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 27, Episode 1

David Mitchell is joined by Alan Davies, Lucy Porter, Lou Sanders and Justin Edwards as the panel talk with deliberate inaccuracy on subjects as varied as pigs, underwear, camels and sausages.

The Truths

Justin Edwards - Sausages

- In the USA, the diner slang for bangers and mash is "zeppelins in fog". Also, "hounds on an island" is sausage and beans, and "cluck and grunt" is egg and bacon. Found by Lucy.

- Volkswagen sells more sausages than cars. The car company also owns Volkswagen Currywurst, a sausage company founded in 1973. In 2017, VW produced 6.8million currywursts, compared to 6.3million cards. Found by Alan.

- "Sausage guitar" is when you stretch your penis out as long as possible and then strum it like an air guitar. Found by Lucy.

- Performance artist Mark McGowan once strapped 48 sausages to his head, sat in a bath of baked beans, and put chips up his nose, claiming to have turned himself into a full English breakfast. Successfully smuggled.

- North Yorkshire has just approved its latest visitor attraction, Sausage World. Successfully smuggled.

Lou Sanders - Camels

- Camels can see with their eyes closed. They have special inner eyelids which close to stop sand getting into their eyes, but which are thin enough for the camel to see through, as well as normal outer eyelids. Found by Justin.

- The froth from a camel's mouth has been used as a contraceptive. In North Africa, women swallowed the froth in the belief this worked. Found by Lucy.

- In 2018, 12 camels were disqualified from a beauty contest for using Botox. This was in the annual camel beauty contest in Saudi Arabia, were the Botox was used to make the camel pouts more alluring. Each category in the contest offers a prize of £3.7million. Found by Lucy.

- Asda have started stocking long-life camel milk. Successfully smuggled.

- China installed the world's first camel traffic lights, in a popular tourist spot at the edge of the Gobi Desert. Successfully smuggled.

Lucy Porter - Underwear

- Franz Liszt was the first musician to have underwear thrown at him. Women would throw their underwear at him during performances. During one concert in 1842, several women burst into uncontrollable, hysterical laughter just seeing him, while other women just passed out. Found by Justin.

- In order to hit the high note in "Goldfinger", Shirley Bassey had to remove her bra between takes. Session guitarist Vic Flick said: "John Barry wanted this long note held. He said to do it again, and she said she couldn't. But then there was a rustling noise, and suddenly this bra comes over the top of the vocal booth, and then Shirley really let it go." Found by Lou.

- In 1997, C&A had to recall 6,000 pairs of men's Y-fronts because they put the front hole in the wrong place. While it has also been reported in 1980, C&A brought out a pair of women's knickers with "C" printed on the front and "A" on the back to indicate which way round they should be worn, this is actually an urban myth. Found by Justin.

- The bra market took off in 1917, when the US War Industries Board called for women to switch from corsets to bras to safe material. This saved 28,000 tonnes of steel, enough to make a battleship. Found by Lou.

- Bloomers were named after American activist Amelia Bloomer, who hoped big frilly panties might destroy the patriarchy. Successfully smuggled.

Alan Davies - Pigs

- Pig toilets are human toilets once common in rural China and India, mounted over pig sties, which were designed so that the pigs below can eat human faeces. Found by Lou.

- American parents are worrying that exposing their children to Peppa Pig is making kids speak with British accents. Found by Justin.

- The Romans used war pigs to defeat elephants by making the pigs sequel loudly, causing the elephants to panic. To fight against this, enemies of Rome began rising young elephants alongside pigs. Successfully smuggled.

- Lord Byron swaggered around social functions and would reassure his possible conquests that they would be safe with him by approaching her with a pig's bladder condom, hanging out of his pocket. Successfully smuggled.

- In 2013, pigs were crossed with jellyfish to produce fluorescent piglets. Successfully smuggled.

Scores

- Lucy Porter, Justin Edwards and Alan Davies: 2 points
- Lou Sanders: 0 points

Broadcast details

Date
Monday 10th January 2022
Time
6:30pm
Channel
BBC Radio 4
Length
30 minutes

Repeats

Show past repeats

Date Time Channel
Sunday 16th January 2022 12:00pm Radio 4
Monday 17th January 2022 7:30am Radio 4 Extra
Monday 17th January 2022 5:30pm Radio 4 Extra
Monday 17th January 2022 10:00pm Radio 4 Extra
Tuesday 18th January 2022 5:30am Radio 4 Extra

Cast & crew

Cast
David Mitchell Host / Presenter
Guest cast
Alan Davies Guest
Lucy Porter Guest
Lou Sanders Guest
Justin Edwards Guest
Writing team
Dan Gaster Writer
Colin Swash Writer
Production team
Jon Naismith Producer
Graeme Garden Creator
Jon Naismith Creator

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