Taskmaster (TV series)
Taskmaster | |
---|---|
Genre | |
Created by | Alex Horne |
Directed by | |
Presented by | Greg Davies Alex Horne |
Theme music composer | The Horne Section |
Composers | |
Country of origin | United Kingdom |
Original language | English |
No. of series | 18 (+ 7 specials) |
No. of episodes | 170 (inc. 8 specials) (list of episodes) |
Production | |
Executive producers |
|
Producer |
|
Production locations |
|
Editors |
|
Running time | 44–47 minutes |
Production company | Avalon Television |
Original release | |
Network | Dave |
Release | 28 July 2015 6 November 2019 | –
Network | Channel 4 |
Release | 15 October 2020 present | –
Related | |
Taskmaster | ||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
YouTube information | ||||||||||
Channels | Taskmaster | |||||||||
Years active | 2019–present | |||||||||
Genres | ||||||||||
Subscribers | 1.6 million[1] | |||||||||
Total views | 828.9 million | |||||||||
| ||||||||||
Last updated: 6 October 2024 |
Taskmaster is a British comedy panel game show created by comedian and musician Alex Horne and presented by both Horne and Greg Davies. In the programme, a group of five celebrities – mainly comedians – attempt to complete a series of challenges, with Horne acting as umpire in each challenge and Davies, the titular "Taskmaster", judging the work and awarding points based on contestants' performances. The concept for the programme was first created by Horne for the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2010; he later secured a deal with Dave to adapt it for television with the first episode premiering in 2015. After the ninth series in 2019, the programme was acquired by Channel 4.[2] The programme has completed seventeen series as well as three Champion of Champions specials and five New Year Treat one-offs by January 2025, and is set to continue for at least three more series until 2026.[3]
Taskmaster proved a success on British television, spawning international versions in Australia, Belgium, Croatia, Denmark, Finland, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Canada (Quebec), Sweden, Spain and the United States. A British spin-off series, Junior Taskmaster, premiered on Channel 4 on November 8, 2024,[4][5] Additionally, a tie-in board game, two books, and a VR game have been released. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Horne hosted #HomeTasking, a series of tasks for people to film in their own homes; for each task, a montage of attempts was posted on YouTube that featured Davies awarding points to his favourite entries.
History
[edit]Taskmaster was the brainchild of comedian Alex Horne, whose idea was inspired by The Crystal Maze, his work on Big Brother,[6] and his envy of his close friend Tim Key winning the Edinburgh Comedy Award in 2009.[7] The original concept of the programme took place over the course of two years. Starting in September 2009, Horne sent 20 comedians monthly tasks by email over the course of a year.[7][8] He then presented their efforts as part of a two-hour show at the 2010 Edinburgh Festival Fringe titled The Task Master,[9] which focused on demonstrating the differing attempts by the contestants before revealing who won based on their performances.
Mike Wozniak was announced as the winner of The Task Master.[7][10] Six participants in the original Edinburgh show have gone on to appear in a televised version of Taskmaster as of 2024: Key in series 1; Joe Wilkinson in series 2; Mark Watson in series 5; Wozniak in series 11; Lloyd Langford in series 2 of the Australian spinoff; and Al Pitcher as a guest contestant in series 2 of the Swedish spinoff. Other Edinburgh contestants included Tom Basden, Henning Wehn, Rick Edwards, Josie Long, Stuart Goldsmith, Mark Olver, Tim FitzHigham, Tom Wrigglesworth, Jarred Christmas, Lloyd Woolf, and James Dowdeswell.[11]
For the 2011 Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Horne conducted another stage show titled Taskmaster II at the Gilded Balloon with a similar format. This time there were ten contestants: nine comedians returning from the previous year, and critic Bruce Dessau. Josie Long was announced as the winner of Taskmaster II.[8][12][13]
Both stage shows proved a success with their audiences, leading Horne to recruit production company Avalon (who were also his agency at the time) to help produce an adaptation of his concept for television, before pitching his idea to several different broadcasters. Channel 4 reportedly paid for the production of a pilot episode, marking the first use of the house in Chiswick which would go on to become the Taskmaster House, but chose not to commission it at the time.[14]
British television channel Dave took interest in the idea and bought the rights to it, with comedian Greg Davies recruited to help present the programme alongside Horne. However, the channel's Deputy Director of Commissioning at the time, Hilary Rosen, was concerned with the structure of the show. Horne assured Rosen that the programme was not like a traditional panel show but "more like a sitcom", to account for the involvement of the same group of contestants who would appear across a series. Another problem with the format of Horne's concept was that shooting a traditional pilot became implausible;[8] however, the aspects of the show filmed before a studio audience were tested in a pilot.[15]
A series of six hour-long episodes was commissioned by Dave in September 2014 with Davies and Horne attached,[16] initially with the episodes intended to be shown in any order. Rosen later determined the show should be arranged in an order, pointing out that "this was a show you record and transmit in the same order".[8] In February 2015, the first cast of five contestants for the first series was announced, and the studio-based segments of the programme — where footage of the contestants' attempts at completing tasks at the Taskmaster House was screened, and prize tasks and live tasks were conducted, in front of a studio audience — were filmed at the Clapham Grand.[17] The involvement of veteran comedian Frank Skinner, who agreed to join after meeting Horne for lunch,[18] helped to entice the other contestants to take part in the programme.[8]
The first series, which started airing in July 2015, proved a success, leading to additional series being commissioned on Dave over the course of five years.[19][20] The filming location for the studio-based segments of the show was changed to Fountain Studios for series two,[21][22] and again to Pinewood Studios from series five onwards,[23] using a studio set resembling the interior of the Clapham Grand theatre that was used for the first series.
