''Would I Lie to You?'' (informally abbreviated as ''WILTY'') is a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

comedy

game show A game show is a genre of broadcast viewing entertainment (radio, television, internet, stage or other) where contestants compete for a reward. These programs can either be participatory or demonstrative and are typically directed by a host, ...

aired on

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...

, made by Zeppotron for the BBC. It was first broadcast on 16 June 2007, starring David Mitchell and

Lee Mack Lee Gordon McKillop (born 4 August 1968), known by his stage name Lee Mack, is an English comedian, actor, podcaster and presenter. He is known for his quick wit, writing and starring in the sitcom '' Not Going Out'', being a team captain on th ...

as team captains. The show was originally presented by

Angus Deayton Gordon Angus Deayton (; born 6 January 1956) is an English actor, writer, musician, comedian, and broadcaster. He was the original presenter of the satirical panel game '' Have I Got News for You,'' the host of British panel show '' Would I Lie ...

, and since 2009 has been hosted by

Rob Brydon Robert Brydon Jones (; born 3 May 1965) is a Welsh actor, comedian, impressionist, presenter, singer and writer. He played Dr Paul Hamilton in the Australian/British comedy series ''Supernova'', Bryn West in the BBC sitcom '' Gavin & Stacey'' ...

Background

The show was presented by

in 2007 and 2008, with

(who had appeared as a guest panellist in the second series) taking over as host in 2009. The team captains are comedians David Mitchell and

. As revealed by Lee Mack on '' Alan Carr: Chatty Man'' on 19 September 2014,

Alan Carr Alan Graham Carr (born 14 June 1976) is an English comedian, broadcaster and writer. His breakthrough was in 2001, winning the '' City Life'' Best Newcomer of the Year and the BBC New Comedy Awards. In the ensuing years, Carr's career burgeon ...

was a team captain in the pilot but subsequently turned down an offer to appear on later shows. For each show, two celebrity guests join each of the team captains. The teams compete as each player reveals unusual facts and embarrassing personal tales for the evaluation of the opposing team. Some of these are true, some are not, and it is the panellists' task to decide which is which. The first series was recorded at

Fountain Studios Fountain Studios was an independently owned television studio in Wembley Park, northwest London. The company was last part of the Avesco Group plc. Several companies owned the site before it was bought by Fountain in 1993. Originally a film st ...

Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in north-west Londo ...

during March and April 2007 and aired at 21:55 between 16 June and 28 July 2007 on BBC One (missing a week for coverage of the

Concert for Diana Concert for Diana was a benefit concert held at the newly built Wembley Stadium in London, United Kingdom in honour of Diana, Princess of Wales, on 1 July 2007, which would have been her 46th birthday. 31 August that year brought the 10th anni ...

memorial event). Filming for the second series took place between 15 November and 18 December 2007. The second series was filmed at

BBC Television Centre Television Centre (TVC) is a building complex in White City, West London, that was the headquarters of BBC Television between 1960 and 2013. After a refurbishment, the complex reopened in 2017 with three studios in use for TV production, opera ...

in White City, West London, because Fountain Studios were being used for ''

The X Factor ''The X Factor'' is a television music competition franchise created by British producer Simon Cowell and his company Syco Entertainment. It originated in the United Kingdom, where it was devised as a replacement for '' Pop Idol'' (2001–2003 ...

''. The second series aired at 21:00 between 11 July 2008 and 29 August 2008 on BBC One, and contained eight shows, an increase of two from series one. A compilation episode featuring some previously unaired material was aired on 19 September 2008 at 21:30 on BBC One. Filming of a third series of eight episodes took place at

Pinewood Studios Pinewood Studios is a British film and television studio located in the village of Iver Heath, England. It is approximately west of central London. The studio has been the base for many productions over the years from large-scale films to t ...

during March and April 2009, and was broadcast between 10 August 2009 and 29 September 2009 on BBC One at 22:35. A compilation episode was also recorded. The airdate was 17 December 2009, due to the addition of ''

Match of the Day ''Match of the Day'' (abbreviated to ''MOTD'') is a football highlights programme, typically broadcast on BBC One on Saturday nights, during the Premier League season. The show's current presenter is former England international striker Gary ...

