Taskmaster. Image shows from L to R: Greg Davies, Alex Horne. Copyright: Avalon Television
Taskmaster

Taskmaster

  • TV comedy
  • Channel 4 / Dave
  • 2015 - 2024
  • 160 episodes (17 series)

TV format in which Greg Davies and Alex Horne set a group of comedians various outlandish challenges. Also features Romesh Ranganathan, Frank Skinner, Roisin Conaty, Josh Widdicombe, Tim Key and more.

Episode menu

Series 2, Episode 1 - Fear Of Failure

Taskmaster. Alex Horne. Copyright: Avalon Television / UKTV
The opening episode of Series 2 features one of the greatest sporting moments in television history. And it involves a potato.

Prize task: Most important document.

* Joe Wilkinson: His wedding certificate. - 5
* Doc Brown: One of his first completed rhyme books. - 4
* Katherine Ryan: A companion flight voucher worth £10,000. - 3
* Jon Richardson: His World Record certificate for performing the highest stand-up comedy gig. - 2
* Richard Osman: His World Record certificate for most countries identified from capital cities in one minute. - 2

Task 1: Place these three exercise balls on the yoga mat on top of that hill. The task is complete when all three balls sit fully inflated and stationary on the mat. Fastest wins. Your time starts now.

* Richard: Time not given, but he was the fastest by taking the mat off the hill and putting the balls on it at the bottom of the hill. - 5
* Jon: 6:37 - 4
* Katherine: 7:36 - 3
* Joe: 9:01 - 2
* Doc: 12:25 - 1

Task 2: Get this potato into the golf hole. You may not touch the red green. Fastest wins. Your time starts now.

* Jon: 1:09 - 5
* Richard: 2:13 - 4
* Katherine: 6:28 - 3
* Doc: 6:59 - 2
* Joe: 14.3 seconds (disqualified for touching the red green) - 0

Task 3: Find out the following information from this Swedish person. The Swedish person may not speak or write in English. Fastest and most accurate wins. Your time starts now.

* Katherine: 15:41 to get everything right. - 5
* Richard: 17 minutes to get everything right. - 4
* Jon: 15:26 to get five out of six right. - 3
* Doc: 10 minutes to be half-right. - 2
* Joe: Gave up after 16:20 after getting everything wrong. - 1

Live task: Pack for your holidays. All items must be packed in your hand luggage or worn on your body. Fastest wins.

* Richard: 1:18 - 5
* Jon: 2:04 - 4
* Katherine: 2:34 - 3
* Doc and Joe: DNF - 0

Final scores

* Richard - 20
* Jon - 18
* Katherine - 17
* Doc - 9
* Joe - 8

Broadcast details

Date
Tuesday 21st June 2016
Time
10pm
Channel
Dave
Length
60 minutes

Repeats

Show past repeats

Date Time Channel
Wednesday 22nd June 2016 1:00am Dave
Friday 24th June 2016 8:00pm Dave
Saturday 25th June 2016 10:00pm Dave
Saturday 2nd July 2016 10:00pm Dave
Sunday 2nd October 2016 9:00pm Dave
Monday 26th December 2016 7:00pm Dave
Monday 9th January 2017 10:00pm Dave
Tuesday 20th June 2017 9:00pm Dave
Wednesday 21st June 2017 12:00am Dave
Sunday 25th June 2017 10:00pm Dave
Monday 23rd April 2018 11:00pm Dave
Monday 7th May 2018 6:00pm Dave
Wednesday 22nd August 2018 1:00am Dave
Wednesday 22nd August 2018 12:00pm Dave
Wednesday 30th January 2019 10:00pm Dave
Tuesday 18th February 2020 10:00pm Dave
Tuesday 7th April 2020 6:00pm Dave
Wednesday 8th April 2020 12:00am Dave
Tuesday 21st July 2020 11:10pm Dave
Wednesday 22nd July 2020 6:00pm Dave
Sunday 30th August 2020 2:00pm Dave
Monday 5th October 2020 11:00pm Dave
Tuesday 27th October 2020 8:00pm E4
Tuesday 23rd February 2021 6:00pm Dave
Wednesday 12th January 2022 6:00pm Dave
Wednesday 12th January 2022 11:00pm Dave
Monday 2nd May 2022 6:00pm Dave
Tuesday 2nd August 2022 6:00pm Dave
Wednesday 3rd August 2022 3:10am Dave
Saturday 24th December 2022 4:00pm Dave
Tuesday 3rd January 2023 5:00pm Dave
Monday 13th March 2023 6:00pm Dave
Monday 13th March 2023 11:00pm Dave
Tuesday 27th June 2023 12:00am Dave
Thursday 6th July 2023 6:00pm Dave
Friday 7th July 2023 1:00am Dave
Friday 15th September 2023 11:00pm Dave

Cast & crew

Cast
Greg Davies Host / Presenter
Alex Horne Host / Presenter
Jon Richardson Self
Katherine Ryan Self
Joe Wilkinson Self
Ben Bailey Smith (as Doc Brown) Self
Richard Osman Self
Writing team
Alex Horne Writer
Tim Key Task Consultant
Production team
Andy Devonshire Series Director
Peter Orton Director
Andy Cartwright Series Producer
Richard Allen-Turner Executive Producer
James Taylor Executive Producer
Jon Thoday Executive Producer
Hilary Rosen Executive Producer
Rob Aslett Executive Producer
Andy Devonshire Executive Producer
Alex Horne Executive Producer
Thomas Perrett Editor
Mark Sangster Editor
James Dillon Production Designer
Dru Masters Composer
Tom Howe Composer

Press

Spudgate: The damning new evidence

Analysis shows Joe Wilkinson may NOT have breached Taskmaster rules when it came to the infamous potato-throwing task.

Chortle, 7th April 2021

A new series of the show in which Greg Davies sets a series of increasingly irritating tasks for famous comedians, this week comprising Jon Richardson, Katherine Ryan, Joe Wilkinson, Doc Brown and Richard Osman. At stake and up for grabs is the most important document each comedian owns. In the case of Joe Wilkinson, it's his marriage certificate, so nothing trivial. The biggest take-home from this is that lateral thinking is clearly not a comic's forte.

Ben Arnold, The Guardian, 21st June 2016

Review: Taskmaster, series two, episode 1

Taskmaster is great at displaying people's laterial thinking.

Ian Wolf, On The Box, 21st June 2016

TV review: Taskmaster, Dave

It is no surprise that comedians are ruthlessly competitive. What I didn't realise until Taskmaster came along was how cunning and crafty they can be when he comes to getting one over on their stand-up rivals.

Bruce Dessau, Beyond The Joke, 21st June 2016

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