Taskmaster
- TV comedy
- Channel 4 / U&Dave
- 2015 - 2025
- 181 episodes (19 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.
- Due to return for Series 20
- Catch-up on Series 19, Episode 10
Streaming rank this week: 18
Episode menu
Series 2, Episode 1 - Fear Of Failure
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
- U&Dave
- Length
- 60 minutes
Cast & crew
| 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 |
| Alex Horne | Writer |
| Tim Key | Task Consultant |
| 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 2021A 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 2016Review: Taskmaster, series two, episode 1
Taskmaster is great at displaying people's laterial thinking.
Ian Wolf, On The Box, 21st June 2016TV 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