Alex Horne’s competition comedy has been on TV for 10 years. If it wants to retain its magic, it needs to say goodbye
Taskmaster was once TV’s best kept secret. Having made the jump from the Edinburgh Fringe stage to the screen in 2015, it was hidden away on Dave’s Tuesday night schedule, watched by the half a million of us (sometimes fewer) who had heard it was the next big thing. Back then, Taskmaster was fresh and rebellious – just the right amount of weird. Even a move to Channel 4 in 2020 didn’t dull its shine. But now, 10 years on, all that magic seems to have vanished.
The 19th (19th!) series kicked off a fortnight ago to not much fanfare – or at least, much less trumpeting than previous years have warranted. You’d have thought that this being its 10th anniversary year, the producers would have pulled something special out of their hats. But no, it was business as usual: five funny people faced off in a series of tasks – ranging from the bizarre to the banal – while Greg Davies and Alex Horne (the mastermind of the format) engaged in scripted bickering.
I know what they say: if it ain’t broken, don’t fix it. And arguably, Taskmaster isn’t that broken: 900,000 watched this series’ opener and it was up for a second Bafta on Sunday (though it ultimately lost out to Would I Lie To You?). But – to use another well-worn phrase – familiarity breeds contempt. After 19 series, I am simply bored with Taskmaster.
The first problem is there are only so many comedians famous enough to carry it. Earlier series boasted impressive names, giants of British comedy – Bob Mortimer, Frank Skinner, Sally Phillips, Jo Brand. But it seems Alex Horne’s little black book of comedy contacts has run out of pages.
While this year’s contestants – Fatiha el-Ghorri, Jason Mantzoukas, Mathew Baynton, Rosie Ramsay and Stevie Martin – are all undeniably funny people, they lack the gravitas previous Taskmaster line-ups have flaunted.
Sure, the star of the show now is the format itself. But I’m afraid to say that even that is starting to feel tired. Tasks in the opening episode included pouring two jars of vinegar into a fish tank (which actually turned out to be a plastic toy tank with a fake fish glued to it), doing something funny and then recreating it backwards, and spitting raisins into a glass while shouting out your name. In last week’s episode, contestants attempted to hold a pint of water with a litter picker and wrap a safe in tinfoil. A decade ago, these would be novel, bananas ideas – now they just feel par for the course.
We – both us at home and indeed the contestants – know all too well that each task won’t be as straightforward as it first seems. That there will be a secret second part, that there is a twist on the way. It makes what was once a silly, unexpected series quite predictable and, as a result, rather trite. Even the tradition of the daft outfits the contestants wear for the tasks is old hat – I was thrilled by Phil Wang’s yellow jumpsuit in 2018, but Mathew Baynton’s 80s-style running get-up just made me roll my eyes.
It doesn’t help that Taskmaster is simply inescapable. When the normal series isn’t on television, there’s the Champion of Champions edition, in which past winners compete against one another. Every New Year’s Eve we’re “treated” to a special episode, largely populated by non-comedians, and as of last year there’s Junior Taskmaster (which even I must admit I enjoyed). Away from TV there’s a board game, two official companion podcasts, books, a virtual reality video game and a live experience in London. It’s suffocating.
I used to adore Taskmaster; I would waste whole days watching clips of the barmiest tasks. But after a decade, we’re at saturation point and other formats – Last One Laughing on Prime Video for example – are making it look old and knackered. How’s this for a task? Give it a rest.
‘Taskmaster’ is on Channel 4 every Thursday at 9pm
