History Radio / TheUnbelievableTruth

--> '''David''': John has written for ''Series/ThatMitchellAndWebbLook'', ''David Mitchell's Soapbox'', ''That Mitchell and Webb Sound'', and for David Mitchell on ''Ten O'clock Live''. '''{{Beat}}'''. [[ImplausibleDeniability Never heard of him.]]

''(audience groans)''\\

-->'''David Mitchell''': See, it works on television! And yet here we are in a tent in Edinburgh.

* TokenMinority: Parodied in the first episode of Series 13. Following a 2014 BBC directive that all {{Panel Show}}s were required to include at least one female panellist (due to increasing criticism of the dearth of female panellists on such programmes), David Mitchell introduced comedienne Lucy Beaumont as the panel's token... Northerner.[[note]] Beaumont is native to Hull in the East Riding of Yorkshire; the episode's other panellists were Kent native Jack Dee, Sussex native Alex Horne, and Berkshire native John Finnemore.[[/note]]

** In another episode, Clive Anderson ''insisted'' that some people thought Jack The Ripper was a bicyclist, saying that some of his old colleagues used to say it, naming this trope outright with "Trust me, I'm a lawyer!"

** If the subject of a lecture is a living person, then often just David announcing the subject will be enough to get a laugh. Examples include John Finnemore's lecture on Boris Johnson, Arthur Smith's on Simon Cowell, Graeme Garden's on Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Osman's on Kanye West, and, most memorably of all, Ed Byrne's on David Mitchell himself.

The format comprises four panellists,[[note]]The only time this has been deviated from was in two episodes of Series 25, which featured three teams of two - all three teams were made up of married couples[[/note]] generally stand-up comedians or comedy writers; there are no permanent panellists, but some of the more frequent ones include Susan Calman, John Finnemore, Graeme Garden[[note]]who is the creator of the programme and co-owner of the company that makes it, which tends to be joked about whenever he's on[[/note]], Tony Hawks, Lloyd Langford, Richard Osman, Lucy Porter, Arthur Smith, Holly Walsh and Creator/HenningWehn.

** In season 10 episode 5, David mentions that Simon Cowell's favourite dessert is butterscotch angel delight. "Utterly artificial, devoid of goodness and liable to make you sick, Simon Cowell lives in Los Angeles."

* BerserkButton: While it's definitely a mild example, David is always exasperated by pedantry related to food categories, in the "tomatoes are actually fruit" vein. When Richard Osman has a lecture on nuts which leans heavily on "a peanut is a nut" fake facts, he warns David that he's really not going to like it. Sure enough, every time David has to say that something we all call a nut isn't a nut (because Holly Walsh challenges ''every time'') he becomes increasingly irritated by the whole thing.

* BioluminescenceIsCool: One episode gets slightly derailed by a conversation about making glow in the dark rabbits, followed by glow in the dark foxes, and glow in the dark tories...

* BlatantLies: The whole point of the show, but it can escalate to hilariously absurd levels. Henning Wehn's statement "Britain is the envy of Europe in traffic management infrastructure" was so unbelievable that it earned a laugh from the audience and entire panel.

** In Series 3, episode 3, first speaker Graeme Garden ended his speech on China with "The great wall of China is the only landmark on Earth where you can see the Moon", and last speaker Clive Anderson, near the end of his speech on the Moon, says "the proof that we've been to the moon is that three golf balls left behind are visible on the surface, which can only be seen from the Great Wall of China".
** In the first of his two series 13 recordings, Lloyd Langford's subject is Whales, which David Mitchell differentiates from the phonetically identical Wales in his introduction. In the second recording his subject is Wales, with David giving the same introduction from the first recording with the definitions of Whales and Wales reversed.

** Holly Walsh gets tetchy at David repeating a list she'd given, saying this allows the challengers to change their minds, which David gets tetchy back at her. Later on in the episode, he starts reciting another list, but stops to ask Holly if it's okay for him to do so.

