Twisty Bob Mortimer-esque yarns are nowhere to be found in this flat, awkward mishmash that pits tall tale-telling members of the public against ex-coppers for a cash prize
Would I Lie to You on BBC One – a great show! Everyone loves it: the concept of outrageous yarns that may or may not be true lets celebrities display gifts for comic timing and talking off the cuff that we never knew they had. It is a hit, which means it must be imitated. Would it, Channel 4 wonders, perhaps work not as a panel game but a gameshow, without the famous people and with members of the public lying to win a cash prize instead? And we have the answer, as Channel 4 has gone ahead and made that programme and called it You Won’t Believe This: no.
Punters arrive in groups of four, each of them obliged to tell a personal story on a particular theme, the first one being: “I opted out of civilisation.” Someone explains how they once joined a cult, then rival participants spin tales about the time they took a vow of silence for a year in a Spanish monastery, the time they lived for a week as a goat in the Alps, and the time they left home to reside in an underground bunker due to their fear of nuclear Armageddon. Only one of these people is telling the truth. If a fifth contestant, who hears all the stories, can then identify which one isn’t a lie, they win £5,000. Pick a liar and the liar wins the five grand.
