Review: why serious silliness is so ludicrously funny

There shouldn't be anything entertaining about a grumpy quiz enthusiast searching for a lost baby monitor in a caravan. More interesting things happen to every one of us daily. But the spectacle on Taskmaster (Dave channel) of a furious and frustrated Paul Sinha, better known as The Sinnerman from teatime general knowledge gameshow The Chase, was ludicrously funny.

Taskmaster Series 8, Episode 1 review

It's looking like it'll be one of the best [series] yet to warms the cockles of my heart, and I've no doubts at all that it'll make everyone who watches it laugh an enormous amount over the next couple of months.

Season eight of the reliably daft gameshow sees Sian Gibson, Iain Stirling, Joe Thomas, Lou Sanders and Paul Sinha in the thrall of the man-mountain king as they try to impress Greg Davies. Among the usual pettiness and point-scoring there is an ad hoc ventriloquism round that may scar the nation's psyche.

Alex Horne: 'I've been sent somebody's heart in a jar'

We chat to Taskmaster creator Alex Horne about the show's early hurdles, dedicated fans, the US remake and the power of jealousy...

Review - Taskmaster: Series 8, Episode 1 - Hello

While it is of course to early to tell who is the most dominant in this series so far, there are some things we can already gather. Chief among these is that the Sinnerman is not as smart as he looks.

Taskmaster review - a cheap, childish comedy miracle

A gang of comics play silly games, then squabble about them. This is totally pointless comfort TV - but that's precisely why it's become a hit.

Paul Sinha had "very strange" approach to Taskmaster

"As you imagine, he's intelligent. But that doesn't mean he's got any common sense."

Alex Horne names "the worst" Taskmaster contestant

"I think Roisin [Conaty], if I'm frank, has been the worst. But also one of my favourites."

Alex Horne: the CBB contestant he wants on Taskmaster

"Jack Dee is the person I mention in every interview, because I'm desperate for him to do it. I don't know if you saw, in the first Celebrity Big Brother, Jack Dee was in it, and tried to escape by digging a hole with a spoon."

Taskmaster in talks for a celebrity special

Taskmaster's Alex Horne has revealed that the show has been in talks for a celebrity special. (And by celebrity, we mean of the non-comedian kind.)