David Mitchell (I)

Outsiders: Mitchell's desperate bid to outdo Taskmaster

From wielding axes to rescuing parachutists, David Mitchell's new show gives comics wacky missions to complete. It's great fun - but it would be far better if a certain other series didn't exist.

David Mitchell interview

Mitchell hosts a new series for Dave that sees comedians take on fun challenges - but tells RadioTimes.com why he's no Taskmaster.

TV review: Outsiders, Dave

I don't know whether C4 will poach this like they did with the Greg Davies/Alex Horne show, but if there is a badge for making comics go way beyond their comfort zone in the name of entertainment Outsiders definitely deserves one.

Outsiders review

There are strong Taskmaster vibes to Outsiders, with contestants challenged to take on various trials by an unyielding authority figure who rates their variously awful, but occasionally brilliant, attempts.

David Mitchell interview

'Outsiders is apposite now with the pandemic and climate change'.

Greg Davies leads a dark and curious comedy

The Cleaner (BBC One) is a strange creation, and - while intriguing - it may turn out to be an acquired taste.

The Cleaner review

Greg Davies is brilliantly funny in intriguing crime scene sitcom.

The Cleaner review

The series isn't quite dark or comic enough to go down as an unqualified success.

David Mitchell, columnist of this parish, has a new Radio 4 series, Mitchell On Meetings. Mitchell doesn't like them. Mitchell, whose witty, slightly embittered articulacy makes him the ideal Radio 4 personality, has avoided meetings for years. But during this programme, the first of three, he realises that the comedy panel shows that make up much of his professional life are, in fact, quite like meetings: "There are the ones where no one's listening, and people have gone in with 10 things they want to say, and there are the ones where it's actually a conversation..."

This was such a delicious show, so cleverly hosted that interesting information just slid down, medicine sugared by fun. As with the 606-ers, disappointment and irritation are Mitchell's default moods, but, God, he makes them hilarious. On learning that introverts think before they speak, whereas extroverts just start chatting: "Look, while I'm thinking, I'm making a noise, why can't introverts learn that?"