In 2010, Comedian and musician Alex Horne created a panel game show for the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. The concept was simple- give a bunch of comedians several ridiculous tasks and award them points arbitrarily. Five years later, it was adapted for British Television.
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| Taskmaster- your 2026 Retrospective |
On the show, Horne plays the Taskmaster's beleagured assistant. The Taskmaster is fellow comedian Greg Davies, a 6'8 former schoolteacher. Each series (ten episodes now; fewer during the first few series) has five comedians.
The show follows a simple format- starting with a prize task (each contestant brings in an item to fit the category; the winner of that show wins all five prizes), then 3-4 tasks that were recorded at the Taskmaster house, and finally a live task in front of a studio audience. Greg awards each contestant 1-5 points for each task. Each show has a winner, and the total overall points leader wins the series and a golden bust of Davies.
It's a simple concept that works because the comedians are given room to be funny. The tasks go from the ridiculous ("Choose five ingredients and make the most beautfiul edible sculpture"- followed by the next task, "Eat your edible sculpture. Fastest time wins") to the creative ("Make a trailer for 'Taskmaster: The Movie'"). Rules are open to interpretation, as long as it's allowed by the Taskmaster himself.
The banter between everyone is fantastic. Davies enjoys tormenting Horne; Horne loves tricking the contestants. The comedians range from people who are obsessed with winning to old friends of the Taskmaster who enjoy humiliating him to people who only want to cause chaos.
The show is a hit, and hsa been duplicated in many other countries as well (strangely, the US version failed, mainly because they cut it down from an hour to 30 minutes. Given the show's popularity, I think a new version would take off).
This year, the retrospective will be on the UK normal series (ignoring the New Year's Treat and the Champion of Champions mini-series). There's 20 series so far, and highly recommended for anyone looking for a laugh. The shows are available on youtube. No spoilers in these retrospectives.
Let's start with the first series!
Taskmaster: UK Series 1
Channel: U&Dave
Contestants:
And right away some of the contestant archtypes are established- Skinner as the elder statesman who seems exasperated by the experience, Widdicombe as the contestant who is trying so hard to win, Conaty as the friend of Greg (in this series, Greg is needling her throughout the series; later on he'll be the target to them), Romesh as the contestant who shows annoyance/anger at these ridiulous tasks, and Tim Key as the man who bends the rules at every turn (Key is later hired on as a task consultant)
Number of Episodes: 6
Notes:
It's the first season, and they are still working out the kinks. The series prize is a karate trophy (no golden bust), Alex has a mounting bracket for his tablet, the banter between Greg and Alex is a little stilted- but the foundation of the show is established right away. The format is locked in from the start- the Taskmaster house, the prize and live task, even secret tasks for one particular contestant.
What makes or breaks the series are two things- the cleverness of the tasks, and the interaction between the contestants, Alex, and the Taskmaster. The tasks are basic ("paint a picture of a horse while riding a horse"; "throw a teabag into a mug from the furthest distance"), without the twists that come later in the show. But the banter- especially between the contestants- is brilliant. Romesh's growing anger throughout the series, Tim Key searching for every loophole, Josh's willingness to go the extra mile to win- the show clicks right away.
Strangely, Alex Horne is in the background and playing straight man, letting Davies and the contestants lead on the comedy. Later on, he'll step more into the spotlight...
Best task of the season:
"Get this boulder as far from this place as possible. You have one hour. Your time starts now." A completely absurd task to make a giant (styofoam) boulder from the garage
Worst task of the season:
"Hi-five a 55 year old. Fastest time wins." - Taking the comedians out in public (in this case, a mall) feels jarring. The show works better when it's inside it's own world- the stage, the taskmaster home, outisde places with no one around.
MVP Contestant:
Tim Key- the interactions between the cast is great, and they all bring something to the show. Key gets into the spirit of the show right away- very clever, very funny, bending (and sometimes breaking) the rules, and always interesting. There's a reason he was hired to be the task consultant.
Contestant Rankings:
- Tim Key (Season 1)
- Josh Widdicome (Season 1)
- Romesh Ranganathan (Season 1)
- Frank Skinner (Season 1)
- Roisin Conaty (Season 1)
Season Ranking:
- Season 1
