Taskmaster (TV series)
Taskmaster is a British comedy panel game show created by British comedian Alex Horne during the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2010, and adapted for television in 2015. New episodes premiered on Dave from 2015 until 2019, when the series was acquired by Channel 4.[1] The TV series stars comedian and actor Greg Davies in the title role of the Taskmaster, issuing simple comedic and bizarre tasks to five regular contestants – usually comedians – with Alex Horne acting as assistant to Davies and as umpire during the challenges.
| Taskmaster | |
|---|---|
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| Genre | |
| Created by | Alex Horne |
| Directed by |
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| Presented by | |
| Theme music composer | The Horne Section |
| Composers |
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| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language | English |
| No. of series | 10 (+ 2 specials) |
| No. of episodes | 85 (inc. 3 specials) (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producers |
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| Producers |
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| Production locations | Clapham Grand (Series 1) Fountain Studios (Series 2 & 3) Pinewood Studios (Series 4-present) |
| Editors |
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| Running time | 60 minutes (inclusive) |
| Production company | Avalon Television |
| Release | |
| Original network | |
| Picture format | 16:9 (1080i HDTV) |
| Original release | 28 July 2015 – present |
| Chronology | |
| Related shows | |
| External links | |
| Official website | |
As of 1 January 2021, 85 episodes of Taskmaster have aired, including three specials, concluding the tenth series. Channel 4 has commissioned six additional series, which will air over three years.[2] The tenth series premiered on 15 October 2020.[3]
International versions of the programme have been made in Belgium (Het Grootste Licht), Sweden (Bäst i Test), Spain (Dicho y Hecho), Denmark (Stormester), Norway (Kongen Befaler), Finland (Suurmestari) , and New Zealand. A US version starred Reggie Watts and Alex Horne, though it only lasted one season. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Horne hosted #HomeTasking, a series of tasks for people to film in their own homes; for each task, a montage of attempts was posted on YouTube, and Davies selected winners.
A tie-in book and board game have also been produced.
Format
The game consists of simple and bizarre challenges, ostensibly set to the contestants by Davies in his role as the Taskmaster, with assistance provided by Horne. The tasks – usually performed in isolation, but occasionally in teams – are designed to encourage the players to think laterally and creatively to complete the task.
Each episode starts with the Prize Task, in which each contestant brings in a prize following a given theme (for example, the contestant's most unusual item; their most treasured item; their trendiest item of clothing; etc.). The prizes are all awarded to the winner of that episode.
Three or four pre-recorded tasks follow, usually taking place in and around the Taskmaster house, a former groundskeepers' cottage located on the outskirts of a golf course in Dukes Meadows, Chiswick.[4][5]
Tasks are delivered to the players in an envelope with a wax seal, which the player reads aloud. Examples of past tasks include "Completely empty this bathtub – fastest wins", "Impress this mayor – you have 20 minutes", and "Throw a teabag into a mug from the furthest distance. You have exactly 1 hour." After the tasks are shown to the audience, the players justify their creative methods and argue to Davies – and among themselves – as to why they did best. After all the attempts at the task have been seen, judgement is passed by Davies and points are awarded (or players disqualified) accordingly. Normally the winner of the task gets five points, with second place score four points and so on. Some episodes feature team tasks, in which one group of two contestants and a second group of three contestants work together. The groups remain the same throughout each series. Generally, five points are split between the teams, with each member getting the same number.
The final challenge is performed live in the studio. In the event of a tie, the winner is decided by a special tie-breaker task, which may either be pre-recorded or performed live.
In addition to the prizes for each episode, at the end of each series a trophy is presented to the contestant who has scored the most points over the course of the entire series. From the second series onward, the trophy took the form of a golden bust of Davies.
