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

The Unbelievable Truth

  • Radio panel show
  • BBC Radio 4
  • 2006 - 2024
  • 177 episodes (29 series)

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

Episode menu

Series 4, Episode 2

Clive Anderson talks about baldness, Henning Wehn looks at Winston Churchill, Fi Glover discusses urine and Dom Joly chats about dwarves.

The Truths

Clive Anderson - Baldness

- France had a king known as Charles the Bald. Found by Fi.

- Coutts is a bank. Found by Dom. Accidentally included by Clive.

- The actress Gillian Anderson was voted in her school yearbook as the "Girl most likely to go bald." Successfully smuggled.

- Red haired men are more likely to bald than anyone else, mainly because they have fewer hairs on average than most people. Successfully smuggled.

- Tsar Paul I of Russia issued a decree that anyone who mentioned his baldness in his presence would be executed. Successfully smuggled.

- A simple cure for baldness is castration, provided it is done before puberty. Successfully smuggled.

Henning Wehn - Winston Churchill

- A point was given when Henning said that he had turned to page two of his lecture notes. Found by Clive. Accidentally included by Henning.

- Due to his depression, Churchill never stood on the edge of railway platforms in case he felt the urge to jump off. Found by Clive.

- Another point was given when Henning said that he had turned to page three of his lecture notes. Found by Clive. Accidentally included by Henning.

- Churchill was born in a ladies cloakroom. Successfully smuggled.

- Churchill had strong suspicions about lavatory seats. When a plumber asked him what sort of seat he would have on his toilet he replied that he had no need of one. Successfully smuggled.

- Churchill has the same governess as Clement Attlee. Successfully smuggled.

- Churchill invented the world "cutopia" which is a communist country with lots of cueing. Successfully smuggled.

Fi Glover - Urine

- Cats urine glows in the dark. Found by Henning.

- The American government instructed crashed pilots in the Pacific during World War Two to eat Asparagus because the chemical reaction of it with the urine attacked fish. Found by Henning.

- Tiger urine smells like buttered popcorn. Successfully smuggled.

- When Laplanders consume the mushroom fly agaric they will often urinated into a glass and drink the urine so that someone else can experience the hallucinogenic effect. Successfully smuggled.

- Ostriches are the only birds that can pee. Successfully smuggled.

Dom Joly - Dwarves

- King Charles I was highly amused by an 8 foot giant who carried a dwarf in his pocket. Found by Clive.

- The Romans regularly had dwarves fighting women in the Colosseum. Successfully smuggled.

- The most famous dwarf spy smuggled secrets by disguising himself as a baby in his mother's arms. Successfully smuggled.

- Charles I favourite joke was to place his court dwarf between two halves of a loaf of bread and pretend to eat him. Successfully smuggled.

- Some of the names that Walt Disney rejected for dwarves in the film Snow White and the Seven Dwarves where "Biggy Wiggy", "Flabby", "Chesty" and "Awful". Successfully smuggled.

Scores

- Clive Anderson and Henning Wehn: 6 points
- Fi Glover: 4 points
- Dom Joly: 0 points

Broadcast details

Date
Monday 12th October 2009
Time
6:30pm
Channel
BBC Radio 4
Length
30 minutes

Repeats

Show past repeats

Date Time Channel
Sunday 18th October 2009 12:00pm Radio 4
Wednesday 16th July 2014 9:00am Radio 4 Extra
Wednesday 16th July 2014 6:00pm Radio 4 Extra
Thursday 17th July 2014 1:00am Radio 4 Extra

Cast & crew

Cast
David Mitchell Host / Presenter
Guest cast
Clive Anderson Guest
Fi Glover Guest
Dom Joly Guest
Henning Wehn Guest
Writing team
Dan Gaster Writer
Production team
Jon Naismith Producer

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