In November 2019, rumours arose that Taskmaster was being moved to another channel; Channel 4 had secured the rights to the programme, renewing it for six series over the course of three years.[24] In March 2023, Channel 4 committed to six more series, airing two series of the programme annually up until at least 2026 (i.e. series 21).[25]
Channel 4 also announced a spin-off called Junior Taskmaster with contestants aged between 9 and 11, consisting of eight episodes[25][4] with 9th series contestant Rose Matafeo as the Taskmaster and 11th series contestant Mike Wozniak as her assistant.[26] Junior Taskmaster follows similar children-oriented spin-off programmes on Channel 4 such as Junior Bake Off and Teen First Dates.[25] Another spin-off of Taskmaster, titled Foodmaster, is centred around food. Former contestant Ed Gamble hosted a non-broadcast pilot in July 2023.[27]
Format
[edit]Taskmaster is a comedic game show, in which a group of five contestants – mainly comedians, but sometimes including other well-known television personalities – compete against each other by completing tasks assigned to them. In each episode, contestants are shown tackling a series of tasks, supervised and sometimes assisted by Horne. Davies then judges each contestant's performance in each task to determine how many points they receive, generally ranking them from one to five points. The contestant with the highest score in each episode wins a collection of prizes submitted by the contestants themselves as one of the tasks; the one with the highest cumulative score at the end of a series wins a trophy. In the main series, the trophy is a golden bust of Davies. Series winners also qualify for future "Champion of Champions" episodes, where the trophy is the golden statue of the rest of Davies' body. A series of "New Year's Treat" episodes featuring celebrities other than comedians has as its trophy a golden statue of Davies' eyebrows.
Tasks are typically given to the contestants by Horne in his role as the Taskmaster's assistant, who hands them a tri-folded page sealed with red wax and the "TM" branding. The contestants must read the task out loud. Tasks given to contestants range from simple physical challenges, such as "eat as much watermelon as you can in one minute", to more complex or artistic tasks, such as "make a stop-motion video featuring a potato". Some tasks may consist of multiple stages or mini-tasks. In some cases, contestants conduct tasks as a team with one or two other contestants; in such cases all members of a team receive the same score. To complete tasks, contestants often have to apply a level of logic, creativity, or lateral thinking in order to achieve the end goal. Contestants can be disqualified and awarded no points for a task if they fail to achieve the task's objective, inadvertently break one of the task's rules, or cheat. Conversely, they can be given bonus points, either at Davies's discretion or based on criteria described in a task's instructions. Occasionally, prank tasks are given to one contestant alone, who is led to believe the others are performing the same task; Davies may award bonus points for these.
Tasks are mostly pre-recorded before an episode's broadcast; the majority are usually conducted in or around the Taskmaster house, a former groundskeepers' cottage located on the outskirts of a golf course in Dukes Meadows, Chiswick.[28][29] Other pre-recorded tasks are filmed at a specific location that changes each series, with previous locations including Buckinghamshire Railway Centre, Chesham United's stadium, Gatwick Airport's South Terminal and Frogmore Paper Mill. Two tasks are usually conducted during studio segments: an introductory Prize task, in which each contestant supplies an object they possess that conforms to a set theme, all of which will be awarded to the winner of the episode; and a final "Live" task, which the contestants perform onstage in the studio. In the event of a tie in the top score at the end of the episode, either a pre-recorded tiebreaker task between the tied contestants is shown, or a quick live task is performed to determine the winner. Beginning with Series 8, each series is assigned with a theme[citation needed] that influences the design of the house, most notably the portrait of Greg Davies in the living room, as well as the music during transitions between tasks. Themes for each series include Japanese, western, art deco, Victorian, and steampunk.