'' to the BBC One schedule. Filming of a fourth series of eight episodes took place at Pinewood Studios again during April and May 2010, and was broadcast between 23 July 2010 and 10 September 2010 on BBC One at 22:35. The compilation episode aired on 17 September 2010. The fifth series was filmed during March 2011 and started airing from 9 September at 21:30. The sixth series of the show was recorded in March 2012 and began its broadcast on 13 April 2012. This series was aired in a pre-

watershed Watershed is a hydrological term, which has been adopted in other fields in a more or less figurative sense. It may refer to: Hydrology * Drainage divide, the line that separates neighbouring drainage basins * Drainage basin, called a "watershe ...

slot, at 20:30, for the first time. Series 15 is aired on Fridays at 20:00 or 20:30.

Format

Rounds

In all rounds, the scoring system is the same: teams gain a point for correctly guessing whether a statement is true or not, but if they guess incorrectly the opposing team gets a point. Each episode running time is 30 minutes, so some questions are edited out prior to airing. In addition, the comic format allowing each team member to question and joke with the opposing team. Hence, each episode has differing total scoring points reflecting the varying number of questions asked and answered. During series one through series five, it was impossible for viewers to follow the scores until they were read out at the end of each round, as some questions were edited out, and the final scores reflected the total questions played while filming each episode (not reflecting the final edits for the 30 minute running time). However, starting with series six on, the scores were re-recorded to reflect what had made the aired edits and not the whole filmed recording. The highest regular episode's total score is 22 points, series one, episode one, aired 16 June 2007, with a final score of 11-11, a draw between David's team and Lee's team. The earliest lowest regular episode's total score is 4 points, series seven, episode four, aired 24 May 2013, with a final score of 3-1, a win for David's team against Lee's team — since then, few more episodes also have a final score of 4 points. (The lowest score ever is the Children in Need Special's total score of 2 points, aired 18 November 2016, with a final score of 1-1, a draw between David's team and Lee's team.)

Current rounds

*"Home Truths": Panellists read out a statement about themselves. The opposing team has to decide whether it is true or false by asking the panellist questions. The first series used all six panellists; from the second series onwards, the round tended to focus on the four guests. In series two a 'possessions' element was introduced, in which the panellist takes an item out of a box and reads a statement from a card, and has to convince the opposing team that the possession genuinely belongs to them. *"This is My...": A guest comes onto the set and is introduced by first name, but remains standing in silence as the round continues. Panellists on one team tell the opposing team about their relationship to the guest; only one account out of three told is genuine, and the opposing team has to work out which it is. At the end of the round, the guest reveals their true identity, and which of the panellists they have a genuine relationship with. *"Quick-Fire Lies": The second questioning round, with the panellists chosen at random. In earlier series, the panellists were ostensibly under a time limit although no on-screen indicator of the time limit was ever present. The notion of a time limit was eventually dropped in the later series, making the round identical to "Home Truths" in practice. This round usually features – but is not exclusive to – Mitchell and Mack. From the fourth series onwards, Brydon also became an occasional participant, with both teams questioning him at once.

Former rounds

*"Ring of Truth": A celebrity fact is read out by the host, and each team has to reach a joint decision on whether it is true or false. This round was generally edited out of the fourth series; as of series five, it is no longer being played. *"Telly Tales": Clips from a TV show are shown, a statement is read out about the show by a member of one team and the other team has to guess whether it is true or false. This round was only played in the first series.

Cast

Guest appearances

The following have all appeared multiple times as one of the guest panelists on the show, including any as-yet unbroadcast episodes of Series 16 (not including the 2011

Comic Relief Comic relief is the inclusion of a humorous character, scene, or witty dialogue in an otherwise serious work, often to relieve tension. Definition Comic relief usually means a releasing of emotional or other tension resulting from a comic epis ...

special). 11 appearances *

Bob Mortimer Robert Renwick Mortimer (born 23 May 1959) is an English comedian, podcast presenter and actor. He is known for his work with Vic Reeves as part of their Vic and Bob comedy double act, and more recently the '' Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Fishing ...

10 appearances *

Richard Osman Richard Thomas Osman (born 28 November 1970) is an English television presenter, producer, novelist and comedian. He is the creator and former co-presenter of the BBC One television quiz show '' Pointless''. He has presented the BBC Two quiz sh ...

9 appearances * Jo Brand *

Rhod Gilbert Rhodri Paul Gilbert (born 18 October 1968) is a Welsh comedian and television & radio presenter who was nominated in 2005 for the Perrier Best Newcomer Award. In 2008 he was nominated for the main comedy award (as the Edinburgh Comedy Awards w ...

