How Houdini Made Magic: 5. Protect your brand

When an authoritarian empire threatens to brand you a fraud and destroy your legacy, how do you fight back?

Derren Brown explores the high-stakes legal battles that helped cement Houdini’s European triumph.

Arriving in a hostile Berlin where the Imperial police aggressively censored entertainment, Houdini accepted the ultimate challenge, stripping naked before 300 officers to free himself from German restraints. But when a bitter policeman accused him of cheating and bribery, Houdini did the unthinkable: he sued for slander, turning the highest court in the German Empire into the ultimate theatrical stage.

Houdini brilliantly weaponised the legal system, orchestrating PR campaigns and dramatic courtroom victories that he transformed into powerful marketing posters.

Then, with his success on the rise, he faced a new threat: copycat acts. Again, Houdini used ingenious legal tactics to protect his brand in a distinctly modern approach.

Presenter: Derren Brown Writer/Producer: Calum McCrae Additional research: Alice Homewood Sound designer: David Crackles Executive producer: Sophie Ellis Commissioning Executive: Tracy Williams Commissioning Editor: Daniel Clarke

A Strawberry Blond production for BBC Sounds and Radio 4