Production
[edit]Most tasks are recorded with each contestant separately in a house in Chiswick, London.[30] However, Alex Horne's initial plan was to carry out the tasks in the comedians' houses, saying in an interview: "I didn't realise how impractical that would be both in terms of cost – and their lives."[8] Filming tasks takes roughly one day per contestant per episode, filming around eight tasks a day, with the days of filming spread out across several months. Before the studio filming, at Pinewood Studios, contestants are forbidden to discuss their tasks and are not shown any footage from the tasks, so that studio reactions are genuine.[30]
Horne designs the tasks to avoid the need for any specialist equipment, so that "people at home [are] able to do the same things".[30] Initially, they planned to have Horne show the right way to complete the task after showing the contestants' attempts, but this was abandoned as "it supposed there was a right way".[15] He also notes that some tasks in the first series involved the general public, but later series avoided this in order to prevent coming across as a "prank show". Some tasks are vetoed by producers for pragmatic reasons, such as "paint the biggest thing red".[30] Others do not turn out as expected, such as "burst all these bubbles [on a massive roll of bubble wrap] – fastest wins", which had been attempted in three different series but not shown in any of them, as "it always ends with people jumping on it for hours".[7]
When asked why he did not present the show, Horne has said that "that was never the plan [...] My role as sidekick is to be sneaky and you can run it from the sides in a really funny way."[8] Horne and Greg Davies had never worked together before Taskmaster;[15] Davies was chosen "because of his authority", Horne says in an interview. He adds that in the pilot, Davies acted as a "dictator figure cross with everyone", but his tone in the show is more relaxed, as "if someone doesn't do something well we really enjoy it so he can be himself".[31]
The series director for Taskmaster is Andy Devonshire, who was previously series director on The Apprentice and the BBC versions of The Great British Bake Off. Peter Orton was director for three episodes in 2016.[32] Production designer James Dillon is responsible for the studio and filming locations as well as the caravan featured from series four onwards,[20] having been past known for designing the original set for The Crystal Maze.[33] Taskmaster's theme music was written and performed by The Horne Section, a jazz band led by Horne.[34]
Cast
[edit]In the studio, other than while attempting the live task, the contestants sit on a row of chairs in alphabetical order of forename from left to right.
Key
- * Series champion
- NYT = New Year Treat
- CoC = Champion of Champions
Episodes
[edit]Series | Episodes | Originally aired | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
First aired | Last aired | Network | |||
1 | 6 | 28 July 2015 | 1 September 2015 | Dave | |
2 | 5 | 21 June 2016 | 19 July 2016 | ||
3 | 5 | 4 October 2016 | 1 November 2016 | ||
4 | 8 | 25 April 2017 | 13 June 2017 | ||
5 | 8 | 13 September 2017 | 1 November 2017 | ||
CoC | 2 | 13 December 2017 | 20 December 2017 | ||
6 | 10 | 2 May 2018 | 4 July 2018 | ||
7 | 10 | 5 September 2018 | 7 November 2018 | ||
8 | 10 | 8 May 2019 | 10 July 2019 | ||
9 | 10 | 4 September 2019 | 6 November 2019 | ||
10 | 10 | 15 October 2020 | 17 December 2020 | Channel 4 | |
NYT | 1 | 1 January 2021 | |||
11 | 10 | 18 March 2021 | 20 May 2021 | ||
12 | 10 | 23 September 2021 | 25 November 2021 | ||
NYT II | 1 | 1 January 2022 | |||
13 | 10 | 14 April 2022 | 16 June 2022 | ||
CoC II | 1 | 23 June 2022 | |||
14 | 10 | 29 September 2022 | 1 December 2022 | ||
NYT III | 1 | 1 January 2023 | |||
15 | 10 | 30 March 2023 | 1 June 2023 | ||
16 | 10 | 21 September 2023 | 23 November 2023 | ||
NYT IV | 1 | 2 January 2024 | |||
CoC III | 1 | 14 January 2024 | |||
17 | 10 | 28 March 2024 | 30 May 2024 | ||
18 | 10 | 12 September 2024 | 14 November 2024 | ||
NYT V | 1 | January 2025 |
Franchise
[edit]International broadcast
[edit]The British show is also broadcast in Belgium, Sweden, South Africa, Norway, Finland, Australia, Denmark, New Zealand, Croatia[36] and Portugal.[37] In Australia, SBS Viceland started to air Taskmaster episodes on 27 July 2020.[38] The most recently broadcast series is available on SBS on Demand.