** Fern Brady tries doing a London cab-driver accent. When she's buzzed afterward, she figures it's because of her attempt at an English accent.

* CheeseEatingSurrenderMonkeys: When one lecture claims a dog caused a fifteen day war involving France, Henning (who is German) quips that it can't have really happened because the French would've surrendered ''long'' before that.

* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: Henning and Susan Calman especially. Susan at one point buzzes out of paranoid fear because no-one else has buzzed, and in another is confused by the rules, which David explains at the beginning of every episode.

--->'''Jeremy Hardy:''' Most clerics have had to find lucrative side lines to make ends meet. [...] In early Christian Rome, clergy would make extra cash by leaving little baskets of dried flowers in lavatories, a practice known as 'popery'.\\

* {{Crossover}}: Sort of; the 2010 New Year special had panellists Stephen Fry, Alan Davies, Rob Brydon and John Lloyd, began with a subversion of ''Series/{{QI}}''[='=]s buzzer gag, and even included the "obvious answer" klaxon. Creator/StephenFry set it off twice when challenging Alan, much to everyone's satisfaction.

* EveryoneHasStandards: A discussion on Frankie Boyle deciding not to comment on David Bowie's death has the other panellists speculate whether he's just started to develop a filter.

* FelonyMisdemeanour: Miles Jupp loses a thousand points for buzzing in on a lecture about men and being wrong, after Frankie Boyle notes that a man not losing a point in a lecture about men when he's wrong clearly sends the wrong message. Or as David Mitchell puts it, "for being such a monster".

* FreakierThanFiction: The easiest facts to slip through are, naturally, the ones that any sane person would think was made up.

** David Mitchell does this to himself when describing how Viagra effects the rods in the eyes, only to start chortling about it.

* KansasCityShuffle: Frequently appear as panellists attempt to decide what level of bluff is being run.

* NationalStereotypes: In John Finnemore's lecture on police, he claims Germany's favourite police show is a buddy-cop show where one cop is a ByTheBookCop and his partner... is also a By the Book Cop. The crimes are solved in the first five minutes of the show and the rest is simply them filing the proper paperwork.

* OverlyNarrowSuperlative: Aside from the quotation on top of the page, David Mitchell has also introduced the programme with, "It's the show with more lying than any other show. That I work on. Apart from ''Series/WouldILieToYou''. And ''The Bubble''."

* PatrioticFervor: Frankie Boyle claims that during UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, the Queen Mother's hat served as a hidden transmitter broadcasting secrets to the Germans. Miles Jupp buzzes in to claim this ''must'' be true even thought it blatantly isn't. David says even if it was, he would never accept it.

* PretentiousPronunciation: Thanks to Henning having difficulty pronouncing "Flintstones" (he says it "Flint-stuns") in series 19 episode 3, everyone else jokes that it sounds like a tremendously posh version of the family. The joke continues with asking whether Barney Rubble's name would therefore be "Rue-bleh".

** Henning correctly guesses that a story about an Indian man marrying an animal must be true, because no-one would say something like that otherwise.

** Arthur Smith has a penchant for buzzing in and claiming that he knows a statement is true from personal experience even though it relates to something that happened before he was born. During a single lecture he used this on claims about Queen Anne and Theda Bara, and furthermore claimed to have dated both women... simultaneously.

** Tony Hawks spent one episode of Series 4 buzzing in on any fact related to America, on the grounds that he was a "sucker" for facts about America, and he was always incorrect; he kept on buzzing-in on any fact about America, with the encouragement of David and the panel. On the final fact (that in Atlanta, it is illegal to tie a giraffe to a telephone pole), he refused to buzz in...

** In one episode of Series 14, Arthur Smith, on the subject of Death, said "Over 2,000 years ago, a man called Jesus died and came back to life three days later." After a longish pause where no-one buzzed he said "All right, have it your way." (David later clarified that Jesus was crucified ''less'' than 2,000 years ago, "so we are not required to discuss the issue of whether or not he came back to life".)

