Taskmaster
- TV comedy
- Channel 4 / U&Dave
- 2015 - 2025
- 171 episodes (18 series)
TV format in which Greg Davies and Alex Horne set a group of comedians various outlandish challenges. Also features Romesh Ranganathan, Frank Skinner, Roisin Conaty, Josh Widdicombe, Tim Key and more.
- Returns on Sunday 29th December on C4 at 9pm with New Year Special
Streaming rank this week: 117
Episode menu
Series 5, Episode 1 - Dignity Intact
Prize task: Something that makes the most excellent noise.
* Mark Watson: An opera singer. - 5
* Sally Phillips: A "Mosquito" youth disperser. - 4
* Aisling Bea: An airhorn. - 3
* Bob Mortimer: A rubber cylinder with a metallic end that makes the noise of a blackbird. - 2
* Nish Kumar: A CD of a looped recording of Nish's own laugh. - 1
Task 1: Give Alex a special cuddle. Most special cuddle wins. You have 20 minutes. Your time starts now.
* Bob: Cuddling Alex in the boot of Bob's car, with a can of deodorant. - 5
* Sally: Cuddles him on the ground, while covering Alex with various foodstuffs. - 4
* Aisling: Dresses up as Sexy Cuddle-Bot 5000. - 3
* Nish: Cuddles Alex while covered in cushions. - 2
* Mark: Cuddles him outside, by a riverbank, while showing Alex a picture of Alex's wife and feeding him grapes and a Curly Wurly. - 2
Task 2: Get Alex onto dry land as elegantly as possible. Alex must remain dry. You have a maximum of 20 minutes. Alex will hoist the anchor in two minutes.
* Nish: 4:05 - 5
* Sally: 10:12 - 4
* Aisling: 8:22 - 3
* Bob: 12:37 - 2
* Mark: 17:45 - 1
Task 3: Get the basketball through the hoop. You may not touch the basketball with your hands. You may not wear gloves or anything reasonably be construed to be gloves. Fastest wins. Your time starts now.
* Bob - 5
* Mark - 4
* Aisling - 3
* Nish - 2
* Sally: Disqualified for using wellington boots as gloves. - 0
Prize task: Get one item of fruit into the fishbowl. You may not leave or move your chair. You may not throw your fruit. Fastest wins.
* Mark: 0:12 - 5
* Bob: 0:20 - 4
* Nish: 1:09 - 3
* Sally: 3:40 - 2
* Aisling: DNF - 1
Final scores
* Bob - 18
* Mark - 17
* Sally - 14
* Aisling and Nish - 13
Broadcast details
- Date
- Wednesday 13th September 2017
- Time
- 9pm
- Channel
- U&Dave
- Length
- 60 minutes
Cast & crew
| Greg Davies | Host / Presenter |
| Alex Horne | Host / Presenter |
| Aisling Bea | Self |
| Nish Kumar | Self |
| Bob Mortimer | Self |
| Sally Phillips | Self |
| Mark Watson | Self |
| Alex Horne | Writer |
| Tim Key | Task Consultant |
| Andy Devonshire | Series Director |
| Andy Cartwright | Series Producer |
| Richard Allen-Turner | Executive Producer |
| James Taylor | Executive Producer |
| Jon Thoday | Executive Producer |
| Hilary Rosen | Executive Producer |
| Rob Aslett | Executive Producer |
| Andy Devonshire | Executive Producer |
| Alex Horne | Executive Producer |
| Thomas Perrett | Editor |
| Mark Sangster | Editor |
| James Dillon | Production Designer |
| Sam Montague | Director of Photography |
| Martin Kempton | Lighting Designer |
| Dru Masters | Composer |
| Tom Howe | Composer |
Videos
Bob Mortimer's creepy cuddle with Alex Horne
In this clip we see Bob Mortimer give Alex a cuddle, which turns out to be a little on the creepy side.
Featuring: Greg Davies, Alex Horne & Bob Mortimer.
Get a basketball through the hoop without touching it
The contestants are tasked to get a basketball into a hoop without touching it with their hands or anything that can be reasonably construed as gloves.
Featuring: Greg Davies, Alex Horne, Aisling Bea, Nish Kumar, Bob Mortimer, Sally Phillips & Mark Watson.
Nish Kumar cuddles Alex Horne
Nish gives Alex a special cuddle using a sofa cushion.
Featuring: Greg Davies, Alex Horne & Nish Kumar.
Outtake: how Bob Mortimer fuels his car
Bob Mortimer discusses his diesel engine car, and the alternative fuel he uses to fill up with.
Featuring: Greg Davies, Alex Horne, Aisling Bea, Nish Kumar, Bob Mortimer, Sally Phillips & Mark Watson.
Press
The series that sees comedians undertaking wildly silly tasks on a competitive basis returns. This time around, the contestants are Aisling Bea, Bob Mortimer, Mark Watson, Nish Kumar and Sally Phillips, and highlights include Phillips revealing a hitherto unexpected link between shoving cake in your armpits and cuddling. Greg Davies hosts, expansively, with show creator Alex Horne acting as his hangdog foil. Verging on Radio 4 clever-clever at moments, but funny.
Jonathan Wright, The Guardian, 13th September 2017Alex Horne on series 5, casting, remakes, the future
Taskmaster returns for a fifth series tonight on Dave, featuring Bob Mortimer, Sally Phillips, Nish Kumar, Aisling Bea and Mark Watson...
Louisa Mellor, Den Of Geek, 13th September 2017Taskmaster: series 5, episode 1 - Dignity Intact review
The fifth series of Dave's hit comedy sees elegant boating, pear poking, and cake being placed under armpits.
Ian Wolf, On The Box, 13th September 2017