In the United States, The CW acquired series 8 and 9 of Taskmaster for a late-Summer run premiering on 2 August 2020. However, the series opened to extremely low viewership (in comparison to the Canadian import, Fridge Wars, which premiered the same day), and was consequently pulled from the network's schedule on 5 August. The CW added the entirety of Series 8 to its "CW Seed" streaming library on 10 August.[39][40][41][42][43]
A subscription streaming service, Taskmaster SuperMax+, debuted in March 2022. It allows worldwide access to the British version of Taskmaster, free from ads. It followed the show's cult popularity in America, despite little streaming availability; a U.S. version of Taskmaster and broadcast of the British version on The CW were not successful.[44] Horne stated that adding international versions to the service may occur at a later date.[45]
Starting from series 16, new episodes are available on YouTube worldwide one day after their broadcast in the UK.[46]
International versions
[edit]International versions of the programme have been made in Belgium (as Het Grootste Licht) (literally "The Greatest Light", but meaning "The Brightest Bulb"),[47] Sweden (as Bäst i test) ("Best in Test"),[48] Norway (as Kongen befaler) (literally "The King Commands", Norwegian for Simon Says)[49][50] and Spain (as Dicho y hecho) ("Said and Done").[51] In Denmark the programme is titled Stormester ("Grandmaster") and premiered on 25 August 2018.[52] In April 2017, a US version with Reggie Watts as the Taskmaster and Horne as the assistant was announced, made by Avalon, the same production company for the UK version and originally aired on Comedy Central on 27 April 2018.[50] A German version featuring Atze Schröder as the Taskmaster was commissioned by RTL in 2017; two episodes were recorded but not broadcast.[53][54]
In 2019 it was announced a New Zealand version would be produced, hosted by Jeremy Wells and Paul Williams. Five series have been broadcast in 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024.[55][56][57] Finnish network MTV3 aired a local version Suurmestari [Grandmaster] starting on 12 April 2020.[58] An international adaptation, Direktor svemira [Director of the Universe], by Croatian broadcaster RTL, began to air on 24 November 2021.[59][60] Portugal's RTP1 announced in 2021 that a Portuguese version would start broadcasting in early 2022, hosted by Vasco Palmeirim and Nuno Markl.[61] Network 10's Australian version debuted in February 2023, hosted by Tom Gleeson and Tom Cashman.[62]
Related media
[edit]Books
[edit]A tie-in book, Taskmaster — 200 Extraordinary Tasks for Ordinary People, was written by Alex Horne and published by Penguin Random House on 6 September 2018.[65]
Task 185 in the book provided the latitude and longitude of a Buckinghamshire park, with instructions to meet there at midday on 14 September 2019 for a picnic and Taskmaster tour. The event was attended by around 1,800 people, with Horne himself present to show attendees filming locations from the show.[66]
In September 2019, a paperback edition was published, with 20 new tasks.[67] As well as writing additional tasks, Horne removed the expiration date of 31 December 2019 where it appeared, and replaced tasks that had a set completion date.
In September 2021, a new book titled Bring Me The Head of the Taskmaster — 101 Next-level Tasks (and Clues) that Will Lead One Ordinary Person to Some Extraordinary Taskmaster Treasure was released. It offered readers the chance to win a real-world Taskmaster prize.[68]
Board game
[edit]The board game Taskmaster was released in autumn 2019, initially selling out. It contains 200 task cards, along with secret tasks that individual players must perform, and video tasks featuring Alex Horne.[69]
Video game
[edit]On 29 November 2023, Taskmaster VR was announced. Taskmaster VR, the first project of game studio Scallywag Arcade, released on Meta and Steam on 19 June 2024.[70]
#HomeTasking
[edit]From March to June 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic and a period of lockdown in the UK, Alex Horne organised a series of tasks in the style of Taskmaster for the public to perform and record in their own homes. Entries were submitted on Twitter and compilation videos, including scoring of the ten best entries by Greg Davies, were published by the Taskmaster YouTube channel. The first task was "Throw a piece of A4 paper into a bin. Most spectacular throw wins." There were 20 tasks in total.[71][72][73][74]
A new series of Hometasking, started during another lockdown in the UK, began on 14 January 2021, featuring tasks previously performed on the TV show.[75]
Podcasts
[edit]On 15 October 2020, an official podcast began. It is hosted by Ed Gamble, the winner of Series 9, who comments on each featured episode with a special guest. Initially it focused on Series 10, with each podcast released immediately after each Taskmaster episode was broadcast.[76] Episode 12 of the podcast focused on the 2021 "New Year Treat", and then from episode 13 onwards it returned to the very beginning starting with Taskmaster Series 1 Episode 1, returned to "real-time" episodes during the broadcast run of series 11, 12 and NYT 2022 before returning to the older series after the newer series concluded.
