Dr Chris Van Tulleken calls on the British public to seek out the truth about the top-selling over-the-counter medicines. We spend an astonishing £2.3 billion on pills, potions and lotions from the chemist's shop every year to beat common ailments from headaches to colds to indigestion. But how much do we really know about what we're buying?

Chris embarks on a series of stunts and experiments up and down the country to uncover the secrets of Britain's favourite medicines: how do they act in the body? Should you take a daily dose of vitamins? Is honey and lemon just as good as cough syrup? What's the best way to relieve pain after exercise? And could home remedies work just as well?

Chris finds out whether these common cures are all they're cracked up to be or whether there are better ways to spend our hard-earned cash.