History
Conception and beginning
According to creator Alex Horne, the show was inspired by The Crystal Maze, his time working on Big Brother,[6] and his jealousy at his friend Tim Key's win of the Edinburgh Comedy Award.[7]
Horne first tested the idea in 2009, where he sent 20 comedians – including Stuart Goldsmith, Josie Long, Mark Watson, Tim Key, Joe Wilkinson and eventual winner Mike Wozniak[8] – monthly tasks by email over the course of a year. The first task was "Put as much money into my bank account – most money wins."[7][9] At the 2010 Edinburgh Festival Fringe, he hosted "The Taskmaster",[10] a "two-hour drunken show"[7] where he revealed the players' attempts at each task and announced the winner. Horne hosted "Taskmaster II" the following year with ten contestants;[9] it was won by Josie Long.[11]
With Avalon as the production company, Horne pitched the programme to several different broadcasters, including Channel 4, before it was picked up by Dave. Deputy Director of Commissioning for the channel at the time, Hilary Rosen, was concerned with the structure of the show as the same contestants feature in every episode of a series, unlike other panel shows. Horne, however, describes Taskmaster as "more like a sitcom". Another issue with this format point is that it made shooting a traditional pilot implausible.[9] However, the aspects of the show filmed before a studio audience were tested in a pilot.[12] Davies was originally given a cane with a golden "T" on the base, which was not used subsequently as Davies felt ridiculous with it.[13]
In the first series, the show was shot with the intention that the episodes could be shown in any order, though Rosen later realised that "this was a show you record and transmit in the same order".[9] Horne says that the comedians began to sign up for the show after Frank Skinner agreed to take part.[9]
Broadcast
The first series was announced on 19 September 2014.[14] Lasting six episodes, it aired in 2015 from 28 July to 1 September, featuring contestants Frank Skinner, Josh Widdicombe, Roisin Conaty, Romesh Ranganathan and Tim Key. The winner of the series was Josh Widdicombe.
On 24 September 2015, it was announced that the show had been recommissioned for a second and third series,[15] and the second series premiered on 21 June 2016. Lasting five episodes and concluding on 19 July, the series featured Doc Brown, Joe Wilkinson, Jon Richardson, Katherine Ryan and Richard Osman, with Katherine Ryan as the eventual winner.
A one-off special edition featuring five television executives was presented as a stage show during the 2016 Edinburgh International Television Festival. This version included pre-recorded tasks filmed at the house location and a final stage task.[16] The contesting executives were Zai Bennett (Sky Atlantic), Nerys Evans (Channel 4), Jeff Ford (Fox Networks Group UK), Alan Tyler (BBC) and Claire Zolkwer (ITV).[17]
The third series, also consisting of five episodes, was initially planned for 2017 but aired earlier due to positive reception of the previous series;[18] it was broadcast from 4 October 2016 to 1 November. The contestants for series three were Al Murray, Dave Gorman, Paul Chowdhry, Rob Beckett and Sara Pascoe. The winner was Rob Beckett.
On 3 October 2016, the show was renewed for a fourth and fifth series, each of which were to last eight episodes.[18] Series 4 featured Hugh Dennis, Joe Lycett, Lolly Adefope, Mel Giedroyc and Noel Fielding, and culminated in a win for Noel Fielding. It was broadcast in 2017 from 25 April to 13 June. The fifth series aired in the same year from 6 September to 1 November, with a line-up of Aisling Bea, Bob Mortimer, Mark Watson, Nish Kumar and Sally Phillips. The winner was Bob Mortimer.
A two part "Champion of Champions" special was announced in September 2017; the first part aired on 13 December 2017 with the second part on 20 December.[19] The contestants were the winners of the first five series: Josh Widdicombe, Katherine Ryan, Rob Beckett, Noel Fielding and Bob Mortimer.[20] The winner was Josh Widdicombe, who received a life-size trophy of Davies's headless body.
On 22 February 2018, it was announced that Taskmaster had been renewed for four more series lasting 10 episodes each. The sixth series, which aired from 2 May to 4 July 2018, featured Alice Levine, Asim Chaudhry, Liza Tarbuck, Russell Howard and Tim Vine.[21][22] Liza Tarbuck was the winner.
The seventh series aired from 5 September to 7 November 2018, and featured James Acaster, Jessica Knappett, Kerry Godliman, Phil Wang and Rhod Gilbert.[23][24][25] The series was won by Kerry Godliman.
The contestants for series eight were confirmed by Digital Spy in February 2019 as Iain Stirling, Joe Thomas, Lou Sanders, Paul Sinha and Sian Gibson.[26] The winner was Lou Sanders.
After the conclusion of series eight, the contestants for the ninth series was confirmed to be David Baddiel, Ed Gamble, Jo Brand, Katy Wix and Rose Matafeo. It premiered on 4 September 2019.[27] The winner was Ed Gamble.
On 22 November 2019, after talks of the show being bought by another network, it was confirmed that the show would move to Channel 4 and had been renewed for six series over the following 3 years.[28]
In July 2020, the panellists for the tenth series were announced to be Daisy May Cooper, Johnny Vegas, Katherine Parkinson, Mawaan Rizwan and Richard Herring. Production of the series was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The majority of the tasks had been filmed prior to UK going into lockdown, but some team tasks were modified to follow social distancing, and studio sections were recorded without an audience.[29] The series began on 15 October 2020.[3] The winner was Richard Herring.