A second official podcast, called Taskmaster: The People's Podcast, was launched in April 2022. It was initially hosted by Series 8 champion Lou Sanders and comedy writer Jack Bernhardt. In September 2023 it was announced that series 15 contestant Jenny Eclair would be replacing Lou Sanders' role as host of the podcast. The hosts chat with Taskmaster fans as well as with cast and crew members.[77]
Reception
[edit]Critical reception
[edit]Andrew Billen of The Times gave a five-star review of the show's first episode, "Melon Buffet", calling it "funny, revealing, and glorious" and comparing it to The Generation Game.[78] In another review of the first episode, Filipa Jodelka of The Guardian described Taskmaster as a panel show with an "edgy parlour-game twist". Jodelka praised the "molten-hot banter" between contestants and Davies, and compared the arbitrary awarding of points to QI and Numberwang.[79] Also reviewing "Melon Buffet", Ellen Jones of The Independent praised the show as entertaining despite its "informal and cheap-looking" style.[80]
Wesley Mead of Den of Geek wrote a positive review in 2016, praising the show as the "crowning jewel" of original programming on Dave, and approving of the design of the tasks and the range of approaches that contestants demonstrate. Mead believed that the second series was an improvement on the first, but criticised that the first three series had only one female contestant apiece.[81]
Awards and nominations
[edit]Year | Award | Category | Recipients | Result | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2016 | British Comedy Guide Awards | Best TV Entertainment Show | — | Won | [82] |
2017 | British Academy Television Awards | Best Comedy and Comedy Entertainment Programme | Alex Horne, Andy Cartwright, Andy Devonshire | Nominated | [83] |
International Emmy Award | Non-Scripted Entertainment | Avalon Television, Dave | Nominated | [84] | |
RTS Programme Awards | Best Entertainment Programme | Avalon Television | Nominated | [85] | |
British Comedy Guide Awards | Best TV Entertainment Show | — | Won | [86] | |
2018 | British Academy Television Awards | Best Comedy and Comedy Entertainment Programme | Alex Horne, Andy Cartwright, Andy Devonshire | Nominated | [87] |
British Comedy Guide Awards | Best TV Entertainment Show | — | Won | [88] | |
2019 | British Comedy Guide Awards | Best TV Entertainment Show | — | Nominated | [89] |
2020 | British Academy Television Awards | Best Comedy and Comedy Entertainment Programme | Alex Horne, Andy Cartwright, Andy Devonshire, James Taylor | Won | [90] |
British Comedy Guide Awards | Best TV Entertainment Show | — | Won | [91] | |
2021 | British Comedy Guide Awards | Best TV Entertainment Show | — | Won | [92] |
Comedy of the Year | — | Won | |||
National Television Awards | The Sir Bruce Forsyth Entertainment Award | — | Nominated | [93] | |
2022 | British Comedy Guide Awards | Best TV Entertainment Show | — | Won | [94] |
National Comedy Awards | Best Comedy Entertainment Series | — | Won | [95] | |
Outstanding Female Comedy Entertainment Performance | Daisy May Cooper | Nominated | |||
Outstanding Male Comedy Entertainment Performance | Mike Wozniak | Nominated | |||
National Television Awards | The Sir Bruce Forsyth Entertainment Award | — | Nominated | [96] | |
2023 | British Academy Television Awards | Best Entertainment Craft Team | Andy Devonshire, James Dillon, Dru Masters, Rebecca Bowker | Nominated | [97] |
Best Comedy Entertainment Programme | Alex Horne, Andy Devonshire, Andy Cartwright, James Taylor | Nominated | |||
National Comedy Awards | Best Comedy Entertainment Series | — | Won | [98] | |
Outstanding Female Comedy Entertainment Performance | Fern Brady | Nominated | |||
Judi Love | Nominated | ||||
Sarah Millican | Nominated | ||||
Outstanding Male Comedy Entertainment Performance | Alex Horne | Nominated | |||
Greg Davies | Nominated | ||||
Munya Chawawa | Nominated | ||||
National Television Awards | Best TV Presenter | Greg Davies | Nominated | [99] | |
The Sir Bruce Forsyth Entertainment Award | — | Nominated | [99] |
Notes
[edit]- ^ Katy Wix was ill for filming the studio segments of Episodes 5 and 6, so Kerry Godliman and Katherine Ryan stood in for her respectively.
- ^ Jonnie Peacock was ill for filming of the studio segments, so Alan Davies stood in his place.
- ^ Kiell Smith-Bynoe, the runner-up of Series 15, replaced champion Mae Martin for both the tasks and studio segments of this special, as Martin was unavailable for filming.[35]
References
[edit]- ^ "Taskmaster YouTube Channel". Youtube.com. Google. Retrieved 6 October 2024.
- ^ Warner, Sam (22 November 2019). "Taskmaster is officially moving to Channel 4". Digital Spy. HEARST UK ENTERTAINMENT NETWORK. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
- ^ Goldbart, Max (15 March 2023). "Channel 4 Expands 'Taskmaster' Universe With Six-Season Renewal & Junior Version". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 24 November 2023.