7 appearances * Jason Manford *

Claudia Winkleman Claudia Anne Irena Winkleman (born 15 January 1972) is an English television presenter, radio personality, film critic and journalist. Between 2004 and 2010, she presented '' Strictly Come Dancing: It Takes Two'' on weeknights on BBC Two. Since ...

6 appearances *

Miles Jupp Miles Hugh Barrett Jupp (born 8 September 1979) is an English actor, singer, and comedian. He began his career as a stand-up comedian before playing the role of the inventor Archie in the children's television series '' Balamory''. He also played ...

* Gabby Logan * Henning Wehn 5 appearances *

Greg Davies Gregory Daniel Davies ( ; born 14 May 1968) is a Welsh comedian, actor, presenter, and writer. He is best known for his roles as Greg in ''We Are Klang'', Mr Gilbert in ''The Inbetweeners'', Ken Thompson in ''Cuckoo'', the Taskmaster in '' Tas ...

Miranda Hart Miranda Katherine Hart Dyke (born 14 December 1972) is an English actress and writer. Following drama training at the Academy of Live and Recorded Arts, Hart began writing material for the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and making appearances in va ...

Stephen Mangan Stephen James Mangan (born 16 May 1968) is an English actor, comedian, presenter and writer. He has played Guy Secretan in ''Green Wing'', Dan Moody in ''I'm Alan Partridge'', Seán Lincoln in '' Episodes'', Bigwig in ''Watership Down'', Postm ...

* Sarah Millican 4 appearances *

Jimmy Carr James Anthony Patrick Carr (born 15 September 1972) is a British-Irish comedian, presenter, writer, and actor. He is known for his deadpan delivery of controversial one-liners and distinctive laugh, for which he has been both praised and criti ...

* Mel Giedroyc *

Alex Jones Alexander Emerick Jones (born February 11, 1974) is an American far-right and alt-right radio show host and prominent conspiracy theorist. He hosts ''The Alex Jones Show'' from Austin, Texas, which the Genesis Communications Network broadcas ...

Chris McCausland Chris McCausland (born ) is a British actor and comedian. He is known to television audiences for his role as Rudi in the CBeebies show '' Me Too!'' He regularly appears at comedy venues around the UK, including The Comedy Store. McCausland i ...

Dara Ó Briain Dara Ó Briain ( , ; born 4 February 1972) is an Irish comedian and television presenter based in the United Kingdom. He is noted for performing stand-up comedy shows all over the world and for hosting topical panel shows such as ''Mock the W ...

* Sara Pascoe * Jon Richardson * Josh Widdicombe 3 appearances * James Acaster *

Clare Balding Clare Victoria Balding (born 29 January 1971) is an English broadcaster, journalist, and author. She currently presents for BBC Sport, Channel 4, BT Sport, is the current president of the Rugby Football League (RFL) and formerly presented the ...

Frankie Boyle Francis Martin Patrick Boyle (born 16 August 1972) is a Scottish comedian and writer. He is known for his cynical, surreal, graphic and often controversial sense of humour. A stand-up comedian since 1995, Boyle first gained widespread recogni ...

Hugh Dennis Peter Hugh Dennis (born 13 February 1962) is an English comedian, presenter, actor, writer, impressionist and voice-over artist who has appeared in the comedy double act Punt and Dennis with partner Steve Punt. He played Dr Piers Crispin in the ...

* Russell Howard *

Joe Lycett Joe Harry Lycett, also known by the self-given moniker Mummy, is an English comedian, painter and television presenter. Known for his sardonically camp style, whimsical public stunts and elaborate set designs, Lycett has been described as one ...

Jack Whitehall Jack Peter Benedict Whitehall (born 7 July 1988) is an English comedian, actor, presenter and writer. He is known for starring as JP in the series '' Fresh Meat'' (2011–2016) and Alfie Wickers in the series '' Bad Education'' (2012–2014, 20 ...

a. Including an appearance where he substituted for Lee Mack as captain

Ratings

The first show of Series 1 had 3.8 million viewers, a 19% audience share at the time it was broadcast. The first show of Series 2 had 3 million viewers and a 14% audience share. Later episodes indicated ratings of 2.7 - 3.2 million, with the final show of the series getting 3.3 million viewers and a 15% audience share. The first show of Series 3 had 2.8 million viewers, the lowest number for a series opener so far; however, this equated to a 17% audience share. The final show attracted only 2.5 million viewers, but with a 19% audience share overall. The first show of series 4 had 3.12 million viewers and a 19.7% audience share, the best performance for a series opener since series 1. The series 5 premiere had the show's highest ratings to date, with 4 million viewers and a 17.2% audience share. Series 6 began with an audience share of 14.9% and peak viewing figures of 3.53 million. These figures were above the seventh series figures of 2.83 million / 12.8% audience share, although these rose to 3.17 million by the end of the series with a 14.7% share.

