Greg Davies will reprise his role as the almighty Taskmaster as the Broadcast Award winning and Emmy, BAFTA, RTS, and Broadcasting Press Guild award nominated entertainment show returns to Dave for 10 brand new weekly episodes starting early May. The highly anticipated sixth series is set to test the wiles, wit and wisdom of a new host of hyper competitive comedians with an assortment of baffling and bizarre assignments. Greg’s faithful underling sidekick, Alex Horne, will accompany the Taskmaster equipped with spreadsheets and stopwatches, eager to facilitate his master’s every whim and adjudicate his loose point system to determine a new winner.
But who will the point-wielding despot grant scores to? The quintet of unwitting hopefuls vying to be crowned champion are TV and radio presenter Alice Levine (BBC Radio 1), actor and writer Asim Chaudhry (People Just Do Nothing, BBC Three), actress and presenter Liza Tarbuck (BBC Radio 2), record-breaking comedian Russell Howard (The Russell Howard Hour, Sky), and actor and award-winning comedian Tim Vine (Not Going Out, BBC One). Rivalry amongst the contenders is encouraged, dodgy tactics rewarded, and bribes accepted in the most hard-fought and ridiculous show on TV.
An additional three series are set to follow on Dave, with a four series commission marking Taskmaster’s growing success for UKTV, having been UKTV Play’s most popular programme last year reaching a total viewing consumption of 1.4 million along with two-part special, Taskmaster: Champion of Champions in December which reunited the victors from the previous five series; Katherine Ryan, Noel Fielding, Rob Beckett, Bob Mortimer, and ultimate winner Josh Widdicombe. The show is one of the top three original commissions on Dave having been crowned Best Entertainment Programme at this year’s Broadcast Awards (sharing the category with Strictly Come Dancing, I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here!, Love Island, The Voice UK, and All Round To Mrs. Brown’s), and received a 2017 BAFTA nomination for Best Comedy and Comedy Entertainment Programme, along with a 2017 International Emmy nomination for Best Non-Scripted Entertainment, as well as previous nominations for RTS, and Broadcasting Press Guild Award.
Alex Horne, creator and executive producer of Taskmaster, said: “With an incredible four series commission, I am most delighted about the fact that Greg and I will have the opportunity to both test and torment 20 more familiar faces with even more silly and infuriating tasks.”
An Avalon Television production, series six, seven, eight and nine of Taskmaster have been commissioned by Hilary Rosen, Deputy Director of Commissioning at UKTV. Executive Producers for the series are Alex Horne, Richard Allen-Turner, Rob Aslett, James Taylor, Jon Thoday, and Andy Devonshire (The Apprentice and The Great British Bake Off), who also acts as series director, and Hilary Rosen for UKTV. Andy Cartwright is series producer.
WHAT THE PRESS HAS SAID ABOUT TASKMASTER
Funny, revealing, and glorious…Caitlin Moran once wrote that the comedy panel game is one of the glories of British TV. A new one shone bright last night
★★★★★ Andrew Billen, The Times
TV’s most laugh out loud panel game… It’s the interplay between Greg Davies and sidekick Alex Horne that is the comedic guts of the show
★★★★ TV Times
Greg Davies returns with the comedy game show that offers uncomplicated enjoyment of the kind you only get from seeing a top comedian try to roll three big inflatable balls up a hill in a strong breeze
David Butcher, Radio Times
Taskmaster is one of the most consistently innovative and funny series on telly
Joe Clay, The Times, T2
The kind of Dave thing that shouldn’t quite work but is actually wildly stupid fun. Mainly thanks to Alex Horne, late of so much splendid radio, and Greg Davies…a winner
Euan Ferguson, The Observer
The keynote themes are ludicrous absurdity and moderately cruel sadism. Somehow, however, it all works brilliantly, with the presence of Horne adding the barest modicum of civility to proceedings…prepare for tears of laughter
Mail on Sunday, Event Magazine
It remains one of the funniest shows on the box
Sara Wallis, The Daily Mirror
The show routinely delivers the funniest, most unexpected comedy of the TV week…The cleverest spin on the panel show format in years, it’s must-watch TV
Wesley Mead, Den of Geek
This delightfully daft game show was a big hit for Dave last year, and it makes a triumphant return this week
Inside TV
This seems to be a series that really brings families together
Bruce Dessau, Beyond the Joke
Splendidly silly
Sunday Times, Culture
Clever
David Stephenson, Sunday Express, S Magazine
Brilliantly funny show
The Sun TV Magazine
Hilarious
Emma Messenger, TV Choice
★★★★ EVENT, Mail On Sunday
★★★★ TV & Satellite Week
★★★★ TV Times Magazine
ENDS
For press requests please contact: Florrie Sheehan or Gem Pinkney:
FSheehan@avalon-entertainment.com – 0207 598 7222 / Gem.Pinkney@uktv.co.uk – 07714 957 273
NOTES TO EDITORS:
About Avalon
Avalon is a multi-award winning talent management, live promotion and television production group with offices in the UK and the USA.
