Number 10 – Paul Daniels Iron Maiden (1987)
For anyone who saw it, this is probably his most memorable trick – Halloween night, 1987, when he faked his own death on live TV.
Attempting to escape from a metal box lined with metal spikes – the so-called Iron Maiden – the door appeared to slam shut on Daniels with the magician still inside.
The lights went down, the credits rolled, and a sombre voice asked the studio audience to leave the building, not the sort of thing the BBC would probably consider doing today.
Paul was asked if he’d intended to hoax his audience and he said “I was asked to create an uproar by the producers so I invented that illusion”
1,100 people reportedly phoned the BBC, concerned that Paul Daniels had died. He had to make a special appearance between programmes later that evening to prove that he was okay.
One of the show’s crew told us that only a very small number of people involved in the production actually knew this was going to happen. So the feeling of shock in the room was very real.
YOU CAN WATCH THE FULL CLIP HERE