Awards and nominations

The show came second place in the

British Comedy Guide British Comedy Guide or BCG (formerly the British Sitcom Guide or BSG) is a British website covering all forms of British comedy, across all media. At the time of writing, BCG has published guides to more than 7,000 individual British comedie ...

's 2010 awards for the category "Best British TV Panel Show", losing out to '' QI''. The following year, it won the same category. It also won the category in 2013, and also won the "Comedy of the Year 2013" award, making it the first non-scripted show to do so. It won the "Panel Show" category for the third time at the 2014 awards, and again in 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020. The show won the British Comedy Award for "Best British TV Panel Show" in 2010. It was nominated in the same category at the following year's ceremony, but lost to '' Shooting Stars''. It won the award twice in a row at the 2013 and 2014 ceremonies. The programme has been nominated for the BAFTA for Comedy and Comedy Entertainment Programme five times, but has yet to win. Mitchell and Mack were also both nominated for the Best Entertainment Performance award at the 2019 ceremony; Mack took home the prize. Mack received another nomination in the same category in 2020. Mitchell received another nomination in the same category in 2021.

International broadcasts

The show airs on ABC TV in Australia and

TVNZ 2 TVNZ 2 ( mi, Te Reo Tātaki Rua) is the second New Zealand television channel owned and operated by the state-owned broadcaster Television New Zealand (TVNZ). It targets a younger audience than its sister channel, TVNZ 1. TVNZ 2's line up consi ...

in New Zealand and began screening on BBC UKTV in Australia and New Zealand from November 2014. It is available to stream on

BritBox BritBox is an online digital video subscription service, founded by BBC Studios and ITV plc, operating in nine countries across North America, Europe, Australia and South Africa.

in the US and Canada.

Merchandise

*A DVD of the complete fourth series was released in September 2011. *A

board game Board games are tabletop games that typically use . These pieces are moved or placed on a pre-marked board (playing surface) and often include elements of table, card, role-playing, and miniatures games as well. Many board games feature a co ...

based on the show was released in 2012. * A DVD of the complete fifth series was released in October 2012. * A DVD of the complete sixth series was released in October 2013. * A book based on the series, ''Would I Lie to You? Presents the 100 Most Popular Lies of All Time'', was published in October 2015. The publishers,

Faber and Faber Faber and Faber Limited, usually abbreviated to Faber, is an independent publishing house in London. Published authors and poets include T. S. Eliot (an early Faber editor and director), W. H. Auden, Margaret Storey, William Golding, Samuel ...

, have also ordered a second book. *Series 4 to 7 were released individually on DVD in Australia across July and August 2015.

Episodes

The coloured backgrounds denote the result of each of the series: : : :

Series

Specials

Appearances in other media

An additional 10-minute feature, entitled ''"Mam, Would I Lie To You?"'' was broadcast on the ITV show ''

Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway ''Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway'' (referred to simply as ''Saturday Night Takeaway'' or ''SNT'') is a British television variety show, created and presented by Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly (colloquially known as Ant & Dec), an ...

'' on 13 March 2021. This edition was hosted by

Ant and Dec Ant & Dec are a British television presenting duo, consisting of Anthony McPartlin (born 18 November 1975) and Declan Donnelly (born 25 September 1975), from Newcastle upon Tyne, England. Formed after their meeting as child actors on CBBC's ...

and featured a team of Lee Mack,

Stephen Mulhern Stephen Daniel Mulhern is an English television presenter, magician, and comedian. He began his television career on CITV, presenting the children's shows ''Finger Tips'' (2001–2004) and ''Tricky TV'' (2005–2010). Mulhern has presented vario ...

and

Michelle Visage Michelle Lynn Case (nee Shupack), better known as Michelle Visage (born September 20, 1968), is an American singer, television host, actress, radio DJ and producer. She first gained recognition as a member of the musical group Seduction whic ...

playing two rounds of a slightly altered "This is My..." where the panellists had to guess which of the three children was the child of an audience member by the story given. Zeppotron and the BBC were thanked in the programme's credits for use of the ''WILTY'' brand and format.