After the finale of the tenth series, a one-episode special (billed as the "Taskmaster New Year Treat") featuring John Hannah, Krishnan Guru-Murthy, Nicola Coughlan, Rylan Clark-Neal and Shirley Ballas aired on New Year’s Day 2021. The winner was Shirley Ballas.
The cast for the eleventh series was announced on 17 December 2020; it will feature Charlotte Ritchie, Jamali Maddix, Lee Mack, Mike Wozniak (winner of the first Edinburgh Festival version of Taskmaster) and Sarah Kendall.[30]
Production
Tasks are filmed with each contestant separately in a house in Chiswick, London.[31] However, Alex Horne's initial plan was to carry out the tasks in the comedians' houses, saying in an interview: "I didn't realise how impractical that would be both in terms of cost – and their lives."[9] Filming tasks takes roughly one day per contestant per episode, filming around eight tasks a day, with each day of filming spread out across several months. Prior to the studio filming, contestants are forbidden to discuss their tasks and are not shown any footage from the tasks, so that studio reactions are genuine.[31]
Horne designs the tasks to avoid the need for any specialist equipment, so that "people at home [are] able to do the same things".[31] Initially, they planned to have Horne show the right way to complete the task after showing the contestants' attempts, but this was abandoned as "it supposed there was a right way".[12] He also notes that some tasks in the first series involved the general public, but later series avoided this in order to prevent coming across as a "prank show". Some tasks are vetoed by producers for pragmatic reasons, such as "paint the biggest thing red".[31] Others do not turn out as expected, such as "burst all these bubbles [on a massive roll of bubble wrap] – fastest wins", which had been attempted in three different series but not shown in any of them, as "it always ends with people jumping on it for hours".[7]
When asked why he did not present the show, Horne has said that "that was never the plan [...] My role as sidekick is to be sneaky and you can run it from the sides in a really funny way."[9] Horne and Greg Davies had never worked together prior to Taskmaster;[12] Davies was chosen "because of his authority," Horne says in an interview. He adds that in the pilot, Davies acted as a "dictator figure cross with everyone," but his tone in the show is more relaxed, as "if someone doesn't do something well we really enjoy it so he can be himself."[32]
The series director for Taskmaster is Andy Devonshire, who was previously series director on The Apprentice and the BBC versions of The Great British Bake Off. Peter Orton was director for three episodes in 2016.[33] Production designer James Dillion is responsible for the studio and filming locations as well as the caravan featured from series four onwards,[18] having been past known for designing the original set for The Crystal Maze.[34] The show's theme music was written and performed by The Horne Section, a jazz band led by Horne.[35]
Contestants
Each series features five new contestants; the Champion of Champions edition featured the return of the five previous series winners. The guests always sit in alphabetical order by first name.[31]
Indicator(s)
- Champion of Champions series
- Champions
- Champion of Champions
For two episodes of series nine, Katy Wix was absent in studio recordings due to illness. Former contestants Kerry Godliman (episode five) and Katherine Ryan (episode six) stood in and participated in the stage task.[36]
Episodes
| Series | Episodes | Originally aired | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First aired | Last aired | Network | ||||
| 1 | 6 | 28 July 2015 | 1 September 2015 | Dave | ||
| 2 | 5 | 21 June 2016 | 19 July 2016 | |||
| 3 | 5 | 4 October 2016 | 1 November 2016 | |||
| 4 | 8 | 25 April 2017 | 13 June 2017 | |||
| 5 | 8 | 13 September 2017 | 1 November 2017 | |||
| CoC | 2 | 13 December 2017 | 20 December 2017 | |||
| 6 | 10 | 2 May 2018 | 4 July 2018 | |||
| 7 | 10 | 5 September 2018 | 7 November 2018 | |||
| 8 | 10 | 8 May 2019 | 10 July 2019 | |||
| 9 | 10 | 4 September 2019 | 6 November 2019 | |||
| 10 | 10 | 15 October 2020 | 17 December 2020 | Channel 4 | ||
| NYT | 1 | 1 January 2021 | ||||
| CoC II | TBA | 2021 | 2021 | |||
| 11 | 10 | 2021 | 2021 | |||
Series 1 (2015)
Panellists for this series were Frank Skinner, Josh Widdicombe, Roisin Conaty, Romesh Ranganathan and Tim Key.
For the team tasks, the team of three was made up of Widdicombe, Conaty and Ranganathan and the team of two was made up of Skinner and Key.