** This from a series 3 episode.

** In a 2012 lecture on beards, Henning Wehn recited a joke about Richard Sheridan, "the best paid comedian of the day", paying just two shillings in beard tax due to a "convoluted Jersey-based avoidance scheme", which he later described as "an error of judgement". This was a dig at the then-current tabloid scandal over comedian Creator/JimmyCarr's tax avoidance.

** In a 2012 episode, Arthur Smith had the subject of {{Franchise/Barbie}}, and made the claim that, if Barbie was a real person, she'd only have room in her body for half a liver and a few centimeters of intestine, and would therefore suffer from chronic diarrhea. Graeme Garden buzzed in, paused for a few moments, then said, in his most serious tone of voice, "As a medical man..."[[note]] Graeme studied to become a doctor, but got sidetracked by showbiz.[[/note]]

** If the subject of a lecture is a living person, then often just David announcing the subject will be enough to get a laugh. Examples include John Finnemore's lecture on Boris Johnson, Arthur Smith's on Simon Cowell, Graeme Garden's on Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Osman's on Kanye West and, most memorably of all, Ed Byrne's on David Mitchell himself.

** Panellists will occasionally [[PlayedForLaughs play this for laughs]] by buzzing-in on a lecture and saying "[[Radio/JustAMinute Deviation!]]" (Or, on at least one occasion, "Repetition!")
** Tony Hawks once made an challenge when an opponent said they stood for something when [[ExactWords they were in fact sitting]], after a few moments of confusion, someone pointed out he thought he was playing ''Just A Minute'', having apparently ''genuinely'' gotten mixed up.

* WrongGenreSavvy: Panellists will occasionally [[PlayedForLaughs play this for laughs]] by buzzing-in on a lecture and saying "[[Radio/JustAMinute Deviation!]]" (Or, on at least one occasion, "Repetition!")

->''"Hello, and welcome to ''The Unbelievable Truth''. The best panel show on Radio 4. [[OverlyNarrowSuperlative About truth and lies. That I host.]]"''

* OverlyPrepreparedGag: Henning Wehn claims that instead of "vroom vroom", the German onomatopoeia for the sound car engines make is "ya ya ya ya". When John Finnemore buzzes and asks if they really say "ya-ya-ya-ya-ya", Henning answers, "Nein-nein-nein-nein-nein".
* PatrioticFervor: Frankie Boyle claims that during [=WW2=], the Queen Mother's hat served as a hidden transmitter broadcasting secrets to the Germans. Miles Jupp buzzes in to claim this ''must'' be true even thought it blatantly isn't. David says even if it was, he would never accept it.

** When a discussion about the ''Flintstones'' and ''Barney the Dinosaur'' comes up, David doesn't know what Barney is.
** In series 26, episode 5, Ria Lina buzzes successfully on a fact about mushrooms, citing knowledge from watching ''Star Trek: Discovery''. David Mitchell has no idea what she's talking about.

** Rufus Hound's lecture/rap on Presents doesn't actually contain any direct lies, relying instead on the flashily rapped presentation to distract the panelists from buzzing. He manages to smuggle two of his truths this way.

**

** Lee Mack correctly identifies a statement about a clown who was hired to perform for chimpanzees as true. He claims he knows that because he's the clown.

-->'''David Mitchell''': See, it works on television. And yet here we are, in a tent in Edinburgh again.

** In one episode, introducing Jeremy Hardy, David Mitchell claims that he is best known as [[Creator/LaurelAndHardy the other half of a duo with Stan Laurel]], and adds, "Thanks, Wikipedia!"

** In a 2018 lecture on Google, Richard Osman said that there were different Googles for different groups, leading to the punchline that the Google for people who don't understand computers is called Bing.

