756/ , author-link=Simon Hoggart, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090622043125/http://findarticles.com:80/p/articles/mi_qa3724/is_199708/ai_n8772756/ , archive-date=22 June 2009 {{cite web , last1=Blackmore , first1=Susan , title=Dr. Susan Blackmore , url=https://www.susanblackmore.uk/journalism/summertime-views/ , website=Summertime views , date=25 March 2002 , access-date=23 July 2024 , author-link=Susan Blackmore , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230922083226/https://www.susanblackmore.uk/journalism/summertime-views/ , archive-date=22 September 2023 {{cite news , last1=Mietkiewicz , first1=Henry , title=X-files rehash a mishmash;reality show passes test , work=

, date=27 January 1998 {{cite web , title=Secrets of the Psychics , url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iigbPua3m9w , website=YouTube , date=23 October 2020 , publisher=Open Media , access-date=26 July 2024 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240726203000/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iigbPua3m9w , archive-date=26 July 2024 Channel 4 documentaries Documentary films about the paranormal Equinox (TV series) Faith healers Scientific skepticism mass media 1997 television specials