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 8, Episode 4 - The Barrel Dad

Taskmaster. Joe Thomas. Copyright: Avalon Television
The competitive nature of Taskmaster bubbles alarmingly to the surface as a simple team task involving a hammock exposes tensions between two of the five comics vying to win Greg Davies's monumental golden head.

Preview clips

Prize task: Best present for a doctor.

* Sian Gibson: A name badge with a star rating system. - 5
* Joe Thomas: A BMX. - 4
* Lou Sanders: A herb garden and a bottle of whisky. - 3
* Iain Stirling: A night-out party kit. - 1
* Paul Sinha: A fake beard and hat, to stop said doctor being bothered by the general public. - 1

Task 1: Get this loo roll through the toilet seat. You may not lower the toilet seat. Fastest wins. Your time starts now.

* Iain: 1:04 - 5
* Lou: 1:19 - 4
* Joe: 1:38 and a bonus point for being the only person to get the entire loo roll through the seat. - 4
* Sian: 5 minutes - 2
* Paul: 13 minutes - 1

Task 2: Make the best thing to engage a toddler. The toddler will have five minutes with your thing. Most engaged toddler wins. You have 30 minutes. Your time starts now.

* Sian: Creates an exercise video. - 5
* Paul: A replica of an ecosystem of rubber ducks being attacked by a toy thresher shark, all in a baking tray. - 5
* Joe: Made a toy called "Joe Dough". - 4
* Iain: Makes a puppet called "Clare". - 4
* Lou: Hangs a toy duck by the neck, like a piƱata, and the toddler is given a croquet mallet to whack it and release sweets. - 3

Task 3 (Team Task): Put the most weight in the hammock, without anything falling out of the hammock. If anything falls out of the hammock, you are disqualified. Most weight in the hammock after 10 minutes wins. Your time starts now.

* The Actors - 3
* The Comedians: Disqualified as a book fell out of the hammock. - 0

Live task: Choose a hoop you think you can throw a frying pan into. Choose a distance from which you can throw a frying pan into that hoop. If you choose the big hoop you have one attempt, if you choose the medium hoop you have two attempts, if you choose the small hoop you have three attempts. The person who throws most of their frying pan into their hoop from the longest distance wins.

* Lou - 5
* Paul - 4
* Iain, Joe and Sian: Fail to land in the hoop. - 0

Final score

* Joe, Lou and Sian - 15
* Paul - 11
* Iain - 10

Tie-break task: Whip a bottle off a barrel while standing behind a rope. Fastest wins.

* Sian: 9.4 seconds - Winner
* Joe: 50.3 seconds
* Lou: 52 seconds

Broadcast details

Date
Wednesday 29th May 2019
Time
9pm
Channel
Dave
Length
60 minutes

Repeats

Show past repeats

Date Time Channel
Sunday 2nd June 2019 11:00pm Dave
Tuesday 4th June 2019 10:00pm Dave
Saturday 20th July 2019 8:00pm Dave
Sunday 21st July 2019 1:00am Dave
Thursday 9th January 2020 10:00pm Dave
Thursday 18th June 2020 10:40pm Dave
Friday 19th June 2020 6:00pm Dave
Friday 11th September 2020 1:20am Dave
Wednesday 16th September 2020 7:00pm Dave
Saturday 3rd October 2020 5:00pm Dave
Monday 21st December 2020 11:20pm Dave
Wednesday 23rd December 2020 7:30pm E4
Thursday 24th December 2020 1:25am E4
Saturday 15th May 2021 2:20am E4
Tuesday 18th May 2021 6:00pm Dave
Monday 13th September 2021 11:00pm Dave
Tuesday 22nd March 2022 6:00pm Dave
Monday 4th July 2022 6:00pm Dave
Tuesday 5th July 2022 3:10am Dave
Wednesday 21st September 2022 6:00pm Dave
Thursday 2nd February 2023 11:00pm Dave
Tuesday 21st February 2023 6:00pm Dave
Tuesday 23rd May 2023 6:00pm Dave

Cast & crew

Cast
Greg Davies Host / Presenter
Alex Horne Host / Presenter
Iain Stirling Self
Joe Thomas Self
Lou Sanders Self
Paul Sinha Self
Sian Gibson 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
Vicky Winter Line Producer
Thomas Perrett Editor
Mark Sangster Editor
Rebecca Bowker (as Becky Bowker) Editor
James Dillon Production Designer
Kyz Kistell (as Kyz Kistel) Production Designer
Sam Montague Director of Photography
Christina Baker (as Chrissie Baker) Make-up Designer
Martin Kempton Lighting Designer
Dru Masters Composer
Tom Howe Composer

Videos

Get the loo roll through the toilet seat

Get some loo roll through a toilet seat - simple right? Well, let's see how Iain Stirling and Paul Sinha approach it.

Featuring: Greg Davies, Alex Horne, Iain Stirling, Joe Thomas, Lou Sanders, Paul Sinha & Sian Gibson.

Make the hammock as heavy as possible

A simple task to explain... but can the teams do well?

Featuring: Greg Davies, Alex Horne, Iain Stirling, Joe Thomas, Lou Sanders, Paul Sinha & Sian Gibson.

Outtake: Greg Davies leaves contestants speechless

Greg Davies' choice of discussion topic leaves all the contestants lost for words.

Featuring: Greg Davies, Alex Horne, Iain Stirling, Lou Sanders & Sian Gibson.

Press

Taskmaster: Series 8, Episode 4 review

Tonight's episode was a reminder that some of the best moments in Taskmaster come from the most unexpected places. Let's face it, before any of this, who thought you could get laughs by introducing a toddler to tray containing rubber ducks and a thresher shark, in order to teach it about the dangers faced by animals in their natural habitat?

Ian Wolf, On The Box, 29th May 2019

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