--->'''Graeme:''' As fans of Stephen Fry's light-hearted TV quiz ''QI'' will know, Europe's largest producer of bananas is Iceland. Fed by subterranean rumblings and emitting blasts of hot air, Stephen has hosted the show since 2001.[[note]] Arthur Smith fell for the last phrase as a truth; the series began airing in 2003.[[/note]]
** In season 11 episode 1, David wrapped up Graeme's lecture on Jeremy Clarkson by saying "Jeremy Clarkson was a passenger on the last ever flight taken by Concorde. Initially seen as superfast and cutting edge, but now just a noisy relic of the seventies, Jeremy Clarkson sat in row K."

** David's introduction for John Finnemore
--> '''David''': John has written for Series/ThatMitchellAndWebbLook, David Mitchell's Soapbox, That Mitchell and Webb Sound, and for David Mitchell on Ten O'clock Live. '''{{Beat}}'''. [[ImplausibleDeniability Never heard of him.]]

** In Series 3, episode 3, first speaker Graeme Garden ended his speech on China with "The great wall of China is the only landmark on Earth where you can see the Moon", and last speaker Clive Anderson ended his speech on The Moon with "the proof that we've been to the moon is that three golf balls left behind are visible on the surface, which can only be seen from the Great Wall of China".

* CatchPhrase: David Mitchell frequently reveals the winner using the phrase "in first place with an unassailable [X] points...". Averted in one series 6 episode where David jokingly promised Chris Addison that he would be awarded an extra point if a made-up fact he buzzed on became true between recording and transmission, only for Chris to end up one point behind the episode's winner; on that occasion, the winner was described as having won "a very much assailable" 5 points.

** Also some of Ed Byrne's puns, see below.

* ShoutOut: One early episode with Alan Davies has the ''Series/QI'' error klaxon go off whenever he buzzes incorrectly, much to his horror.

* SoundEffectBleep: Used during Richard Osman's lecture on Kanye West. Apparently whatever word he used, BBC Radio 4 is only allowed to use three times a day, and in the process of explaining this, David manages to use them up as well.

* BriefAccentImitation: Henning attempts a Geordie accent when David claims, after a comment from Lou Sanders, that he's just putting on the German accent because his natural Geordie accent is ''more'' incomprehensible (Henning really is German).

The format comprises four panellists,[[note]]The only time this has been deviated from was in two episodes of Series 25, which featured three teams of two - all three teams were made up of married couples[[/note]] generally stand-up comedians or comedy writers; there are no permanent panellists, but some of the more frequent ones include Susan Calman, John Finnemore, Graeme Garden[[note]]who is the creator of the programme and co-owner of the company that makes it, which tends to be joked about whenever he's on[[/note]], Tony Hawks, Lloyd Langford, Richard Osman, Lucy Porter, Arthur Smith, Holly Walsh and Henning Wehn.

* AuthorAppeal: Examples of panellists giving lectures on their own areas of expertise include Sandi Toksvig on Denmark, Tony Hawks on tennis and pianos, Clive Anderson on baldness and prisons, Johnny Vaughan on football, Adam Hills on kangaroos, Catherine Tate on the colour red, Armando Iannucci on [[Film/TheDeathOfStalin Joseph Stalin]], Charlie Brooker on television, Charlie Higson on James Bond, Katherine Ryan on Canada, Lloyd Langford on Wales, Ed Byrne on Ireland, Henning Wehn on Germany, David O'Doherty on bicycles, Richard Osman on chocolate, Luisa Omielan on Beyoncé, Frankie Boyle on Scotland (and later Glasgow), Sally Phillips on Finland and Ria Lina[[note]]who has a doctorate in Viral Bioinformatics[[/note]] on germs.

* HouseRule: Over many series, David has established precedent in his rulings regarding various uncommon strategies, and there are two "unofficial" rules: panellists are allowed to declare that the ''next'' statement will be true before it's given (which David warns tends not to pay off),[[note]]In one episode this strategy is employed and another panellist attempts to barter two points that the statement will be true, but David rejects this as the "format can't cope" with it[[/note]] and that panellists can win points from truths that were accidentally included by the speaker in addition to the five they're meant to smuggle.

