The Unbelievable Truth

David Mitchell hosts, as Angela Barnes, Mark Steel, Ria Lina and Alan Davies talk with deliberate inaccuracy on subjects as varied as spies, bread, numbers and names.

The Truths

Angela Barnes - Spies

- Clumsy Beekeeper was the codename of a GCHQ computer surveillance technique used by British spies. Found by Alan.

- A man named "John the Spy" had his false moustache fall off when he was being interviewed on The One Show. Successfully smuggled.

- Eavesdropping was decriminalised in England and Wales in 1967. Successfully smuggled.

- Lord Lucan was considered for the part of James Bond. Successfully smuggled.

- 007 is the international dialling code for Russia. Successfully smuggled.

Mark Steel - Bread

- In 2004, a man from Berkshire sold a piece of toast with the face of Joe Pasquale on eBay. Found by Ria.

- Toasters were banned in Cuba to cut down on electricity consumption. Cuba has also banned electric irons, air conditioners and microwave ovens. Found by Ria.

- Sainsbury's made a giraffe bread. In 2012, a three-year-old girl wrote a letter to the company saying their tiger bread looked like it had more of a giraffe pattern on it. Sainsbury's gave the girl a £3 gift card, and changed the name of their tiger bread to giraffe bread. Found by Angela.

- Axl Rose from Guns N' Roses insists that white bread is on his rider. Successfully smuggled.

- In Norfolk, swans turned blue after eating too much bread caused them to have an unbalanced diet. Successfully smuggled.

Ria Lina - Numbers

- Graham's number is so big that it does not fit into the observable universe. It is named after Ronald Graham, and was listed as the world's largest number by Guinness World Records. Found by Angela.

- People who are good at maths in old age are twice as likely to be sexually active. Found by Mark.

- The Irish language uses different counting systems for counting humans and non-humans. There is also a third set of numbers for doing arithmetic or referring to dates and time. Found by Angela.

- The temperature outdoors can be estimate to within several degrees Fahrenheit by count the number of chirps a cricket makes in 15 seconds and adding 40. This is known as Dolbear's Law. Found by Angela.

- According to a US study, men think they are much better at maths than they really are. Successfully smuggled.

Alan Davies - Names

- The name "Donald" has origins in Gaelic, and means: "ruler of the world". Found by Ria.

- Whoopi Goldberg got her nickname from school because of her flatulence, akin to a whoopee cushion. Her real first name is Caryn. Found by Ria.

- The breadcrumb sponge has been "discovered" so many times it now has 56 different scientific names. Found by Angela.

- The name given to one Victorian sex position was: "the ordinary with legs up". This comes from a manual for inexperienced lades called the Instruction Libertine by Frederick Hankey, which included 63 sexual positions including: "the spiky chair", "the view of the Low Countries", "waste not want not" and "the grand entrance". Found by Angela.

- Karl and Jenny Marx had four daughters all named Jenny: namely Jenny Caroline, Jenny Laura, Jenny Evelyn and Jenny Julia. Successfully smuggled.

Scores

- Angela Barnes: 4 points
- Ria Lina, Mark Steel and Alan Davies: -1 point