Death by Magic
Death by Magic is a 2018 Netflix reality television series in which the British magician Drummond Money-Coutts, known professionally as DMC, travels the world to investigate tricks that killed other magicians and then performs his own versions of those stunts in front of live audiences1. All eight episodes of the single season were released on November 30, 20182, and the series has remained a single-season show3.
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Format | Reality TV series, 8 episodes of roughly 34 to 35 minutes each4 • 2 |
| Premiere | November 30, 2018, on Netflix; the entire season was released that day2 |
| Host | Drummond Money-Coutts (DMC), a British magician, also an executive producer1 • 5 |
| Premise | Recreating feats that proved fatal to other magicians, such as escaping a car before it floods with water and getting out of a custom-built coffin5 |
| Rating | TV-14 in the United States5 |
| Reception | IMDb 6.1/10 from 791 votes; Rotten Tomatoes audience score of 44% with fewer than 50 ratings and no critic reviews counted6 • 5 |
| Production | A. Smith & Co. Productions; executive producers Arthur Smith, Toby Gorman, Martin Turner, Simon Dinsell, and Drummond Money-Coutts6 • 5 |
Spoilers
Premise and format
Each episode follows a set pattern. Money-Coutts travels to a location where a magician died performing a dangerous stunt, investigates the trick and the fatal events that followed, and then devises and performs his own interpretation of the death-defying illusion before a live audience7. Along the way he performs smaller trademark tricks and, at times, reveals a few secrets of the trade7.
The stunts are genuinely hazardous in design. The series features tricks involving real, loaded guns, speeding trains, fire, and enclosed spaces filled with water7. Examples include an escape from a locked box while in a straitjacket before being struck by a speeding train, escaping handcuffs and a car filling with water, being buried alive in a transparent coffin filled with concrete, and plummeting in a wooden barrel into a small pool of water7 • 8 • 2.
Episodes
The eight episodes of season 1, all released November 30, 2018, are named for the city or region of the stunt8:
- CAPE TOWN: The Great Escape
- MIAMI: Head Under Water
- DETROIT: Death by Audience
- LONDON: Buried Alive
- LAS VEGAS: Against the Odds
- INDIA: The Rope Trick
- EDINBURGH: Trial by Fire
- LOS ANGELES: Daredevil
The locations were chosen for their significance to magic history as well as to the trick attempted. The London episode, for example, was inspired by the Victorian fear of being buried alive9.
Reception and content notes
Common Sense Media rated the series suitable for ages 14 and up, noting that audiences often scream and become emotional during the performances and that reenactments of some late magicians' final moments appear, though without blood. The review also credited the show with highlighting the problem-solving required to create illusions and understand why they go wrong, and described Money-Coutts as personable, polite, courageous, and committed to his craft7.
The Review Geek's season review called the series an eight-episode mix of magic and history with tension, drama, and spectacle, praising its globe-trotting format while noting it follows a familiar structure8. Audience aggregation has been modest: the series holds a 6.1/10 on IMDb from 791 votes6 and a 44% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes with fewer than 50 ratings and no critic reviews tallied5.
Status and other uses of the title
The series is listed as ended after one season3. As of May 2021, Netflix had not announced a release date for a second season9. The show remains streamable on Netflix, including the ad-supported tier4.
The title has also been used for an unrelated American television movie, Death by Magic (2000), directed by Lorraine Senna and starring Peter Firth and Charlie O'Connell, in which Earth's current protector seeks a replacement to represent the forces of good against those of evil10.
References
- Death by Magic, Netflix Official Site
- Death by Magic, TVmaze
- Death by Magic, New On Netflix USA
- Death by Magic streaming, JustWatch UK
- Death by Magic, Rotten Tomatoes
- Death by Magic (TV Series 2018), IMDb
- Death By Magic: Parents' Guide and TV Review, Common Sense Media
- Death By Magic: Netflix Season 1 Review, The Review Geek
- Death By Magic Season 2: What We Know So Far, Looper
- Death by Magic (2000 TV movie), Rotten Tomatoes
Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Series and fictional screen worlds › Unscripted, reality, and web-native series › Documentary, docudrama, and lifestyle series › Factual entertainment and specialist-interest formats › Premiered 2001 to 2019
Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 21, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026
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