The Unbelievable Truth

David Mitchell is joined by Henning Wehn, Zoe Lyons, Sindhu Vee, and Marcus Brigstocke as they talk with deliberate inaccuracy on subjects as varied as colours, ice cream, apples and alcoholic spirits.

The Truths

Henning Wehn - Colours

- Pink does not have a corresponding wavelength of light. Because of this and the fact the colour is not in the rainbow, there is an ongoing debate about whether the colour actually exists. Found by Marcus.

- It is not black at night, but Eigengrau. German for "intrinsic grey", it is the colour seen by the human in eye in perfect darkness. Found by Zoe.

- In Britain, post boxes were originally green to blend in with the landscape. There are credited to novelist Anthony Trollop in 1852, the first being installed in the Channel Islands. Found by Zoe.

- Both the white rhino and the black rhino are grey. Found by Marcus.

- The grass really does always look greener on the other side. This is because you see it from a different perspective. The grass under your feet is viewed at a 90 degree angle; whereas you see your neighbours grass at around a 30-45 degree angle, so you see more grass behind it, making it appear greener. Successfully smuggled.

Zoe Lyons - Ice Cream

- The name "Häagen-Dazs" has no meaning. It was created to sound Danish. Found by Marcus.

- Netflix, alongside Ben & Jerry's released an ice cream called "Netflix and Chilled" in 2020. It is peanut butter flavoured with sweet-and-salted pretzel swirls and fudge brownies. Found by Sindhu.

- The first ice cream on a stick was called the Jolly Boy Sucker, or to be exact it was the lollipop that was the prototype for the first ice cream on a stick, the Good Humor Bar from Ohio. Found by Marcus.

- In the 1940s, there was a public panic in the USA when doctors suggest that ice cream could cause polio. Successfully smuggled.

- The third-most popular ice cream van jingle in the UK is the theme from Match Of The Day. Successfully smuggled.

Sindhu Vee - Apples

- Sir Isaac Newton's third law of motion claims that when an apple falls to Earth, the Earth also falls imperceptibly towards the apple. Found by Marcus.

- Grapples are apples that taste like grapes. Found by Marcus.

- There is a bramley apple fan club in Japan. Found by Marcus.

- Giant water beetles taste like apples. Successfully smuggled.

- In 1926, Frank Terry launched the Terry's Chocolate Apple. He launched the chocolate orange six years later. The chocolate apple was phased out in 1954, partly due to post-war rationing and limited imports or raw cocoa. Successfully smuggled.

Marcus Brigstocke - Alcoholic Spirits

- There is a game called Shotopoly. It is similar to Monopoly, but the rules include having a drink when you land on someone's property, taking a shot if you land on a hotel and finishing a drink to get out of jail. Found by Zoe, accidentally included by Marcus.

- Staff at Harrod's gave riders on Britain's first escalator in 1898 cognac for the men and smelling salts for the women if they became light headed following the ride. Found by Zoe.

- Due to its high sugar content, a researcher managed to turn diabetic urine into a whisky called "pissky". Successfully smuggled.

- Edward VII had a liqueur specially made for him to drink while driving his open-top Daimler in the countryside. It was made with brandy, lemon and ginger, and was sold exclusive to the royals and nobility. Successfully smuggled.

- There is smoked salmon flavoured vodka. Other unusual flavours include bacon, gherkin, buttered popcorn, fresh-cut grass and whipped cream. Successfully smuggled.

- Snapdragon was a game which involved grabbing raisins from a bowl of burning brandy and put them straight in your mouth. It was a 16th century game traditionally played on Christmas Eve. Successfully smuggled.

Scores

- Marcus Brigstocke: 7 points
- Zoe Lyons: 2 points
- Sindhu Vee: -2 points
- Henning Wehn: -7 points