Magician’s new stunt is up the pole

Magician David Blaine is set to stage his most death-defying stunt yet when he spends two full days and nights balanced on top of a 100ft flagpole.

Blaine will stand on the pole, which has the diameter of a football, without a harness or safety net.

The stunt will take place in his native New York at the General Motors building on Fifth Avenue next month.

It is 29-year-old Blaine’s latest feat of endurance. Last year he risked hypothermia when he was entombed in a block of ice for three days and nights, and he was once buried alive for a week.

The modern-day Houdini will descend from the pole by jumping to the ground with only a few cardboard boxes to break his fall.

The stunt will be screened on Sky One at the end of May as the highlight of a one-hour David Blaine special.

Other shows in the channel’s spring/summer schedule include Is Harry On the Boat?, a hedonistic drama series chronicling the antics of six holiday reps on the sunshine island of Ibiza.

Based on the best-selling novel by Colin Butts, it is the first drama from Eurotrash makers Planet Rapido.

X-Files fans will bid farewell to Mulder and Scully when the sci-fi hit returns in June for its final series.

The last series ended with Scully (Gillian Anderson) giving birth to a son, and Mulder (David Duchovny) doing a disappearing act.

Viewers will have to tune in to the channel to see if the two are reunited.

Other highlights in the schedule include a new series of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and the digitally remastered return of children’s classic Captain Scarlet.