Widdicombe was the overall winner, with Skinner and Ranganathan tying as runner-ups, Key in 4th and Conaty finishing last.
| No. overall | No. in series | Title | Winner | Original air date | UK Viewers [37] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | "Melon Buffet" | Frank Skinner | 28 July 2015 | 446,000 |
| 2 | 2 | "The Pie Whisperer" | Roisin Conaty | 4 August 2015 | 381,000 |
| 3 | 3 | "The Poet and the Egg" | Josh Widdicombe | 11 August 2015 | 305,000 |
| 4 | 4 | "Down an Octave" | Josh Widdicombe | 18 August 2015 | 406,000[lower-alpha 1] |
| 5 | 5 | "Little Denim Shorts" | Frank Skinner | 25 August 2015 | 495,000 |
| 6 | 6 | "The Last Supper" | Tim Key | 1 September 2015 | 505,000 |
Series 2 (2016)
Panellists for this series were Doc Brown, Joe Wilkinson, Jon Richardson, Katherine Ryan and Richard Osman.
For the team tasks, the team of three was made up of Brown, Wilkinson and Ryan and the team of two was made up of Richardson and Osman.
Ryan was the overall winner, with Richardson as runner-up, Osman in 3rd, Brown in 4th and Wilkinson finishing last.
| No. overall | No. in series | Title | Winner | Original air date | UK Viewers [37] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 | 1 | "Fear of Failure" | Richard Osman | 21 June 2016 | 652,000 |
| 8 | 2 | "Pork Is a Sausage" | Jon Richardson | 28 June 2016 | 752,000 |
| 9 | 3 | "A Pistachio Éclair" | Katherine Ryan | 5 July 2016 | 764,000 |
| 10 | 4 | "Welcome to Rico Face" | Doc Brown | 12 July 2016 | 737,000 |
| 11 | 5 | "There's Strength in Arches" | Richard Osman | 19 July 2016 | 666,000 |
Series 3 (2016)
Panellists for this series were Al Murray, Dave Gorman, Paul Chowdhry, Rob Beckett and Sara Pascoe.
For the team tasks, the team of three was made up of Murray, Gorman and Chowdhry and the team of two was made up of Beckett and Pascoe.
Beckett was the overall winner, with Gorman as runner-up, Murray in 3rd, Pascoe in 4th and Chowdhry finishing last.
| No. overall | No. in series | Title | Winner | Original air date | UK Viewers [37] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12 | 1 | "Pea in a Haystack" | Al Murray | 4 October 2016 | 838,000 |
| 13 | 2 | "The Dong and the Gong" | Rob Beckett | 11 October 2016 | 849,000 |
| 14 | 3 | "Little Polythene Grief Cave" | Paul Chowdhry | 18 October 2016 | 949,000 |
| 15 | 4 | "A Very Nuanced Character" | Dave Gorman | 25 October 2016 | 1,002,000 |
| 16 | 5 | "The F.I.P." | Rob Beckett | 1 November 2016 | 1,023,000 |
Series 4 (2017)
Panellists for this series were Hugh Dennis, Joe Lycett, Lolly Adefope, Mel Giedroyc and Noel Fielding.
For the team tasks, the team of three was made up of Lycett, Adefope and Fielding and the team of two was made up of Dennis and Giedroyc.
Fielding was the overall winner, with Lycett as runner-up, Giedroyc in 3rd, Dennis in 4th and Adefope finishing last.
| No. overall | No. in series | Title | Winner | Original air date | UK Viewers [37] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 17 | 1 | "A Fat Bald White Man" | Noel Fielding | 25 April 2017 | 787,000 |
| 18 | 2 | "Look at Me" | Mel Giedroyc | 2 May 2017 | 777,000 |
| 19 | 3 | "Hollowing Out a Baguette" | Joe Lycett | 9 May 2017 | 752,000 |
| 20 | 4 | "Friendship Is Truth" | Mel Giedroyc | 16 May 2017 | 835,000 |
| 21 | 5 | "Meat" | Hugh Dennis | 23 May 2017 | 837,000 |
| 22 | 6 | "Spatchcock It" | Lolly Adefope | 30 May 2017 | 860,000 |
| 23 | 7 | "No Stars for Naughty Boys" | Joe Lycett | 6 June 2017 | 794,000 |
| 24 | 8 | "Tony Three Pies" | Mel Giedroyc | 13 June 2017 | 759,000 |
Series 5 (2017)
Panellists for this series were Aisling Bea, Bob Mortimer, Mark Watson, Nish Kumar and Sally Phillips.
For the team tasks, the team of three was made up of Bea, Mortimer and Phillips and the team of two was made up of Watson and Kumar.
