The Camera Never Lies

If you search for "would i lie to you" on Shutterstock, you will be met with around 500 images related to said comedy panel show, most of which were taken on set during the fourth and fifth series. Quite a few of these actually depict moments that didn't make the edit of the final programmes. In some cases, the exact context is lost to time.

This particular photo might not seem remarkable at first; it's David Mitchell reading out a story which didn't make the cut. But back in the day there was a very good fan forum, That Mitchell & Webb Fansite, which reported back from each recording from Series 3 up to partway through Series 7 with, among other things, a full list of stories from each show, but not whether they were true or not. Sadly, only the Series 3-4 ones are still online (the forum having closed and gone offline very abruptly), having also been posted, and still preserved, at this LiveJournal community.

The Aura of Acorah

Every day, the official Would I Lie to You? YouTube account uploads a new clip from an episode. The above story, in which Henning Wehn relates an incident where he sensed the aura of Derek Acorah in a theatre dressing room, was uploaded today. I immediately realised one very strange thing: This isn't a story that has ever been broadcast before, even in an outtakes show. This upload is the first time it's been seen by anyone outside of the studio audience for that episode.

My first thought was that the channel had started uploading previously unseen footage, which would be very cool indeed. But then my second thought -- after realising that would be a slightly odd thing to do without any sort of fanfare -- was to look up Derek Acorah's Wikipedia page. And that, I think, solved the mystery. The particular episode of WILTY? this clip comes from was recorded on 3 June 2019. It was broadcast on 31 January 2020. Inbetween those two dates, Derek Acorah died on 4 January 2020. This story was therefore probably in some earlier edit of the episode, got hastily switched out when Acorah died, and was still hanging around somewhere and duly got selected for uploading to the YouTube channel. (Had that series not been interrupted partway through for coverage of the 2019 election, it might never have been affected!)

Mirror Man

The second episode of Would I Lie to You? I was in the audience for, with guests Henning Wehn, Michelle Visage, Simon Gregson and Chizzy Akudolu, was recorded over a year ago, and I've been patiently waiting not only for the episode itself to air, but also for the outtakes show to go out, so I can go into more detail about anything I can remember without spoiling anything that might make the edit. (There's a second outtakes show next Friday, but the description indicates there's nothing from this episode there so I should be on safe ground publishing this now.) And here we are.

130 Dates with David Mitchell

A little while ago, I promised to dredge up all of the recording dates for Would I Lie to You? from old revisions of Wikipedia (initially placed there by the admins of the excellent, and now sadly defunct, That Mitchell and Webb Fansite, and later by some sad, lonely individual with far too much time on their hands) at some point and post them here. And that point is now.

Truth and Consequence

Buried deep in old revisions of the Wikipedia article for Would I Lie to You?, and the Wikipedia article for the list of episodes of Would I Lie to You?, are the recording dates for every episode except those in the first series, and one other day when I'm stuck for things to write about I'll probably stick them all up here.

Most of the time, WILTY? is recorded a while before broadcast -- ranging from Series 2 remaining on the shelf for seven months before broadcast, to Series 6 filming its final episode on 30 March 2012 and then beginning transmission just two weeks later on 13 April. But Series 7 is an odd one -- due to David Mitchell being in Turkey to shoot the short-lived comedy drama Ambassadors, it doesn't start in the same week as the return of Have I Got News for You as likely intended, but a few weeks in, and it's the only series that's still being filmed whilst it starts airing. So let's have a quick look at the order.

Christmas in April

The Would I Lie to You? Christmas special I was in the audience for went out on the 20th December (and is still on iPlayer here), but I've been waiting for the outtakes show to go out before I do my follow-up post detailing various things that didn't make the edit. So here you go.

Truth, Lies and Videotape II

On Sunday evening, I was once again in the audience for a recording of Would I Lie to You?; having been watching the show from a cinema next door on the previous occasion, we had a priority note from SRO for future recordings. The show has moved from Pinewood to Elstree Studios this time, but I must say that once again we had nothing but a positive experience with the staff; once we'd shown our tickets and proof of negative LFTs, we were very professionally moved from the queue to a waiting room and then to the studio itself. As we were walking down a long corridor decked out with publicity pictures of Strictly, Holby, EastEnders and, er, Dimensions in Time, someone ducked out from a door at the side to ask if there was a group of three available, and my party took up this offer and ended up being escorted over to the audience seating right down by the set, the part you can actually see on TV. There is a good chance of there being a shot of the back of my head in the finished product.

Truth, Lies and Videotape

As you may be able to tell from the fact that I am illustrating this article with a picture taken from Wikipedia, I was extremely scrupulous about the rules against on-set photography.

On Saturday night, my first excursion outside of Bristol in eighteen months was to Pinewood Studios to be in the audience for a recording of Would I Lie to You? I have some (spoiler-free) notes on the subject.

Would I Redesign Sets to You?

Welcome to the official Ludicrously Niche examination of the set design for the BBC One panel game Would I Lie to You? If you have literally anything else to do with your time, now would be an excellent moment to go and do it.