I AM a sceptic. I have never believed in psychic abilities, or ghosts and certainly don’t believe that it is possible to contact the dead.

But, having said that, it doesn’t stop me being intrigued about how people who claim to possess these psychic abilities get their information.

So the latest three-part series on Channel 4 by master of trickery Derren Brown — simply called Derren Brown Investigates — has got me hooked. His aim is to try and catch out people who make a living by pulling the wool over our eyes.

It’s Louis Theroux meets The Cook Report with a dash of The Paul Daniels Magic Show. In the first episode, The Man Who Contacts The Dead, he headed to Liverpool to meet meeting Joe Power, who claims he can communicate with the dead, including John Lennon.

Derren follows Joe — possibly one of the most unpleasant mediums in Britain — for a week. Joe performs a reading for Hollyoaks actors. Was there an incident with a bike, he asks Anthony Quinlan who plays Gilly Roach? Nope. Is he one of three children, perhaps? Again no, he's an only child. What about his grandmother, was she one of three sisters? Yes at last.

Watching him demonstrate his lack of psychic powers was very entertaining, in an excruciating kind of way. I’m certainly looking forward to the next episode: The Men with X-Ray Eyes.