- ^ a b "Taskmaster to return for six more series, plus new kids version". British Comedy Guide. 15 March 2023. Retrieved 15 March 2023.
- ^ "Junior Taskmaster start date confirmed as new spin-off comes to Channel 4 | Radio Times". www.radiotimes.com. Retrieved 26 October 2024.
- ^ "Alex Horne: Big Brother inspired Taskmaster". Digital Spy. 21 July 2015. Retrieved 26 September 2017.
- ^ a b c d Nelson, Alex (11 September 2017). "Taskmaster: how Alex Horne's Fringe show became a transatlantic comedy hit". i. Retrieved 13 September 2017.
- ^ a b c d e f g "Why Taskmaster was a hard sell..." Chortle. 9 November 2017. Retrieved 7 December 2017.
- ^ "5 things to know about Dave's original comedy show Taskmaster". BT.com. Retrieved 26 September 2017.
- ^ "Taskmaster I (Edinburgh Festival Fringe, 2010)" – via www.youtube.com.
- ^ "Alex Horne: The Taskmaster – Edinburgh Fringe 2010". British Comedy Guide. Retrieved 26 September 2017.
- ^ "Alex Horne: Taskmaster II". WhatsOnStage.com. Retrieved 26 September 2017.
- ^ Dessau, Bruce (14 October 2020). "What going on Taskmaster taught me about comedians". inews.co.uk.
- ^ Parkin, Simon (24 December 2022). "Alex Horne on the secret to his cult show Taskmaster: 'It must be offbeat but not wacky, off-kilter but not bonkers'". The Guardian.
- ^ a b c Beadle, Craig (10 December 2017). "10 things you probably didn't know about Taskmaster". British Comedy Guide. Retrieved 11 December 2017.
- ^ Guide, British Comedy (19 September 2014). "Alex Horne and Greg Davies star in new show Taskmaster". British Comedy Guide.
- ^ Guide, British Comedy (10 February 2015). "Line-up revealed for new Greg Davies show Taskmaster". British Comedy Guide.
- ^ Guide, British Comedy (10 December 2017). "10 things you probably didn't know about Taskmaster". British Comedy Guide.
- ^ "Taskmaster to return for two new series". British Comedy Guide. 24 September 2015. Retrieved 24 September 2015.
- ^ a b "Dave orders Taskmaster Series 4 and Series 5". British Comedy Guide. 3 October 2016. Retrieved 3 October 2016.
- ^ "Shows". Archived from the original on 8 February 2016.
- ^ Guide, British Comedy (16 April 2016). "Taskmaster Series 3 line-up revealed". British Comedy Guide.
- ^ Guide, British Comedy (13 June 2017). "Taskmaster Series 5 line-up confirmed". British Comedy Guide.
- ^ "Taskmaster snapped up by Channel 4". Channel 4. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
- ^ a b c Goldbart, Max (15 March 2023). "Channel 4 Expands 'Taskmaster' Universe With Six-Season Renewal & Junior Version". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 15 March 2023.
- ^ "Rose Matafeo and Mike Wozniak to host Junior Taskmaster". British Comedy Guide. 16 May 2023.
- ^ Richardson, Jay (11 July 2023). "Ed Gamble pilots culinary Taskmaster spin-off Foodmaster". British Comedy Guide. Retrieved 17 July 2023.
- ^ Taylor, Frances (2 May 2018). "9 questions you've always had about Taskmaster – answered". Radio Times. Retrieved 16 May 2020.
- ^ "Take a tour of the house used on comedy show Taskmaster". Rightmove. 30 March 2020. Retrieved 16 May 2020.
- ^ a b c d Mellor, Louisa (13 September 2017). "Taskmaster: Alex Horne on series 5, casting, remakes, the future". Den of Geek!.
- ^ "Alex Horne interview". British Comedy Guide. 24 April 2017. Retrieved 11 December 2017.
- ^ "Peter Orton". IMDb.
- ^ "5 things to know about Dave's original comedy show Taskmaster". BT Group. 25 April 2017. Retrieved 7 December 2017.
- ^ "Interview: Alex Horne". Great Central. 3 December 2016. Retrieved 20 January 2017.
- ^ "Mae Martin is out of Taskmaster's Champion of Champions". Chortle. 14 December 2023. Retrieved 4 January 2024.
- ^ "Direktor svemira".
- ^ "Episódios - Taskmaster - Entretenimento - RTP". 7 May 2023.
- ^ Beohm, John (7 July 2020). "I'm very very excited to have finally acquired this show! @Taskmaster starts July 27th on @SBSVICELAND and @SBSOnDemand ".
- ^ "There Can Only Be One "Taskmaster" – Stream Free Now on CW Seed". The Futon Critic. 10 August 2020.
