TOP illusionist Derren Brown last night told how he came close to a bust-up with a contestant while filming in North Wales. The 34-year-old was making his TV series Trick Of The Mind for Channel Four television in Portmeirion. He claimed the row was in the Italianate village where 1960s cult TV programme The Prisoner starring Patrick McGoohan was filmed. Brown said: "We were in the grounds of Portmeirion for our first episode doing a staring competition - as in you can't blink or look away. "At the same time I was trying to manipulate the subjects into feeling troubled or have bad feelings. "But one guy reacted badly and you could tell he was freaking out. "I went to bring him out of it and he reared back as if to punch me. "He was in his late 40s, bald and fearsome with a swastika tattoo. He said to me later that he nearly decked me. It's probably going to happen one day." But Brown was intrigued by Port-meirion ' s quirky, trompe l ' oeil architecture. He said: "It was an amazing, odd, slightly creepy place. I've now bought The Prisoner on DVD and I'd love to go back and have the thrill of recognition." During his visit to North Wales, taxidermy fan Brown bought a stuffed peacock for his mantelpiece at home in London. His new series features a host of celebrities. London-based Brown said: "It's the same format as before but we're going around the country instead of sticking in London. "Every episode has a famous face. It's not just a celebrity slot but people I find interesting. We've got Jonathan Ross and his wife Jane Goldman, comedian Simon Pegg, author Iain Banks, Richard Madeley, Mo Mowlam and Alistair McGowan." Trick Of The Mind is the follow-up to his earlier series, Inside Your Mind, and is expected to prove very popular. A PR spokesman said: "Trick Of The Mind reveals the truly staggering craft of one of the world's leading entertainers. "Derren Brown demonstrates his unique powers of showmanship, psychological illusion and misdirection to astound and amaze everyone he meets, from people wandering the UK's streets, to celebrity fans. "Trick Of The Mind sees Derren return on a grander and more adventurous scale. The UK's No.1 showman fuses a concoction of power of suggestion, subliminal messaging and interpretation of body language to predict and control human behaviour." * Trick Of The Mind is screened on Channel Four on Friday, April 15 at 9.30pm. | 