* HehHehYouSaidX: David Mitchell does this to himself when describing how Viagra effects the rods in the eyes, only to start chortling about it.

* HypocriticalHumour: During Milton Jones' lecture on golf, Chris [=McCausland=] jokes that women weren't allowed to join St Andrews golf club until 2014 because they were such bad drivers. Lou Sanders points out that Chris, who is blind, isn't a great driver himself.

* CluckingFunny: Lou Sanders's lecture on chickens.

* FunnyAneurysmMoment:
** Invoked and discussed InUniverse on one of Graeme Garden's appearances, mentioning an episode of ''Series/TheGoodies'' that features Rolf Harris in captivity.
** David Mitchell even jokes the whole show has become this at the beginning of one episode, thanks to the rise in populist governments in more recent years.
--->'''David Mitchell:''' Lying used to be fun. Now it's become deeply dark and totalitarian.

-->''''''Henning''': Well, that's enough about windows. I hope I was clear, it wasn't too much of a pane, and you haven't glazed over. Glass dismissed!

* HurricaneOfPuns: In series 8 episode 2, Mark Watson buys Ed Byrne's statement about bees having a universal language.

* PretentiousPronunciation: Thanks to Henning having difficulty pronouncing "Flintstones" (he says it "Flint-stuns") in series 19 episode 3, everyone else jokes that it sounds like a tremendously posh version of the family.

* ShapedLikeItself: When the idea that Incans measured time by how long it took to cook a potato comes up, David notes this must've made cookery books interesting. "Cook the potato for as long as it takes to cook a potato."
* SigningOffCatchPhrase: "All that remains is for me to thank our guests. They were all truly unbelievable, and that's the unbelievable truth. Goodnight!"

* ThatCameOutWrong: At one point David asks Holly Walsh what type of shoes she's wearing (since the episode was recorded remotely). She starts having a giggling breakdown at this, noting it sounds like a "weird Radio 4 sex line".

* GameBreaker: Parodied in-universe in the last episode of Series 21. Henning Wehn goes first, manages to get a large number of truths past everyone else, and then realises that a great tactic to ensure victory is to simply not say anything else for the rest of the episode.
-->'''David:''' And in first place with an unassailable 4 points, it's the winner of the last ever episode of ''The Unbelievable Truth'', Henning Wehn!

->'''Susan Calman''': D'you know, it's never been clearly explained to me. \\

** Tony Hawks spent one episode of Series 4 buzzing in on any fact related to America, on the grounds that he was a "sucker" for facts about America, and he was always incorrect; he kept on buzzing-in on any fact about America, with the encouragement of Mitchell and the panel. On the final fact (that in Atlanta, it is illegal to tie a giraffe to a telephone pole), he refused to buzz in...

** If the subject of a lecture is a living person, then often just Mitchell announcing the subject will be enough to get a laugh. Examples include John Finnemore's lecture on Boris Johnson, Arthur Smith's on Simon Cowell, Graeme Garden's on Jeremy Clarkson and, most memorably of all, Ed Byrne's on David Mitchell himself.

* ReadingTheStageDirectionsOutLoud: On Henning Wehn's first appearance, he got through an entire page of his lecture without anyone challenging, then said "page two", which Clive Anderson promptly buzzed and got a point for, as it was true he had just turned onto a new page. Henning later remarked "Anyone in need of a point?" before remarking "page three".

* ItIsPronouncedTropay: Thanks to Henning having difficulty pronouncing "Flintstones" (he says it "Flint-stuns") in series 19 episode 3, everyone else jokes that it sounds like a tremendously posh version of the family.

** When a discussion about the ''Flinstones'' and ''Barney the Dinosaur'' comes up, David doesn't know what Barney is.