- ^ Thorne, Will (5 August 2020). "'Taskmaster' Tossed From CW Schedule After Only One Episode". Variety. Retrieved 6 August 2020.
- ^ Petski, Denisel (6 August 2020). "British Game Show 'Taskmaster' Pulled By The CW After One Episode". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 6 August 2020.
- ^ "Taskmaster UK heads to America". Chortle. 17 June 2020. Retrieved 10 July 2020.
- ^ Thorne, Will (11 August 2020). "'Taskmaster' Moved to CW Seed Streaming Service". Variety. Retrieved 26 August 2020.
- ^ Heritage, Stuart (5 March 2022). "'We've no idea if it will work': Taskmaster launches own streaming service". The Guardian. Retrieved 5 March 2022.
- ^ Horne, Alex (4 March 2022). "And yes, the plan is that EVERYTHING will go there eventually – Taskmaster New Zealand, Sweden, Norway, Croatia etc etc. That's the plan. All in one place. But will also be on YouTube etc. It's for those who want an ad-free Taskmaster home". Twitter. Retrieved 5 March 2022.
- ^ "Taskmaster on Instagram: Hey North America, huge news in the group chat! (and lots of other places.)". Instagram. Retrieved 23 September 2023.
- ^ "Het Grootste Licht" (in Dutch). VTM. Retrieved 7 December 2017.
- ^ "Bäst i test" (in Swedish). Sveriges Television. Retrieved 7 December 2017.
- ^ "Kongen befaler". VG TV-guide (in Norwegian). Retrieved 25 November 2019.
- ^ a b "Comedy Central USA buys Taskmaster format". British Comedy Guide. 18 April 2017. Retrieved 20 April 2017.
- ^ Dicho y hecho – 13/04/18 – RTVE.es (in Spanish), 13 April 2018, retrieved 23 September 2020
- ^ "Stormester". tv.tv2.dk (in Danish). Retrieved 27 September 2018.
- ^ Pohlig, Marcel (25 May 2017). "Atze Schröder bekommt neue Comedyshow bei RTL". DWDL.de (in German). Retrieved 18 March 2019.
- ^ Schering, Sidney (30 May 2018). "Atze Schröders "Taskmaster" gelangt nicht auf die Schirme". Quotenmeter (in German). Retrieved 18 March 2019.
- ^ "TVNZ to produce local version of Taskmaster, Mean Mums and Golden Boy back for second season". Stuff. 27 September 2019. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
- ^ "Jeremy Wells gets a new job, named as Taskmaster New Zealand host". Stuff (company). 28 July 2020. Retrieved 20 September 2020.
- ^ Jack, Amberleigh (27 May 2023). "Taskmaster NZ's upcoming cast includes Dai Henwood and Melanie Bracewell". Stuff. Retrieved 7 September 2023.
- ^ "Suurmestari – MTV" (in Finnish). MTV. Retrieved 5 May 2020.
- ^ RTL.hr (12 November 2021). "Neobični zadaci, poznati gosti i puno smijeha uz Ivana Šarića i Luku Petrušića u novom showu 'Direktor svemira'!". Show (in Croatian). Retrieved 13 November 2021.
- ^ Show. "Direktor svemira". Show (in Croatian). Retrieved 13 November 2021.
- ^ SAPO. "Vem aí o primeiro programa de televisão de Nuno Markl e Vasco Palmeirim". MAGG (in Portuguese). Retrieved 22 December 2021.
- ^ Knox, David (3 February 2023). "Tom Gleeson debuts as 10's Taskmaster against MAFS". TVTonight.com.au. Retrieved 8 February 2023.
- ^ "Atle Antonsen tilbake til "Kongen befaler"". VG (in Norwegian). 17 March 2023. Retrieved 2 April 2023.
- ^ "Bård Ylvisåker tar over tronen i ny sesong av Kongen befaler". NRK (in Norwegian). 15 December 2022. Retrieved 15 December 2022.
- ^ "Alex Horne pens Taskmaster book". British Comedy Guide. 24 April 2018. Retrieved 28 October 2018.
- ^ "The Taskmaster Army". Chortle. 16 September 2019. Retrieved 4 October 2019.
- ^ 220 Extraordinary Tasks For Ordinary People. 5 September 2019. ASIN 1785943588.
- ^ "Taskmaster on Twitter: "Start your search for the silver Taskmaster trophy with the Bring me the Head of the Taskmaster book. To celebrate the book hitting shelves, we want to see your attempts at tasks from the book. Share using #TaskmasterTreasureHunt for a chance to appear on our YouTube channel"". Twitter. Retrieved 3 October 2021.
- ^ Goodacre, Kate (8 April 2020). "Taskmaster's board game lets you take part at home". Digital Spy. Retrieved 10 July 2020.
