British Comedy Guide
The Unbelievable Truth. David Mitchell. Copyright: BBC / Random Entertainment
The Unbelievable Truth

The Unbelievable Truth

  • Radio panel show
  • BBC Radio 4
  • 2006 - 2024
  • 183 episodes (30 series)

David Mitchell hosts this Radio 4 panel game built on truth and lies. Contestants must try and smuggle truths into lie-filled speeches.

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Series 26, Episode 6

David Mitchell is joined by Lucy Porter, Frankie Boyle, Sally Phillips, and Neil Delamere as they lie on the subjects of moths, football, singing, and shopping.

The Truths

Lucy Porter - Singing

- Sir Mick Jagger has used an autocue when performing. During their Bigger Bang Tour, the then 63-year-old Sir Mick had an autocue listing the song lyrics, the city he was performing in, and his ad-libs. Found by Sally.

- Atheist author of The God Delusion Richard Dawkins likes singing traditional Christmas carols. He has said: "I actually love the genuine Christmas carols. What I can't bare are the ones that make no mention of religion like Jingle Bells and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer; dreadful tunes and even more dreadful words." Found by Neil.

- Male humpback whales can sing non-stop for 20 hours. Found by Frankie.

- One blues song is Screamin' Jay Hawkins' Constipation Blues. Successfully smuggled.

- Queen Elizabeth II bought no less than six Big Mouth Billy Bass singing fish for Balmoral. Successfully smuggled.

Neil Delamere - Shopping

- Ann Summers has a branch in Mecca. It opened in International Mall in the year 2000, but does not sell sex toys which are illegal. Found by Lucy.

- The current Earl of Sandwich has set up a chain of sandwich shops called Earl of Sandwich. The franchise currently has 37 locations, mostly in the USA. Found by Sally.

- Barbra Streisand has her own shopping mall in the basement of her home. It includes a doll shop, a coffee shop, a costume shop and a functioning candy stall where she serves her guests frozen yoghurt. Found by Lucy.

- You can buy canned silkworm pupae. Successfully smuggled.

- In Roman times, gladiators in the Coliseum would shout of product endorsements to the crowd. The makers of the film Gladiator planned to show, and in the original script Maximus does a product placement for olive oil. However, the plan was abandoned as the makers feared the audiences would not believe it. Successfully smuggled.

Sally Phillips - Moths

- Hawk moths sing with their genitals to deter bat attacks. Found by Neil.

- One species of moth is the ruddy highflyer. Found by Frankie.

- There are moths that drink the tears of sleeping birds. Other tear-drinking moths consume the tears of deer, turtles and crocodiles. Successfully smuggled.

- In 2017, biologists discovered a moth which has a silky yellow patch on the top of its head and abnormally small genitals. They named it: "Neopalpa donaldtrumpi". Successfully smuggled.

- Moths do not eat clothes. It is their larvae that do this. Successfully smuggled.

Frankie Boyle - Football

- In 2000, striker Lee Todd of Sunday-league side Cross Farm Park Celtic was given a red card just two seconds into the match. When referee blew the whistle for kick-off right next to Todd, he exclaimed: "F*** me, that was loud", and was sent off for foul language. Todd was fined £27 and banned from playing for 35 days. Found by Neil.

- At the time of recording, Iceland has more volcanoes (126) than professional footballers (120). Found by Sally.

- When England played away to Germany in 1938, the entire England team, which included Stanley Matthews, gave a Nazi salute to the crowd. This was part of Neville Chamberlain's appeasement policy and a direct order from the Foreign Office, but the gesture provoked outrage in the British press at the time. Found by Neil.

- Referees have to learn swear words in other languages. Found by Sally.

- The first ever football chant was composed by Edward Elgar. A keen Wolverhampton Wanderers fan, he wrote a chant relating to striker Billy Malpass entitled He Banged The Leather For Goal. Successfully smuggled.

Scores

- Neil Delamere: 3 points
- Lucy Porter and Frankie Boyle: 1 point
- Sally Phillips: -2 points.

Broadcast details

Date
Monday 30th August 2021
Time
6:30pm
Channel
BBC Radio 4
Length
30 minutes

Cast & crew

Cast
David Mitchell Host / Presenter
Guest cast
Frankie Boyle Guest
Lucy Porter Guest
Sally Phillips Guest
Neil Delamere Guest
Writing team
Dan Gaster Writer
Colin Swash Writer
Production team
Jon Naismith Producer

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