Presented by Greg Davies and Alex Horne (who also created the programme, originally as a show for the Edinburgh Festival Fringe), the first series of Taskmaster was broadcast in 2014 on comedy channel Dave, before expanding its audience after being poached by Channel 4 in 2020.
While there have only been 15 series proper, there have also been special one-off ‘Champion of Champion’ and ‘New Year Treat’ programmes, comprising one or two episodes.
The show sees (mainly) comedians take part in a range of challenges which are then marked by the hosts, usually (but not always) winning a maximum of five points per task.
There have been a total of 148 episodes of the show, but which ones are the best? We took a look at how they rated according to reviews on online entertainment bible IMDb.
Here are the top 13 – each named after a quote from the show – which will be updated to include any qualifying episodes from series 16 when it’s finished.
5. Tony Three Pies
Yet another final episode is in fifth place - Tony Three Pies concluded series four on Tuesday, June 13, 2017. It saw Noel Fielding win out over Hugh Dennis, Joe Lycett, Lolly Adefope, and Mel Giedroyc. It also saw Giedroyc regret putting M&Ms on her shopping list. Photo: Channel 4
6. OLLIE
A second entry for series seven featuring James Acaster, Jessica Knappett, Rhod Gilbert, Phil Wang and Kerry Godliman, OLLIE was the fourth episode and was broadcast on Wednesday, September 26, 2018. It saw Knappett pile shoes on some butcher's scales and Gilbert smear mustard in his eyes. Photo: Channel 4
7. The Perfect Stuff
There's yet another episode from the sublime series seven in seventh place - The Perfect Stuff was also episode seven, broadcast on Wednesday, October 17, 2018. Once again the perfect cast of James Acaster, Jessica Knappett, Kerry Godliman, Phil Wang and Rhod Gilbert shone. Photo: Channel Four
8. Activate Jamali
The second episode from series 11 on this list was the season finale - which saw Sarah Kendall win the trophy after topping the table over Charlotte Ritchie, Jamali Maddix, Lee Mack, and Mike Wozniak.Activate Jamali was broadcast on Thursday, May 20, 2021, and saw the eventual winner stacking fish fingers. Photo: Channel 4