Presented by Greg Davies and Alex Horne (who also created the programme, originally as a show for the Edinburgh Festival Fringe), the first series of Taskmaster was broadcast in 2014 on comedy channel Dave, before expanding its audience after being poached by Channel 4 in 2020.
While there have only been 17 series proper, there have also been special one-off ‘Champion of Champion’ and ‘New Year Treat’ programmes, comprising one or two episodes.
The show sees (mainly) comedians take part in a range of challenges which are then marked by the hosts, usually (but not always) winning a maximum of five points per task.
Which of the more than 500 tasks set for contestants have been the best?
Here are 10 of the leading candidates.
1. Get this potato into the golf hole. You may not touch the red green.
It was back in the first episode of series two when the contestants were challenged to get a pototo into a golf hole without touching the edge of the red carpetted 'green'. Joe Wilkinson nonchalantly tossed it straight in first time, proclaiming back in the studio: “I’m really emotional. I think that’s the best thing I’ve ever done." A rewatch from various different angles, however, shows that Wilkinson had actually touched the red zone with his foot. Heartbreak and hilarity followed. Photo: Channel 4
2. Creepiest thing
When challenged to bring in the 'creepiest thing' for the prize task in series seven, Rhod Gilbert really went above and beyond to claim the five points. His entry was a video of Greg Davies asleep in bed, filmed by Gilbert himself, hidden inside the Taskmaster's wardrobe. Arguably the creepiest thing in the history of the show. Photo: Channel 4
3. Get a gift for the Taskmaster for £20
Few tasks show the levels of commitment to the game than the prize challenge in the third episode of series one. Asked to get the Taskmaster a present for £20, Josh Widdicombe got a genuine tattoo of Greg Davies' name on his ankle. The show literally scarred him for life. Photo: Channel 4
4. Write and perform a song about this woman
Episode eight of series five saw the five comedians split into two teams, challenged to write a song about a woman called Rosalind and then perform it at 'Taskonbury'. Bob Mortimer Aisling Bea and Sally Phillips delivered a sweary, aggressive and very funny ditty called 'Quite Good Considering'. It seemed destined to win by a mile until Nish Kumar and Mark Watson delivered a song as heartfelt as it is beautiful. The two very different approaches are representative of pretty much everything that's good about Taskmaster. Photo: Channel 4