Mortimer was the overall winner, with Watson and Phillips tying as runner-ups, Bea in 4th and Kumar finishing last.
| No. overall | No. in series | Title | Winner | Original air date | UK Viewers [37] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25 | 1 | "Dignity Intact" | Bob Mortimer | 13 September 2017 | 799,000 |
| 26 | 2 | "The Leprechaun or the Lesbian" | Sally Phillips | 20 September 2017 | 746,000 |
| 27 | 3 | "Phoenix" | Bob Mortimer | 27 September 2017 | 682,000 |
| 28 | 4 | "Residue Round the Hoof" | Mark Watson | 4 October 2017 | 656,000 |
| 29 | 5 | "A Wind-Dried Puffin" | Mark Watson | 11 October 2017 | 664,000 |
| 30 | 6 | "Spoony Neeson" | Sally Phillips | 18 October 2017 | 663,000 |
| 31 | 7 | "Boing Boing" | Bob Mortimer | 25 October 2017 | 627,000 |
| 32 | 8 | "Their Water's So Delicious" | Sally Phillips | 1 November 2017 | 821,000 |
Champion of Champions (2017)
The contestants for this special were Bob Mortimer, Josh Widdicombe, Katherine Ryan, Noel Fielding and Rob Beckett, who were the winners of the 5th, 1st, 2nd, 4th and 3rd series respectively.
As this was a Champion of Champions series with limited episodes, there were no team tasks.
Widdicombe was the overall winner, with Beckett as runner-up, Ryan in 3rd, Fielding in 4th and Mortimer finishing last.
| No. overall | No. in series | Title | Winner | Original air date | UK Viewers [37] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 33 | 1 | "Wiley Giraffe Blower" | Katherine Ryan | 13 December 2017 | 798,000 |
| 34 | 2 | "I've Sinned Again" | Josh Widdicombe | 20 December 2017 | 807,000 |
Series 6 (2018)
Panellists for this series were Alice Levine, Asim Chaudhry, Liza Tarbuck, Russell Howard and Tim Vine.
For the team tasks, the team of three was made up of Chaudhry, Tarbuck and Vine and the team of two was made up of Levine and Howard.
Tarbuck was the overall winner, with Vine as runner-up, Howard in 3rd, Chaudhry in 4th and Levine finishing last.
| No. overall | No. in series | Title | Winner | Original air date | UK Viewers [37] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 35 | 1 | "The Old Soft Curved Padlock" | Alice Levine | 2 May 2018 | 1,214,000 |
| 36 | 2 | "Tarpeters" | Liza Tarbuck | 9 May 2018 | 886,000 |
| 37 | 3 | "One Warm Prawn" | Liza Tarbuck | 16 May 2018 | 942,000 |
| 38 | 4 | "BMXing!" | Russell Howard | 23 May 2018 | 830,000 |
| 39 | 5 | "H" | Tim Vine | 30 May 2018 | 749,000 |
| 40 | 6 | "We Met at Mealtimes" | Tim Vine | 6 June 2018 | 730,000 |
| 41 | 7 | "Roadkill Doused in Syrup" | Russell Howard | 13 June 2018 | N/A[lower-alpha 2] |
| 42 | 8 | "What Kind of Pictures?" | Russell Howard | 20 June 2018 | 795,000 |
| 43 | 9 | "The Bubble Brothers" | Alice Levine | 27 June 2018 | 875,000 |
| 44 | 10 | "He Was a Different Man" | Asim Chaudhry | 4 July 2018 | 1,090,000 |
Series 7 (2018)
Panellists for this series were James Acaster, Jessica Knappett, Kerry Godliman, Phil Wang and Rhod Gilbert.
For the team tasks, the team of three was made up of Acaster, Wang and Gilbert and the team of two was made up of Knappett and Godliman.
Godliman was the overall winner, with Knappett as runner-up, Gilbert in 3rd, Acaster in 4th and Wang finishing last.
