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 5, Episode 3 - Phoenix

Taskmaster. Image shows from L to R: Aisling Bea, Alex Horne. Copyright: Avalon Television
Sometimes with humour, more often with viciousness, Taskmaster Greg Davies continues to rank five comics in order of competency as they attempt complex assignments such as jelly-balancing and coconut costumery. Alex Horne, Greg's obedient private secretary in charge of data, is on hand to ensure everything runs smoothly. Also, Mark Watson tries to open an unlocked briefcase.

Preview clips

Prize task: Thing they are actually proudest off.

* Bob Mortimer: A spirometer he used after his heart operation to test his lungs. - 5
* Sally Phillips: A photo of her outside the Icelandic parliament, after she helped change the country's laws to improve the lives of pregnant women. - 4
* Aisling Bea: A cape made out of 12 Irish flags, which she wore during the Fringe show The Wrestling. - 3
* Mark Watson: His Celebrity Mastermind trophy. - 2
* Nish Kumar: A cricket trophy he won for "Clubman of the Year", which Nish discovered went to the person who showed the most enthusiasm in the face of, "an overwhelming lack of ability." - 1

Task 1: Remove the table tennis ball from the pipe. The pipe must not be moved. Fastest wins. Your time starts now.

* Bob: 8:13 - 5
* Sally: Just under 13 minutes. - 4
* Mark: 23:10 - 3
* Nish: 44 minutes - 2
* Aisling: Disqualified for moving the pipe. - 0

Task 2: Make this coconut look like a businessman. You have ten minutes to plan your coconut businessman, and then ten minutes to make him. Your time starts now.

* Nish - 5
* Mark - 4
* Aisling - 3
* Sally - 2
* Bob - 1

Task 3 (A task in three parts, which can be completed in any order, involving a jelly, a Twiglet and a Weetabix): Part 1 - Standing behind this rope, throw one of the items into the bucket. You may retrieve the item if it misses, but you must stand behind the rope on every throw. You may not move the rope or the bucket. Part 2 - Eat one item. Part 3 - Balance one item on top of the red poll. The item must remain balanced until the entire task is completed. You may not take the poll out of the ground. All 3 - Fastest wins. Your time started when you opened the first task, and ends when you have completed all three tasks.

* Sally: 2:01 - 5
* Bob: 4:00 - 4
* Mark: 4:20 - 3
* Aisling: 4:30 - 2
* Nish: Disqualified for failing to get an entire item into the bucket. - 0

Live task: Play table tennis with words. When the table tennis ball is within striking distance, you must say a word while pretending to hit the ball with your bat. That word must begin with the last letter of the previous word. If you fail to say a word within the time it would take you to hit a table tennis ball, you are out. After saying your word, you must run to the back of the opposite queue as the task progresses. Alex will serve the first word to the youngest contestant. Last player standing wins.

* Aisling - 5
* Nish - 4
* Mark - 3
* Bob - 2
* Sally - 1

Final score

* Bob - 17
* Sally - 16
* Mark - 15
* Aisling - 13
* Nish - 12

Broadcast details

Date
Wednesday 27th September 2017
Time
9pm
Channel
Dave
Length
60 minutes

Repeats

Show past repeats

Date Time Channel
Sunday 1st October 2017 10:00pm Dave
Tuesday 21st November 2017 8:00pm Dave
Tuesday 23rd January 2018 10:00pm Dave
Monday 4th June 2018 6:00pm Dave
Thursday 6th February 2020 10:00pm Dave
Tuesday 5th May 2020 10:40pm Dave
Wednesday 6th May 2020 6:00pm Dave
Tuesday 18th August 2020 11:00pm Dave
Saturday 12th September 2020 6:00pm Dave
Friday 6th November 2020 11:20pm Dave
Thursday 12th November 2020 8:00pm E4
Tuesday 6th April 2021 1:25am E4
Thursday 8th April 2021 6:00pm Dave
Tuesday 3rd August 2021 11:00pm Dave
Wednesday 9th February 2022 6:00pm Dave
Wednesday 9th February 2022 11:00pm Dave
Wednesday 18th May 2022 6:00pm Dave
Tuesday 17th January 2023 5:00pm Dave
Monday 24th April 2023 6:00pm Dave
Thursday 3rd August 2023 6:00pm Dave

Cast & crew

Cast
Greg Davies Host / Presenter
Alex Horne Host / Presenter
Aisling Bea Self
Nish Kumar Self
Bob Mortimer Self
Sally Phillips Self
Mark Watson Self
Writing team
Alex Horne Writer
Tim Key Task Consultant
Production team
Andy Devonshire Series 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
Martin McEwan Editor
Andi Meek Editor
James Dillon Production Designer
Sam Montague Director of Photography
Martin Kempton Lighting Designer
Dru Masters Composer
Tom Howe Composer

Videos

Touch Don't Move

Aisling Bea has to get a ping pong ball out of a tube without moving it. Touching is allowed, but moving it is not. Let's see how she gets on...

Featuring: Greg Davies, Alex Horne & Aisling Bea.

Outtake: Bob Mortimer's balls

Bob Mortimer and his nicely presented balls...

Featuring: Greg Davies, Bob Mortimer & Mark Watson.

Bob Mortimer's Coconut Business Man

In this task Bob makes a coconut look like a business man...

Featuring: Greg Davies, Alex Horne, Aisling Bea, Nish Kumar, Bob Mortimer, Sally Phillips & Mark Watson.

Press

Review: Taskmaster: Series 5, Episode 3 - Phoenix

The challengers this time struggle opening a suitcase, retrieve Greg Davies's favourite ping pong ball, and try to carry out three tasks at once.

Ian Wolf, On The Box, 27th September 2017

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