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. All told, there have been 148 episodes of the show so far.
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.
The person with the highest score wins the series and takes home a trophy modelled on the Taskmaster’s (Davies) head.
Here are 10 facts that even fans of the programme might not know.
5. Mel Giedroyc
Conversely, Mel Giedroyc holds the records for the lowest number of points ever scored in a single episode. She managed to get just three on the scoreboard in Series 4, Episode 3. Photo: Channel 4
6. Alex' favourite task
Alex Horne dreams up the majority of the task for the show, with a little help from the Taskmaster team including 'Task Consultant' and previous contestant Tim Key. His all time favourite was also one of the simplest - challenging contestants to "impress the mayor" in the second series. It lead to the memorable image of Joe Wilkinson buying the mayor 42 Calypos and eight cans of strong lager. Photo: Channel 4
7. The original 'Task Master' lasted two years
Alex Horne dreamed up Taskmaster as a show for the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, inspired by the Crystal Maze. He started emailing tasks at the start of 2009 to 20 comedians, including future series contestants Mark Watson, Tim Key, Joe Wilkinson and Mike Wozniak. The results were presented in a show called 'The Task Master' at the Fringe in August 2010. Photo: Channel 4
8. Favourite contestant
While Alex hasn't exactly revealed who his favourite contestant is, he has said he would "happily watch Bob Mortimer perform every task" he's come up with. Other's he's praised are Tim Key, Mel Giedroyc, Romesh Raganathan and Katherine Ryan. Photo: Channel 4