| No. overall | No. in series | Title | Winner | Original air date[lower-alpha 3] | UK Viewers [38][lower-alpha 4] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 45 | 1 | "The Mean Bean" | Kerry Godliman | 5 September 2018 | 1,295,000 |
| 46 | 2 | "My Eyes Are Circles" | Kerry Godliman | 12 September 2018 | 1,404,000 |
| 47 | 3 | "Twelve Blush Majesty Two" | James Acaster | 19 September 2018 | 1,197,000 |
| 48 | 4 | "OLLIE" | Rhod Gilbert | 26 September 2018 | 1,007,000 |
| 49 | 5 | "Lotta Soup" | Jessica Knappett | 3 October 2018 | 1,341,000 |
| 50 | 6 | "A Coquettish Fascinator" | James Acaster | 10 October 2018 | 1,132,000 |
| 51 | 7 | "The Perfect Stuff" | Rhod Gilbert | 17 October 2018 | 1,292,000 |
| 52 | 8 | "Mother Honks Her Horn" | Rhod Gilbert | 24 October 2018 | 1,265,000 |
| 53 | 9 | "The Pendulum Draws The Eye" | Kerry Godliman | 31 October 2018 | 839,000 |
| 54 | 10 | "I Can Hear It Gooping" | James Acaster | 7 November 2018 | 1,268,000 |
Series 8 (2019)
Panellists for this series were Iain Stirling, Joe Thomas, Lou Sanders, Paul Sinha and Sian Gibson.[39]
For the team tasks, the team of three was made up of Stirling, Sanders and Sinha and the team of two was made up of Thomas and Gibson.
Sanders was the overall winner, with Stirling as runner-up, Thomas in 3rd, Gibson in 4th and Sinha finishing last.
| No. overall | No. in series | Title | Winner | Original air date | UK Viewers [38][lower-alpha 4] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 55 | 1 | "Hello" | Iain Stirling | 8 May 2019 | 1,249,000 |
| 56 | 2 | "A Novel About Russian Gulags" | Lou Sanders | 15 May 2019 | 1,495,000 |
| 57 | 3 | "Stuck in a Mammal Groove" | Lou Sanders | 22 May 2019 | 1,457,000 |
| 58 | 4 | "The Barrel Dad" | Sian Gibson | 29 May 2019 | 1,415,000 |
| 59 | 5 | "Stay Humble" | Iain Stirling | 5 June 2019 | 1,366,000 |
| 60 | 6 | "Rock 'n' Roll Umlaut" | Sian Gibson | 12 June 2019 | 1,387,000 |
| 61 | 7 | "This Is Trevor" | Joe Thomas | 19 June 2019 | 1,278,000 |
| 62 | 8 | "Aquatic Sewing Machine" | Paul Sinha | 26 June 2019 | 1,324,000 |
| 63 | 9 | "I've Been a Bit Ill" | Lou Sanders | 3 July 2019 | 1,298,000 |
| 64 | 10 | "Clumpy Swayey Clumsy Man" | Iain Stirling | 10 July 2019 | 1,309,000 |
Series 9 (2019)
Panellists for this series were David Baddiel, Ed Gamble, Jo Brand, Katy Wix and Rose Matafeo. Katy Wix did not appear in the studio portions of episodes 5 and 6 due to illness and was replaced by former series champions Kerry Godliman and Katherine Ryan, respectively.
For most team tasks, the team of three was made up of Gamble, Wix and Matafeo and the team of two was made up of Baddiel and Brand, although these teams changed at some of the live tasks.
Gamble was the overall winner, with Matafeo as runner-up, Wix in 3rd, Brand in 4th and Baddiel finishing last.
| No. overall | No. in series | Title | Winner | Original air date | UK Viewers [38][lower-alpha 4] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 65 | 1 | "Join Our Cult" | Rose Matafeo | 4 September 2019 | 1,485,000 |
| 66 | 2 | "Butter in the Microwave" | Ed Gamble | 11 September 2019 | 1,433,000 |
| 67 | 3 | "Five Miles Per Day" | Katy Wix | 18 September 2019 | 1,413,000 |
| 68 | 4 | "Quisps" | Rose Matafeo | 25 September 2019 | 1,287,000 |
| 69 | 5 | "Another Spoon" | Jo Brand | 2 October 2019 | 1,277,000 |
| 70 | 6 | "Bready Bready Bready" | Ed Gamble | 9 October 2019 | 1,215,000 |
| 71 | 7 | "A Cuddle" | Katy Wix | 16 October 2019 | 1,151,000 |
| 72 | 8 | "Shaqinahat" | Ed Gamble | 23 October 2019 | 1,343,000 |
| 73 | 9 | "Don't Like Them Go Bang" | David Baddiel | 30 October 2019 | 1,364,000 |
| 74 | 10 | "Think About the Spirit" | Ed Gamble | 6 November 2019 | 1,378,000 |
Series 10 (2020)
This was the first series to be broadcast on Channel 4, and the panellists for this series were Daisy May Cooper, Johnny Vegas, Katherine Parkinson, Mawaan Rizwan and Richard Herring.[40]
For most team tasks, the team of three was made up of Vegas, Parkinson and Rizwan and the team of two was made up of Cooper and Herring, although these teams changed at some of the live tasks.