Avalon and ARG, the talent management arm has discovered and represents many artists which are household names, both in the UK, the USA, and around the world.
In 2017 Avalon was named the number one true independent television production company in the UK and has produced numerous ground-breaking television shows including: Emmy and Peabody award winner Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO), multi-award winning and Emmy-nominated Catastrophe (Channel 4/Amazon Prime), RTS and Rose d’Or winning Not Going Out (the BBC’s longest running sitcom currently on air), BAFTA and RTS-nominated Taskmaster (DAVE/UKTV), multi-BAFTA award winning TV Burp (ITV1), Russell Howard’s Good News (BBC2), Fantasy Football League (BBC/ITV) and Workaholics (Comedy Central USA).
Avalon and Topical Television form the television arm of the company and other shows currently in production include: Taskmaster USA (Comedy Central), Man Down (C4), Dave Gorman’s Modern Life is Goodish (Dave/UKTV), The Chris Ramsey Show (Comedy Central), and Stand Up Central with Chris Ramsey (Comedy Central); whilst the catalogue is sold worldwide by Avalon Distribution.
Avalon produced Newman and Baddiel: Live at Wembley, the UK’s first arena comedy show; Jerry Springer: The Opera, the first West End show to win all four UK ‘Best New Musical’ awards; and has continued to produce live shows globally, as well as promoting more winners and nominees of the prestigious Edinburgh Comedy Award than any other company.
For Avalon news visit: www.avalon-entertainment.com or @avalonent.
About Dave
@davechannel
Sky 111/246, Virgin 127/194, Freesat 157 Freeview, BT & TalkTalk 12/79
On demand on Sky, Virgin and UKTV Play
Since bursting onto TV sets in 2007, Dave has been putting in hours at the gym and is now a beefed-up powerhouse of brand new and original commissions from some of the biggest stars and production companies in entertainment. Romesh Ranganthan, Jon Richardson and YouTube sensation Yianni Charalambous are just some of the latest additions to the channel’s ever-increasing slate.
Whether it’s innovative comedy entertainment like the BAFTA and Emmy-nominated Taskmaster, Unspun with Matt Forde, and Dara o Briain’s Go 8 Bit or scripted sitcoms including the worldwide hit Red Dwarf, Zapped, and Porters, Dave’s guaranteed to work your funny bone like never before.
Dave’s also committed to bringing live sport back to free-to-air and has an ongoing deal to show fights from David Haye’s Hayemaker Ringstar venture. There’s also Red Bull Soapbox, Cop Car Workshop, Sin City Motors and a whole host of much loved programming, all shot with Dave’s unique personality that’s led to the channel reaching 20million adults a month.
About UKTV
UKTV is a commercial broadcaster reaching over 40m viewers every month.
The award-winning independent has eleven imaginative brands – UKTV Play, Dave, W, Gold, Alibi, Yesterday, Drama, Really, Home, Eden and Good Food. These include the two most popular non-PSB channels in the UK and account for nearly 10% of the British commercial TV market.
The network delivers inspired channels to audiences through Freeview, Sky, Virgin Media, BT, TalkTalk, YouView, Freesat, Amazon Fire and UKTV Play, and distributes its highly valued original programmes to 200 territories. Now celebrating over 20 years at the forefront of digital television, UKTV – an independent commercial joint venture between BBC Worldwide and Scripps Networks Interactive, Inc. (SNI) – is proud to be the first British television broadcaster in The Sunday Times top 100 companies list.
corporate.uktv.co.uk / press.uktv.co.uk / @uktvpress
