"[Chris Ramsey] was the only person not to leave that room hating you..." Greg Davies to Alex Horne in Series 13. That's the sign of a good task...
Taskmaster: UK Series 13
Year: 2022
Channel: Channel 4
Contestants:
Number of Episodes: 10
Notes:
Series 13 is the first series since Series 9 that had a live studio audience and the COVID guidelines removed.
It's a good series- there's several clever tasks, and the sniping between the contestants hit the right balance between enjoyable sniping without being too bitter or angry. But it's a combination of two contestants who were competent and three who were... not. But seeing Bridget Christie (a longtime friend of Greg Davies, who enjoyed tormenting her) freak out, or Ardal O'Hanlon (charming and constantly critquing the others), or Judi Love (terrible at tasks, but a brilliant bullshitter) do as little as possible in a task, is entertaining. But Chris Ramsey and Sophie Duker are great contestants, and it comes down to the final couple of tasks to determine the winner.
One thing to note- in retrospect, episode 9 is low-key heartbreaking. Spoilers below:
Portrait Decor:
Series 13 went with an theme of Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead), and the portrait has Greg Davies in full skull makeup...
"Display the shoe Alex is thinking of. All the other shoes must be out of sight at the end of the attempt. You may only ask yes or no questions and you must say/do your given phrase/action after every answer. Fewest questions wins." Four of the five contestants were visibly annoyed at Alex during this task, with hysterical results...
Worst task of the season:
"Stick your tongue out as far as it will go and keep it out until further notice. Every time Alex blows his whistle, you must lick the lemon, then the sherbet, then the ice lolly. Every time Alex honks his horn, you must hold your tongue in front of the fan for five seconds. The tongue that sticks out for the longest time wins." I. HATE. Disgusting. Tasks. Thank goodness these are few and far between...
Trivia:
* The location tasks were at the Chiltern Open Air Museum
* In series 12, the contestants proposed to Alex Horne. In series 13, the contestants were tasked to give Alex a Stag minute.
* Ardal O'Hanlon brings in a leather jacket for the prize task of episode 5. The winner of the episode wears the same jacket on the final episode.
Contestant Rankings:
- Mel Giedroyc (Season 4)
- Rhod Gilbert (Season 7)
- Ed Gamble (Season 9)
- James Acaster (Season 7)
- Mike Wozniak (Season 11)
- Rose Matefeo (Season 9)
- Sophie Duker (Season 13)
- Bob Mortimer (Season 5)
- Hugh Dennis (Season 4)
- Morgana Robinson (Season 12)
Season Ranking:
- Season 9
- Season 7
- Season 13
- Season 12
- Season 4
- Season 11
- Season 5
- Season 10
- Season 8
- Season 6
- Season 2
- Season 1
- Season 3