International versions

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island coun ...

version of the show, presented by broadcaster Paul Henry, and featuring team captains Jesse Mulligan and Jon Bridges, began airing on

TV3 Channel 3 or TV 3 may refer to: Television * Canal 3 (Burkina Faso), a commercial television channel in Burkina Faso * Canal 3 (Guatemala), a commercial television channel in Guatemala * Channel 3 (Algeria), a public Algerian TV channel owned by E ...

in 2012. It followed the Rob Brydon era UK format very closely but was short lived. *The Czech version of this show was to be broadcast from January 2013 on ČT, a public television broadcaster. *The

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federal constitutional monarchy consists of thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two regions: Peninsular Malaysia and Borneo's East Mal ...

n version, ''Betul ke Bohong'' (English: Truth or Lie) is presented by AC Mizal and airs on

Astro Warna Astro Warna is a 24-hour Malaysian television network in Malaysia. Launch On 1 June 2009, this channel airs local and international comedy programs. It is broadcast on the Astro satellite television platform as part of the Mustika Pack via Cha ...

. *A Swedish version, '' Tror du jag ljuger?'', presented by Anna Mannheimer with team captains

Johan Glans Johan Magnus Glans (born 9 April 1974 in Eslöv, Sweden) is a Swedish stand up comedian and actor. He started doing stand up comedy in 1994, and has worked on Swedish TV with David Batra. Since 2016, Johan Glans has starred as Axel in ''Swedish ...

and Fredrik Lindström. *The Icelandic version, Satt eða logið? (English: Truth or lie?) first aired 2017 on

Stöð 2 Stöð 2 (literally Station 2) is an Icelandic subscription television channel, owned and operated by Sýn. Founded in 1986, it was the first privately owned television station in Iceland following the lifting of the state monopoly on televisi ...

. Originally presented by

Logi Bergmann Eiðsson Logi Bergmann Eiðsson (born 2 December 1966) is an Icelandic television host, news anchor and reporter. He worked for the public broadcaster Sjónvarpið before his move to private channel Stöð 2 in 2005. He later started work at Sjónvarp S� ...

who was succeeded by Benedikt Valsson in the second season, team captains are Auðunn Blöndal and Katla Margét Þorgeirsdóttir. *The Slovak version, ''Klamal by som ti?'', presented by singer/actor Filip Tůma and featuring Petra Polnišová and Zuzana Šebová, actresses, as team captains, began airing in March 2019 on Markíza. *A Dutch version called ''Sterke verhalen'' (English: Tall Tales) was broadcast by BNNVARA. *An Australian version of the show began broadcasting on

Network 10 Network 10 (commonly known as Ten Network, Channel 10 or simply 10) is an Australian commercial television network owned by Ten Network Holdings, a division of the Paramount Networks UK & Australia subsidiary of Paramount Global. One of five ...

on 28 February 2022. It is presented by

Chrissie Swan Christina Swan (born 3 November 1973) is an Australian television and radio presenter and media personality. Swan co-hosts '' Chrissie, Sam & Browny'' on Nova 100 with Sam Pang and Jonathan Brown. In 2022, she served as a judge on '' The Mask ...

, with Chris Taylor and

Frank Woodley Frank Woodley (born Frank Wood; 29 February 1968) is an Australian comedian, author and musician who is best known for his work alongside Colin Lane as part of the comedic duo Lano and Woodley. The two first performed together for almost 20 year ...

as team captains. *An American version of the show premiered on

The CW ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

on April 9, 2022. Aasif Mandvi hosts this version, with Matt Walsh and Sabrina Jalees serving as the team captains. The network is also set to air seasons 14 and 15 of the UK version in the US to introduce the show's format to viewers.

References

External links

* * * * *
Zeppotron Website - Show DetailsEndemol UK Announces show details
{{authority control 2007 British television series debuts 2000s British comedy television series 2010s British comedy television series 2020s British comedy television series BBC panel games BBC television comedy British panel games 2000s British game shows 2010s British game shows 2020s British game shows English-language television shows Television series by Banijay Television series by Zeppotron