Herring was the overall winner, with Cooper as runner-up, Rizwan in 3rd, Vegas in 4th and Parkinson finishing last.
| No. overall | No. in series | Title | Winner | Original air date | UK Viewers [38][lower-alpha 4] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 75 | 1 | "God's Haemorrhoid" | Richard Herring | 15 October 2020 | 3,362,000 |
| 76 | 2 | "A Documentary About a Despot" | Katherine Parkinson | 22 October 2020 | 3,048,000 |
| 77 | 3 | "Point of Swivel" | Daisy May Cooper | 29 October 2020 | 2,930,000 |
| 78 | 4 | "Toshwash" | Daisy May Cooper | 5 November 2020 | 2,769,000 |
| 79 | 5 | "I Hate Your Trainers" | Richard Herring | 12 November 2020 | 2,891,000 |
| 80 | 6 | "Hippopotamus" | Mawaan Rizwan | 19 November 2020 | 2,602,000 |
| 81 | 7 | "Legit Glass" | Johnny Vegas | 26 November 2020 | 2,578,000 |
| 82 | 8 | "Moments of Silence" | Richard Herring | 3 December 2020 | 2,674,000 |
| 83 | 9 | "Air Horn Andy" | Richard Herring | 10 December 2020 | 2,811,000 |
| 84 | 10 | "Dog Meat Trifle" | Richard Herring | 17 December 2020 | 2,662,000 |
New Year Treat (2021)
A one-off festive special of Taskmaster, entitled "Taskmaster's New Year Treat", broadcast on 1 January 2021. It featured John Hannah, Krishnan Guru-Murthy, Nicola Coughlan, Rylan Clark-Neal and Shirley Ballas.[41]
Ballas was the overall winner, with Clark-Neal as runner-up, Guru-Murthy in 3rd, and Coughlan and Hannah finishing joint last.
| No. overall | No. in series | Title | Winner | Original air date | UK Viewers [38][lower-alpha 4] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 85 | 1 | "The Fastest Duck" | Shirley Ballas | 1 January 2021 | 3,336,000 |
Champion of Champions II (2021)
The contestants for this special will be Ed Gamble, Kerry Godliman, Liza Tarbuck, Lou Sanders and Richard Herring, who were the winners of the 9th, 7th, 6th, 8th, and 10th series, respectively.[42]
Series 11 (2021)
Panellists for this series will be Charlotte Ritchie, Jamali Maddix, Lee Mack, Mike Wozniak and Sarah Kendall.[42]
International
Broadcasts
The show is also broadcast in Belgium, Iceland, Sweden, South Africa, Norway, Finland, Australia, Denmark and New Zealand.
In Australia, SBS Viceland started to air Taskmaster episodes on 27 July 2020.[43] The episodes are available on SBS on Demand.
In the United States, The CW acquired series 8 and 9 of Taskmaster for a late-Summer run premiering on 2 August 2020. However, the series opened to extremely low viewership (in comparison to the Canadian import, Fridge Wars, which premiered the same day), and was consequently pulled from the network's schedule on 5 August. The CW added the entirety of Series 8 to its "CW Seed" streaming library on 10 August.[44][45][46][47][48]
Versions
International versions of the programme have been made in Belgium (as Het Grootste Licht) [The Greatest Light],[49] Sweden (as Bäst i Test) [Best in Test],[50] Norway (as Kongen befaler) [The King Commands] [51][52] and Spain (as Dicho y hecho) [Said and Done].[53] In Denmark the programme is titled Stormester [Grandmaster] and premiered on 25 August 2018.[54] In April 2017, a US version with Reggie Watts as the Taskmaster and Horne as the assistant was announced, made by Avalon, the same production company for the UK version and originally aired on Comedy Central on 27 April 2018.[52] A German version featuring Atze Schröder as the Taskmaster was commissioned by RTL in 2017; two episodes were recorded but not broadcast.[55][56] In 2019 it was announced a New Zealand version would be produced, hosted by Jeremy Wells and Paul Williams. This was broadcast in 2020.[57][58] Finnish network MTV3 started airing a local version Suurmestari [Grandmaster] on 12 April 2020.[59]
Related media
Book
A tie-in book, Taskmaster — 200 Extraordinary Tasks for Ordinary People, was written by Alex Horne and published by Penguin Random House on 6 September 2018.[60]
Task 185 in the book provided the latitude and longitude of a Buckinghamshire park, with instructions to meet there at midday on 14 September 2019 for a picnic and Taskmaster tour. The event was attended by around 1800 people with Horne himself present to show attendees filming locations from the show.[61]
In September 2019, a paperback edition was published, with 20 new tasks.[62] As well as writing additional tasks, Horne removed the expiration date of 31 December 2019 where it appeared, and replaced tasks that had a set completion date.
