Would I Lie to You? at Christmas special...

Have you ever wondered how the producers of Would I Lie to You? keep coming up with weird true stories and bizarre lies for Lee Mack, David Mitchell and their guests to share?

The award-winning comedy panel show has been going for 14 and a half years now, in which time they have filmed over 130 episodes.

But nevertheless, there seems to still be a rich seam of tall tales to mine.

According to Mack, both he and Mitchell have a backlog of facts still waiting to be used, which they update every series.

“Obviously from series one this happened, someone comes and asks you about your life,” he told Radio Times when the series celebrated its 10th run in 2016. “And then every series we do that, and then they end up using stuff they’ve had in the backlog anyway, from years ago that we haven’t quite used yet. We just have a little get-together each year to see if anything interesting has happened, we say no, and then they say ‘alright, we’ll use that story from childhood that we haven’t used yet then.’”

Over the years, the game show has developed three distinct rounds – Home Truths, This is My…, and Quick-Fire Lies. And although the lies and truths have become ever more complex (see the classic Bob Mortimer clips for evidence of that), Mitchell believes there are definite giveaways for when someone is lying on the show.

“People tend to overdo it a little bit,” he says. “You think: ‘oh if you were lying, you’d make it slicker than that’. When they pick up a card and chuckle at the thing on it, that’s a giveaway that what’s on it is true and has happened to them. Because they’re in front of an audience, they’re on television.

“You’d have to be a sociopath have such sang-frois that you could just chuckle. It’s a fake chuckle.”

“I’ve never noticed anyone fake a ‘oh this is nonsense’ chuckle on a lie to make it seem like a truth that they’re badly concealing. That’ll be the next step. I might give that a go…”

Host Rob Brydon, who took over from Angus Deayton after the first two series in 2009, adds: “Sometimes you will get panelists who think they can see the little physical giveaways,”.

“A few people have said ‘oh, so-and-so touched their nose,’ – they’re called tells. You can look for things like that.”

Brydon is back in the host’s chair tonight for a festive edition of the show. And as ever, a stellar cast of celebrity guests are joining Mitchell and Mack. David is joined by Jim Broadbent, who won an Academy Award and Golden Globe for his role as John Bayley in the film Iris, as well as New Zealand comedian, actress, and TV presenter Rose Matafeo.

Meanwhile, Lee welcomes journalist and Rip Off Britain presenter Angela Rippon, and Father Ted, My Hero and Death in Paradise star Ardal O’Hanlon to his team. During the show, the will reveal amazing stories about themselves, some of which are Christmas-themed. But are they telling festive fibs?

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this story on our website. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you.

In order for us to continue to provide high quality and trusted local news on this free-to-read site, I am asking you to also please purchase a copy of our newspaper whenever you are able to do so.

Our journalists are highly trained and our content is independently regulated by IPSO to some of the most rigorous standards in the world. But being your eyes and ears comes at a price. So we need your support more than ever to buy our newspapers during this crisis.

With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our local valued advertisers - and consequently the advertising that we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you helping us to provide you with news and information by buying a copy of our newspaper when you can safely.

You can also enjoy unlimited access to the best news from across Northern Ireland and the UK by subscribing to newsletter.co.uk

With a digital subscription, you can read more than five articles, see fewer ads, enjoy faster load times, and get access to exclusive newsletters and content. Visit https://www.newsletter.co.uk/subscriptions now to sign up.

Thank you