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.

  • Due to return for Series 30

Episode menu

Series 23, Episode 5

David Mitchell is joined by Susan Calman, Graeme Garden, Sindhu Vee and Lloyd Langford as they lie on the subjects of superheroes, meat, names and Bob Dylan.

The Truths

Sindhu Vee - Names

- Ronald Regan's pet name for his wife Nancy was "Mommie Poo Pants". Ronald referred to himself as "First Poppa" and "Your In Love Gov". Found by Lloyd.

- Charles Dickens nicknamed one of his children's "Lucifer Box". Successfully smuggled.

- Donald Trump's father's middle name was "Christ". Trump's father was Frederick Christ Trump, the son German immigrants of Elizabeth Christ and Frederick Trump. Successfully smuggled.

- "Cerberus" is Sanskrit for "Spot". Successfully smuggled.

- Viking names included "The Man Who Mixes His Drinks". Successfully smuggled.

Lloyd Langford - Bob Dylan

- Dylan once swapped a painting by Andy Warhol for a sofa. It was a painting of Elvis Presley that he traded with his manager Albert Grossman. Grossman's widow later sold the painting $750,000. Found by Susan.

- Dylan is a fan of Welsh rock band Stereophonics. Found by Graeme.

- One of Dylan's more bizarre lyrics is: "Now the beach is deserted except for some kelp." This comes from the song Sara (pronounced "Sarah"). Found by Susan.

- Among Dylan's pseudonyms they include "Tedham Porterhouse". Successfully smuggled.

- Dylan uses the Greek spirit Ouzo as a hair straightener. Successfully smuggled.

Susan Calman - Superheroes

- Bouncing Boy was a DC Comics superhero who could inflate like a giant ball and bounce around. Born without any powers, he got them by accidentally drinking a super-plastic formula that he mistook for his bottle of soda pop. He had a long-term relationship with another superhero, Triplicate Girl, who he eventually married. Found by Lloyd.

- Melbourne, Australia, was originally called "Batmania". It was founded in 1835 by John Batman. Found by Lloyd.

- Wolverine was originally called "Badger". Found by Graeme.

- There is a Scottish superhero called Aberdeen Angus, who is part-human and part-Highland beef. Successfully smuggled.

- DC Comics once had a superhero called Arm-Fall-Off Boy, whose superpower was take off his own arm and hit his enemies with it. Successfully smuggled.

Graeme Garden - Meat

- During the First World War, Germany and parts of Austria were banned from eating sausages, as the skins were used to make Zeppelins. Each Zeppelin needed the intestines of over 250,000 cows, and Germany built 140 Zeppelins. Found by Lloyd.

- During the 2013 horsemeat scandal, a meat pie in Iceland (the country, not the frozen food chain) was found to have contained no meat at all. Instead of beef, the inspectors found, "a type of vegetable matter". Found by Susan.

- In 2007, the Year of the Pig, Chinese stamps were flavoured with sweet and sour pork when licked. Elsewhere, Brazil has stamps that smell of coffee, and Belgium has chocolate flavoured stamps. Found by Lloyd.

- In Israel the movie Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs was renamed It's Raining Falafel. Found by Lloyd.

- There is a porn film called Jurassic Pork. Found by Susan. Accidentally included by Graeme.

- Rene Arend is the creator of Chicken McNuggets. Successfully smuggled.

Scores

- Sindhu Vee and Graeme Garden: 3 points
- Susan Calman: 0 points
- Lloyd Langford: -1 point

Broadcast details

Date
Monday 27th January 2020
Time
6:30pm
Channel
BBC Radio 4
Length
30 minutes

Repeats

Show past repeats

Date Time Channel
Sunday 2nd February 2020 12:00pm Radio 4
Monday 3rd February 2020 7:30am Radio 4 Extra
Monday 3rd February 2020 5:30pm Radio 4 Extra
Monday 3rd February 2020 10:00pm Radio 4 Extra
Tuesday 4th February 2020 5:30am Radio 4 Extra
Thursday 6th April 2023 9:00am Radio 4 Extra
Thursday 6th April 2023 2:00pm Radio 4 Extra
Thursday 6th April 2023 7:00pm Radio 4 Extra
Friday 7th April 2023 4:00am Radio 4 Extra

Cast & crew

Cast
David Mitchell Host / Presenter
Guest cast
Graeme Garden Guest
Susan Calman Guest
Lloyd Langford Guest
Sindhu Vee Guest
Writing team
Dan Gaster Writer
Colin Swash Writer
Production team
Jon Naismith Producer

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