Board game
The board game Taskmaster was released in autumn 2019, initially selling out. It contains 200 task cards, along with secret tasks that individual players must perform, and video tasks featuring Alex Horne.[63]
#HomeTasking
From March to June 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic and a period of lockdown in the UK, Alex Horne organised a series of tasks in the style of Taskmaster for the public to perform and record in their own homes. Entries were submitted on Twitter and compilation videos, including scoring of the ten best entries by Greg Davies, were published by the Taskmaster YouTube channel. The first task was "Throw a piece of A4 paper into a bin. Most spectacular throw wins." There were 20 tasks in total.[64][65][66][67]
A new series of Hometasking, started during another lockdown in the UK, began on January 14, 2021, featuring tasks previously performed on the TV show.[68]
Podcasts
On 15 October 2020, an official podcast began. It is hosted by Ed Gamble, the winner of Series 9, who comments on each featured episode with a special guest. Initially it focussed on Series 10, with each podcast released immediately after each Taskmaster episode was broadcast.[69] Episode 12 of the podcast focused on the 2021 "New Year Treat", and then from episode 13 onwards it returned to the very beginning starting with Taskmaster Series 1 Episode 1.
Podcast guests:
- Alex Horne (Taskmaster's Assistant)
- Nish Kumar (Series 5)
- Jo Brand (Series 9)
- Paul Chowdhry (Series 3)
- James Acaster (Series 7)
- Jess Knappett (Series 7)
- Rose Matafeo (Series 9)
- Richard Osman (Series 2)
- Katy Wix (Series 9)
- Richard Herring (Series 10 Winner)
- Greg Davies (The Taskmaster)
- Scroobius Pip (Not a former contestant)
- Alex Horne (Taskmaster's Assistant)
- Tim Key (Series 1)
- Josh Widdicombe (Series 1 Winner)
- Nicola Coughlan (New Year Treat)
- Jayde Adams (Not a former contestant)
In August 2020, an unofficial Delete This podcast, hosted by Hank Green and his wife Katherine, began to review each episode of Taskmaster with Katherine (given the title of 'Taskmistress') providing her own judgement of each task.[70]
Reception
Critical reception
Andrew Billen of The Times gave a five star review of the show's first episode, "Melon Buffet", calling it "funny, revealing, and glorious" and comparing it to The Generation Game.[71] In another review of the first episode, Filipa Jodelka of The Guardian describes Taskmaster as a panel show with an "edgy parlour-game twist". Jodelka praises the "molten-hot banter" between contestants and Davies, and compares the arbitrary awarding of points to QI and Numberwang.[72] Also reviewing "Melon Buffet", Ellen Jones of The Independent praised the show as entertaining despite its "informal and cheap-looking" style.[73]
Wesley Mead of Den of Geek wrote a positive review in 2016, praising the show as the "crowning jewel" of original programming on Dave, and approving of the design of the tasks and the range of approaches that contestants demonstrate. Mead believed that the second series was an improvement on the first, but criticised that the first three series had only one female contestant apiece.[74]
Awards and nominations
| Year | Award | Category | Recipients | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Comedy.co.uk Awards 2016[75] | Best TV Entertainment Show | N/A | Won |
| 2017 | British Academy Television Awards[76] | Best Comedy and Comedy Entertainment Programme | Alex Horne, Andy Cartwright, Andy Devonshire | Nominated |
| International Emmy Award[77] | Non-Scripted Entertainment | Avalon Television, Dave | Nominated | |
| RTS Programme Awards[78] | Best Entertainment Programme | Avalon Television | Nominated | |
| Comedy.co.uk Awards 2017[79] | Best TV Entertainment Show | N/A | Won | |
| 2018 | British Academy Television Awards[80] | Best Comedy and Comedy Entertainment Programme | Alex Horne, Andy Cartwright, Andy Devonshire | Nominated |
| 2020 | British Academy Television Awards[81] | Best Comedy and Comedy Entertainment Programme | Alex Horne, Andy Cartwright, Andy Devonshire, James Taylor | Won |
Notes
- 7-day data, as 28-day data is not available.
- BARB's website does not report Dave's viewing figures for this week.
- Each episode aired one week earlier on the online service UKTV, with the exception of the finale.
- Viewers across the first 28 days of broadcast on TV, PC/laptop, tablet or smartphone are counted. Pre-transmission figures are included.
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