Taskmaster

Great comedians can make anything funny. Eric Morecambe bleeding a radiator or Les Dawson reading out AutoTrader would be hilarious by default, but could modern standups work that same magic when, say, eating an entire watermelon or emptying a bathtub? Dave's new panel show hinges precariously on that premise, with a quintet of comics - this week including Frank Skinner, Tim Key and Roisin Conaty - performing acts at the behest of titular taskmaster Greg Davies. In practice, a premise unlikely to tickle the titter glands of many.

Radio Times review

As a civilisation, we're starting to realise that asking questions about news or trivia from behind a desk isn't the best way to wring semi-improvised laughs out of moderately popular comedians. Far wiser to make them do something less restrictive, where the thing itself is funny before anyone starts. So we come to this fun new jolly, where titular Taskmaster Greg Davies - flanked by the show's creator Alex Horne - awards comics marks for eating as much watermelon as they can in a minute, emptying a bathtub without pulling the plug out, or painting a horse while riding a horse.

The comfortingly familiar guests are Frank Skinner, Josh Widdicombe, Roisin Conaty, Romesh Ranganathan and Tim Key. Skinner is a good weathervane, since he's been around far too long to bother laughing politely at unfunny jokes. Here, he laughs a lot.

Some fairly interesting facts about comedian Alex Horne

The star of Dave's new show Taskmaster is a neologist with a penchant for Powerpoint...

Taskmaster: as informal & cheap as evening down pub

Much like all of Dave's original programming, new comedy quiz show Taskmaster was as informal and cheap-looking as an evening at your local pub, but no less entertaining for that.

Taskmaster (TV review)

In a world where comedy on UK television is largely represented by generic panel shows, out of the wind comes something different and oh boy is it good.

Greg Davies, Alex Horne and Tim Key talk Taskmaster

'I can't believe I actually cared.' That was the verdict of Greg Davies after one of the challenges set in the new gameshow Taskmaster.

Alex Horne interview

Alex Horne spent a whole year setting silly tasks for his mates for an hour's worth of fun at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2010 and 2011. Now, he's bringing Taskmaster to TV with the help of Greg Davies and Dave.

Greg Davies talks about Taskmaster

I was lucky enough to catch up with Greg Davies at the official press launch of Taskmaster which tests the wiles, wit, wisdom and skills of five super competitive well known comedians.

Tim Key and Alex Horne: How we met

"We spent an afternoon seeing how much stuff we could fit down our trousers. I managed a toaster and quite a lot of cutlery."