- ^ Harvey Randall (29 November 2023). "Comedy TV show Taskmaster is getting its own VR game, and I can't stop thinking about how Greg Davies looks like he should be a tank hero in Overwatch 2". PC Gamer. Retrieved 30 November 2023.
- ^ Mellor, Louisa (18 June 2020). "The Teleprompter Interview: Alex Horne 'I'd Describe Myself as Barney Rubble'". Den of Geek. Retrieved 10 July 2020.
- ^ Finnis, Alex (24 March 2020). "Taskmaster: Alex Horne is using Twitter to bring tasks to your home – here's how to enter the 'HomeTasking' challenges". iNews. Retrieved 10 July 2020.
- ^ Turner, Laura Jane (26 March 2020). "Taskmaster's latest announcement is bringing us new and uplifting content". Digital Spy. Retrieved 10 July 2020.
- ^ Horne, Alex (29 March 2020). "How to play Taskmaster at home". The Times. Retrieved 11 July 2020.
- ^ "#Hometasking Returns! – Task Number 1". Taskmaster. 14 January 2021. Retrieved 14 January 2021.
- ^ Craig, David (12 October 2020). "Official Taskmaster podcast to dissect the antics of series 10 on Channel 4". Radio Times. Retrieved 12 October 2020.
- ^ "Taskmaster Podcasts | Taskmaster". Archived from the original on 19 September 2022. Retrieved 19 September 2022.
- ^ Billen, Andrew (29 July 2015). "TV review: Taskmaster; Brits Behind Bars". The Times. Retrieved 8 January 2018.
- ^ Jodelka, Filipa (28 July 2015). "Taskmaster: 'Nato should be informed of its molten-hot banter'". The Guardian. Retrieved 8 January 2018.
- ^ Jones, Ellen E (28 July 2015). "Taskmaster, Dave – TV review: As informal and cheap-looking as an evening at your local pub". The Independent. Archived from the original on 26 May 2022. Retrieved 8 January 2018.
- ^ Mead, Wesley (25 April 2017). "Taskmaster: one of TV's funniest, most unexpected comedies". Den of Geek. Dennis Publishing. Retrieved 8 January 2018.
- ^ "The Comedy.co.uk Awards 2016". British Comedy Guide. Retrieved 29 January 2018.
- ^ "Comedy & Comedy Entertainment Programme – Charlie Brooker's 2016 Wipe". British Academy Film Awards. 11 April 2017. Archived from the original on 15 April 2017. Retrieved 7 December 2017.
- ^ "2017 International Emmy Awards Nominees". Archived from the original on 26 November 2017. Retrieved 7 December 2017.
- ^ "RTS Programme Awards 2017". Royal Television Society. 24 October 2016. Archived from the original on 16 April 2017. Retrieved 7 December 2017.
- ^ "The Comedy.co.uk Awards 2017". British Comedy Guide. 29 January 2018. Retrieved 29 January 2018.
- ^ "Nominations Announced for the Virgin TV British Academy Television Awards in 2018". British Academy Film Awards. 4 April 2018. Retrieved 3 July 2018.
- ^ "The Comedy.co.uk Awards 2018". British Comedy Guide. Retrieved 26 February 2022.
- ^ "The Comedy.co.uk Awards 2019". British Comedy Guide. Retrieved 26 February 2022.
- ^ "BAFTA TV 2020: Nominations for the Virgin Media British Academy Television Awards and British Academy TV Craft Awards". British Academy Film Awards. 3 June 2020. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
- ^ "The Comedy.co.uk Awards 2020". British Comedy Guide. Retrieved 26 February 2021.
- ^ "The Comedy.co.uk Awards 2021". British Comedy Guide. Retrieved 26 February 2021.
- ^ "NTAs 2021 winners: Full list of National Television Awards this year". Radio Times. Retrieved 26 April 2023.
- ^ Guide, British Comedy. "Comedy.co.uk Awards 2022 results". British Comedy Guide. Retrieved 26 April 2023.
- ^ "Winners unveiled at National Comedy Awards for Stand Up To Cancer | Channel 4". www.channel4.com. Retrieved 26 April 2023.
- ^ "National TV Awards 2022 shortlist nominations | vote". Digital Spy. 23 August 2022. Retrieved 26 April 2023.
- ^ "BAFTA Television 2023: The Nominations & Winners". www.bafta.org. 16 March 2023. Retrieved 26 April 2023.
- ^ "Voting opens on The National Comedy Awards 2023 for Stand Up To Cancer shortlist | Channel 4". www.channel4.com. Retrieved 26 April 2023.
- ^ a b "Vote | National Television Awards". www.nationaltvawards.com. Retrieved 25 May 2023.