Derren Brown is an English mentalist, illusionist, and writer.
Derren Brown went to Springfield to film A Derren Brown Christmas. He chose Springfield because there was no feeling of Christmas spirit in the town. So that he wouldn't reveal what he was really doing to the townspeople, he told Mayor Quimby and the people of Springfield that the town had won an award for being the "Christmasiest" Town in America, and he and Hark Media were there to film a documentary about it. After getting permission to film, Derren Brown focused on his first target, Gil Gunderson. Derren set up a stunt involving a baby carriage rolling down a hill toward Gil, who stopped it and supposedly saved the baby inside. However, the baby was placed in the carriage after it was stopped. Upon being told that he had saved the baby, Gil phoned his estranged wife Bonnie and was told he could spend Christmas with the family.
Derren Brown then targeted Homer, as Homer believed he was terrible at buying gifts for people. After hypnotizing Marge into giving permission to work on Homer, Derren Brown set his plan in motion. When Homer went to work the next day, he went to the vending machine where his favorite cupcakes had a festive makeover, with a picture of Santa Claus on the packet. Homer tried to buy them but was sucked into the vending machine and into a hidden room where Derren Brown hypnotized him. However, Homer proved difficult to hypnotize, as he was still focused on the cupcakes. Derren Brown placed the cupcake packet on his forehead to get Homer to pay attention and attempted to hypnotize Homer into believing he was good at buying gifts. However, seeing the picture of Santa Claus, Homer was hypnotized into thinking he was Santa. He then managed to get one of the cupcakes without Derren noticing...
Famed British mentalist, Derren Brown, comes to Springfield and uses psychological tricks and showmanship to raise the town's Christmas spirit. When Homer gets hypnotized and mistakenly believes he is Santa Claus, it sets off a cheery chain reaction and causes everyone to question what they believe and to explore the meaning of "miracle".
