Taskmaster
CHANNEL 4, 9PM
Just like the UKTV channel Dave before them, Channel 4 have decided, wisely, to schedule two series of Taskmaster a year.
And why not? As long as Alex Horne’s peculiarly brilliant imagination keeps churning out inventive challenges, Greg Davies continues to hand out withering insults and a steady stream of game competitors line up to take both on the chin, they could screen this wonderful show all year round and no one would much mind.
Tonight’s 12th series matches up Alan Davies, Guz Khan, Morgana Robinson, Desiree Burch and Telegraph columnist Victoria Coren Mitchell. Each is given their moment to shine across a series of testing tasks, one of which features what Davies dubs “the worst attempt we’ve ever seen at any task”.
Given the series’s history, it’s quite the big claim. From nice things to sit on, to painting a portrait of Davies with the canvas either six inches or six feet away, to bursting a balloon with forks, pebbles or rubber ducks, the fun is absolutely infectious. Who will win, who will flop and who will “do a Mike Wozniak” and become the nation’s unusual obsession over the next 10 weeks?