Television series

Would I Lie to You?

Name: Would I Lie to You?
Genre: Comedy
Released: 2007
Cast: David Mitchell, Lee Mack, Rob Brydon, Angus Deayton

Comedy
Light-hearted
Dip in and out

A panel show where David Mitchell and Lee Mack lead teams through games testing whether they can spot lies hidden among true stories. It's relaxed, irreverent, and deeply funny—built on the chemistry between the captains and the glorious awkwardness of watching people try to sell obvious whoppers. For anyone who loves British comedy that prizes personality over punchlines.

TVMaze rating

3.9

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you enjoy the rhythm of a quick-witted panel game where a clever bluff gets dismantled in real time, and you laugh hardest at two comic minds sparring over whose story is the more absurd.

Skip it if you want a plot, a narrative arc or anything you can follow across episodes, since each half hour is a self-contained round of bluffing and banter with no thread to carry.

What it asks of you: Half an hour at a time, with a brisk pace and a light touch; it wants your attention for the guessing rounds but never demands you keep track of anything beyond the current round.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

QI2003

Stephen Fry (now Sandi Toksvig) hosts a show built on interesting facts, tangents, and comedians riffing brilliantly off each other. Same warmth and intellectual playfulness, different game structure.

But It leans harder on trivia than interpersonal dynamics, so the comedy feels more ideas-driven than character-driven.

Taskmaster2015

Five comedians attempt absurd tasks live on stage while Greg Davies judges them. It's got the same ensemble energy, the same celebration of personality over polish, and that lovely thing where failure is funnier than success.

But It's much more physical and occasionally chaotic; if you want something tighter and more conversational, this sprawls.

8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown2012

Jon Richardson and Sean Lock lead teams through Countdown rounds, but the games are almost incidental to the brilliance of the banter. Sarcasm, warmth, and comedians just being themselves for thirty minutes.

But The games themselves are basically noise; if you want actual intellectual challenge, this isn't it.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Would I Lie to You?

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Between the Lines1992

Same performer playing the inverse of his public self; where Would I Lie to You exploits how likeable he is, this asks him to be professionally detached and morally compromised.

A procedural crime drama that aired before Mitchell's comedy career took off, starring him as a detective investigating corruption. It's serious, tense, and proves he's an actor first—comedians are what he does, not who he is.

But It's earnest 1990s British TV: slow-paced, shadowy lighting, almost no laughs. If you come for Mitchell's warmth, you'll find a stranger.

Hypothetical2019

James Acaster and Josh Widdicombe host comedians exploring bizarre moral dilemmas. It has that same conversational, low-stakes energy and lets you see how funny people think on their feet.

But It's newer and smaller; the production values are scrappier and it sometimes feels like a podcast with cameras pointed at it.

Never Mind the Buzzcocks1996

Music-knowledge games with Mark Lamarr or Noel Fielding hosting Phill Jupitus and Bill Bailey's teams. The banter matters more than the answers, and the panel's enthusiasm for being wrong is infectious.

But If you don't love indie and alternative rock, whole categories of jokes will just drift past you.

The Thick of It2005

Both prize fast talking and quick thinking from smart people, and both are fundamentally about performance and who gets believed. But one celebrates honesty and the other documents how lies run the world.

Armando Iannucci's four-season political satire about spin and power, powered by profane improvisation. It's that same British panel-show intelligence and rapid-fire comedy, but savage instead of warm, and about institutions instead of egos.

But It's aggressively foul-mouthed and relentlessly dark; there's almost no affection in it. If you watch Would I Lie to You for the coziness, this will feel like a betrayal.

Inside No. 92014

Like Would I Lie to You, it trusts the viewer's intelligence and builds on surprise. But instead of the surprise that someone's lying, it's the surprise that you've been led into something horrible by people you thought were safe.

A dark anthology series by Reece Shearsmith and Jeremy Dyke—each episode a complete twisted story. It starts funny then curdles into something frightening. If you love British comedy's confidence and intelligence, this proves it can go anywhere.

But It's actively unpleasant; the joy is in being unsettled rather than delighted. Some episodes are viscerally upsetting, and the tone can ambush you.