Taskmaster is a British comedy panel game show originally created by British comedian Alex Horne during the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2010, and transferred to television on Dave in 2015. The TV series stars comedian and actor Greg Davies now in the titular role of the Taskmaster, issuing simple comedic and bizarre tasks to five regular contestants - usually comedians - with Horne acting as Davies' assistant and umpire during the challenges. The show's theme music was written and performed by The Horne Section, a jazz band and another project of Horne's.
On 24 September 2015, it was announced that the show had been recommissioned for a second and third series, and on 3 October 2016, for a fourth and fifth series. The fourth series debuted on Tuesday 25 April 2017, with the first episode being released early on demand on Wednesday 19 April. The show is also broadcast in Belgium, Sweden, Germany, the Netherlands, Finland, Australia and New Zealand. International versions of the programme have been made in Belgium and Sweden, and there is a forthcoming US version to be made with Reggie Watts as the Taskmaster, with Horne returning as the assistant.
Maps, Directions, and Place Reviews
Contestants
Each series of Taskmaster features a different set of contestants, who appear in every episode of the series they appear in. The names highlighted in bold are the winners of that particular series.
Series 1
- Frank Skinner
- Josh Widdicombe (cameo in series 2)
- Roisin Conaty
- Romesh Ranganathan
- Tim Key (cameo in series 4)
Series 2
- Doc Brown
- Joe Wilkinson
- Jon Richardson
- Katherine Ryan
- Richard Osman
Series 3
- Al Murray (cameo in series 4)
- Dave Gorman
- Paul Chowdhry
- Rob Beckett
- Sara Pascoe
Series 4
- Hugh Dennis
- Joe Lycett
- Lolly Adefope
- Mel Giedroyc
- Noel Fielding
Series 5
- Aisling Bea
- Bob Mortimer
- Mark Watson
- Nish Kumar
- Sally Phillips
The Mat Yoga Richardson Video
Format
The game consists of simple and bizarre challenges, set to the contestants by Davies in his role as the Taskmaster, with assistance provided by Horne. The bulk of the show consists of pre-filmed challenges, which are usually done individually and in isolation. The tasks are structured to encourage the players to think laterally and creatively to complete the task.
There are occasional team tasks. In the first series, these teams were grouped by age; Key and Skinner made up the 'elder' team, while Conaty, Ranganathan and Widdicombe made up the 'younger' team. In the second series, teams were split into Richardson and Osman (as Davies referred to them as 'Father and Son') and Ryan, Brown and Wilkinson. In the third series, teams were split into 'The Beards' - Gorman, Chowdhry and Murray, and 'The Sinister Aryan Twins' - Pascoe and Beckett. In the fourth series, teams split into 'Mel and Hugh' (a reference to the iconic duo, Mel and Sue) - Giedroyc and Dennis and the 'younger' team - Adefope, Fielding and Lycett (despite the anomaly of Fielding being much closer in age to Giedroyc and Dennis).
The show starts with the Prize Task, in which Davies sets a theme and each contestant donates a prize to offer up. Themes have included the contestant's most unusual item, their most treasured item, their trendiest item of clothing, their best seat - and are all later awarded to the winner of the show.
Three or four pre-filmed tasks follow the prize task. All the tasks are delivered in an envelope with a wax seal, which the player reads aloud, and the timer/task is then started. Examples tasks include "Completely empty this bathtub - fastest wins" and "Conceal this pineapple on your person - best concealment wins".
As the tasks are shown to the audience, the players get to justify their creative methods and argue to Davies - and among themselves - as to why they did best. After all the attempts at the task have been seen, judgement is passed by Davies as to who performed best and points are awarded accordingly.
The final challenge is performed live. In the event of a tie, a special tie-breaker task is performed by the contestants in the tie, which may either be pre-filmed or live.
At the end of the series, as well as the prizes from the prize category for that episode being awarded to the winner of the episode, a trophy is presented to the contestant who has scored the most points over the course of the entire series. As of the second series, the trophy takes the form of a bust of Greg.
Transmissions
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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