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.
- Series 27, Episode 1 repeated Friday 15th November at 2pm on Radio 4 Extra
Episode menu
Series 5, Episode 6
The Truths
Fred MacAulay - Ducks
- Male ducks will mate with female so vigorously that the female sometimes drowns. Found by Charlie.
- The Germans used poodles to hunt ducks. Found by Charlie.
- Ducks, and for that matter all birds, have three eyelids. Found by Susan.
- "Dibble" means "to drink like a duck". Successfully smuggled.
- Ducks lose all their flight feathers at the same time and cannot fly for a few weeks until the new ones grow in. Successfully smuggled.
Liza Tarbuck - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
- Don Giovanni was written in one sitting and performed the next day. Found by Susan.
- Mozart was a Freemason. Found by Fred.
- Mozart's middle name was "Wolfgang". Successfully smuggled.
- Mozart has a strangely shaped ear, which is now referred to by doctors as a "Mozart ear". Mozart covered his with an ear wig. Successfully smuggled.
- Mozart composed a piece which required the person to play a piano with both hands and their nose. Successfully smuggled.
Susan Calman - Make-up
- In Morrisville, Pennsylvania, a woman needs a permit before she can wear lipstick. Found by Charlie.
- In 1974, dentist Philip Grundy left his daughter £180,000 on condition that she did not wear any make-up, jewellery or go out with men for five years. Found by Charlie.
- An early form of red lipstick was made using crushed beetles. Found by Liza.
- A survey of shoe shops found that lipstick was the item most shoplifted by women. Found by Charlie.
- Women in nudist camps tend to wear more make-up than women elsewhere. Successfully smuggled.
Charlie Brooker - Thomas Edison
- Edison was afraid of the dark. Found by Susan.
- Edison pioneered the use of the word "Hello" to start telephone conversations. Found by Susan.
- Edison asked his second wife to marry him by tapping out his proposal on her hand in Morse code. Found by Liza.
- Edison designed a machine which tried to prove there was an afterlife by communicating with the dead. Found by Fred.
- Edison invented a helicopter that worked on gunpowder. It exploded. Successfully smuggled.
Scores
- Charlie Brooker: 6 points
- Susan Calman: 4 points
- Liza Tarbuck: 3 points
- Fred MacAulay: 2 points
Broadcast details
- Date
- Monday 3rd May 2010
- Time
- 6:30pm
- Channel
- BBC Radio 4
- Length
- 30 minutes
Cast & crew
David Mitchell | Host / Presenter |
Fred MacAulay | Guest |
Susan Calman | Guest |
Liza Tarbuck | Guest |
Charlie Brooker | Guest |
Dan Gaster | Writer |
Jon Naismith | Producer |