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 6, Episode 4 - BMXing!

Taskmaster. Image shows from L to R: Asim Chaudhry, Alex Horne. Copyright: Avalon Television
Tim Vine strips to his waist, Russell Howard gets tattooed, while Alice Levine apes Leonardo da Vinci using squirty cream. Greg Davies sets the truly absurd tasks.

Preview clips

Prize task: Most thought-provoking thing.

* Russell Howard: A Buddhist monk playing with a fidget spinner app on an iPad. - 5
* Tim Vine: The disturbing cover of the album Bill & Kate by Billy Cotton and Kathy Rayne. - 4
* Alice Levine: The book Don't Pee on My Legg and Tell Me It's Raining by Judge Judy Sheindlin. - 3
* Liza Tarbuck: Some files belonging to Nikola Tesla. - 2
* Asim Chaudhry: A painting of an Iranian prince in a restaurant in Los Angeles that looks remarkably like Asim's doppelganger. - 1

Task 1: Do something manly with this cardboard box. Manliest thing wins. You have 20 minutes. Your time starts now.

* Liza: The box is sat in front of the TV watching golf, while Liza makes the box a cup of tea. - 5
* Tim: Stands in the box, takes his top off, and flexes his muscles at the side of the road. - 4
* Asim: Turns the box into a robot called "iFeel" to help combat against toxic masculinity. - 4
* Alice: Performs a play illustrating the manly gender pay gay. - 4
* Russell: Stands in the box, pretending to be a stereotypical man, with tattoos, smoking a fake pipe, doing DIY and giving Alex poor manly advice. - 4

Task 2, Part 1 (Team Task): Have the most fun. You have three minutes, at the end of which you must return to the caravan and await your second task. Your time starts now.

* Asim, Liza and Tim - 3
* Team Funk - 2

Task 2, Part 2 (Team Task): Exactly recreate your attempt at the first task. Most accurate task re-enactment wins. You have three minutes. Your time starts when Alex shouts his own name.

* Everyone - 5

Task 3: Make the best art using the entire contents of this can of squirty cream. You have 20 minutes. Your time starts now.

* Liza: Creates a piece on a wall, but the cream falls off. - 5
* Alice: Recreates the Mona Lisa. - 4
* Russell: Draws around Alex to make a body outline and makes it look like a crime scene. - 3
* Tim: Writes the letters "ER" and calls his piece: "Her Majesty the Cream". - 2
* Asim: Creates a work themed on global warming, also using a bell jar, an egg-timer and some toy animals. - 1

Task 4: Remove the five pound note from under the pint without spilling any of the pint. You may not touch the pint glass. If you spill any of the pint, you are disqualified. Fastest wins. Your time starts now.

* Russell: 1:19
* Asim: 1:20
* Tim: 2:54
* Liza: Disqualified for spilling the pint by try to quickly pull the fiver away. - 0
* Alice: 3:27, but disqualified for spilling the pint. - 0

Live task: When tapped on the shoulder, shake hands with the [blindfolded] Taskmaster without revealing your identities. You may not speak during the task. Everyone must shake hands with the Taskmaster once, for at least two seconds. If the Taskmaster guesses your identity, you are eliminated. The task continues until we have a winner.

* Alice - 5
* Everyone else - 0

Final scores

* Russell - 24
* Alice - 23
* Tim - 21
* Liza - 20
* Asim - 18

Broadcast details

Date
Wednesday 23rd May 2018
Time
9pm
Channel
Dave
Length
60 minutes

Repeats

Show past repeats

Date Time Channel
Sunday 27th May 2018 10:00pm Dave
Monday 28th May 2018 8:00pm Dave
Tuesday 29th May 2018 11:00pm Dave
Monday 7th January 2019 10:00pm Dave
Thursday 8th August 2019 7:00pm Dave
Friday 9th August 2019 12:00am Dave
Thursday 19th March 2020 6:00pm Dave
Friday 20th March 2020 12:00am Dave
Thursday 21st May 2020 6:00pm Dave
Thursday 21st May 2020 10:40pm Dave
Monday 31st August 2020 11:00pm Dave
Saturday 19th September 2020 5:00pm Dave
Monday 23rd November 2020 11:20pm Dave
Wednesday 9th December 2020 7:30pm E4
Thursday 10th December 2020 1:10am E4
Tuesday 20th April 2021 1:25am E4
Wednesday 21st April 2021 6:00pm Dave
Monday 16th August 2021 11:00pm Dave
Tuesday 22nd February 2022 6:00pm Dave
Monday 6th June 2022 6:00pm Dave
Tuesday 23rd August 2022 6:00pm Dave
Thursday 5th January 2023 11:00pm Dave
Tuesday 24th January 2023 6:00pm Dave
Tuesday 11th April 2023 6:00pm Dave
Friday 22nd March 2024 11:05pm Dave

Cast & crew

Cast
Greg Davies Host / Presenter
Alex Horne Host / Presenter
Alice Levine Self
Asim Chaudhry Self
Liza Tarbuck Self
Russell Howard Self
Tim Vine 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
Dan Trelfer Edit Producer
Thomas Perrett Editor
Joe Haughey Editor
James Dillon Production Designer
Sam Montague Director of Photography
Martin Kempton Lighting Designer
Dru Masters Composer
Tom Howe Composer

Videos

Tim Vine gets his kit off

In this clip from Taskmaster series 6 episode 4, Tim Vine flaunts his body from the side of the road whilst in a box. Why? Well why not. You'll have to tune in to find out...

Featuring: Greg Davies, Alex Horne & Tim Vine.

Remove £5 note without touching the glass

In this clip from Taskmaster, the contestants have to remove a five pound note from under a pint glass without touching the glass. And Alice Levine gets in to trouble with Alex Horne.

Featuring: Greg Davies, Alex Horne, Alice Levine, Asim Chaudhry, Liza Tarbuck, Russell Howard & Tim Vine.

Outtake: Bill & Kate, Pate

Alex Horne gets ridiculed for trying to rhyme Bill & Kate with pâté in cockney rhyming slang.

Featuring: Greg Davies, Alex Horne, Liza Tarbuck, Russell Howard & Tim Vine.

Outtake: Alex Horne Hopping Dance

Before the show starts, Greg Davies makes Alex Horne do a hopping dance whilst he sings. There's a surprise at the end for Alex...

Featuring: Greg Davies & Alex Horne.

Press

Taskmaster, which started as a comedy routine at the Edinburgh Fringe, has become the most popular show in Dave's admittedly short and unspectacular history -- such a success that another three series have been commissioned. That's good news for anyone who can't get enough of stand-ups and comic actors creating art with whipped cream or hurling dolls into trees.

It works because the five contestants, who this time include one-liner king Tim Vine and sitcom stalwart Liza Tarbuck, happily submit to the show's sadistic style. Watching them make fools of themselves is quite entertaining: seeing presenter Greg Davies mock and sneer at their efforts can be shamefully funny.

Creator of the concept, and butt of Greg's harshest jibes, is Alex Horne, who also oversees all the tasks. He understands the importance of a rigid format, and each episode follows a precise rhythm. It's possible to gauge almost to the second when he will make a self-conscious quip, or a jangling piano will introduce a clip to introduce the next task.

Eventually the format will become stale, changes will be introduced, and the whole thing will fall apart. For now, we can wallow in telly that manages to be inane, spiteful and hilarious at the same time.

Christopher Stevens, Daily Mail, 24th May 2018

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