London – 21st December 2020 – After reaching 1.5 Million downloads with its debut series, the official Taskmaster Podcast is set to launch a second series in the new year hosted by critically acclaimed stand-up and Series 9 Taskmaster Champion Ed Gamble. Produced by the creators of the hit show, the podcast will be available to download from 7th January 2021.
Joined by a special guest each week, the brand-new series sees Gamble revisit Series One of Taskmaster, where the most ferociously fought battle of comedic minds began. Each episode will follow the journeys of the five brave, ignorant souls who stepped up to the call of the Taskmaster, oblivious to what they were getting into and paving the way for nine more legendary task-based tournaments. These trailblazers were: Frank Skinner (Frank Skinner’s Poetry Podcast, Absolute), Josh Widdicombe (The Last Leg, Ch4), Roisin Conaty (GameFace, Ch4), Romesh Ranganathan (The Ranganation, BBC Two), and Tim Key (This Time with Alan Partridge, BBC One).
The Taskmaster Podcast reached No. 1 in the podcast charts the week of its release, with the trailer reaching No. 2 before any episode had aired. The first series received 1.5 Million downloads and listens across iTunes and the Taskmaster YouTube channel.
The news arrives as the BAFTA winning television show, starring Greg Davies as the mighty Taskmaster and show creator Alex Horne as his proficient assistant, enjoyed its best performance on record which saw its final episode crown Richard Herring as the Series 10 Taskmaster Champion, while the brand-new one-off special Taskmaster’s New Year Treat is set to air on New Year’s Day at 9pm featuring celebrity guests: John Hannah (Four Weddings and Funeral), Krishnan Guru-Murthy (Ways to Change the World Podcast, Channel 4), Nicola Coughlan (Derry Girls, Channel 4, Bridgerton, Netflix), Rylan Clark-Neal, and Shirley Ballas (Strictly Come Dancing, BBC One).
The Taskmaster Podcast is available to download from Thursday 7th January 2021
Catch series 1-10 of Taskmaster on All 4
CRITICAL PRAISE FOR TASKMASTER SERIES 10:
“Taskmaster is the show we need right now” ★★★★ Anita Singh, The Daily Telegraph
“Charming, batshit, hilarious…That something so pointless, so silly, so endlessly daft should exist is just delightful” ★★★★ Lucy Mangan, The Guardian
“I wish I had discovered it earlier as it’s sublimely silly and funny” ★★★★★ Deborah Ross, The Mail on Sunday
“The funniest double act on television… Taskmaster is one of TV’s most refreshing comedies. It’s nonsensical, silly and different from anything else on TV” Frances Taylor, Radio Times
“The funniest show on television” Luke Holland, The Guardian
“Joyously ridiculous” Victoria Segal, The Sunday Times
“Greg and Alex make a strong double act… on screen they have natural rhythm” ★★★★★ Christopher Stevens, The Daily Mail
“it’s still the same delightful, daft show” ★★★★★ Steven Perkins, TV Times Magazine
“it’s still just as ridiculous and entertaining as ever” ★★★★★ Lauren Morris, Radio Times Online
“Anyone new to Taskmaster will quickly get the idea of its sublime silliness” ★★★★★ The Mail On Sunday
“impressive” ★★★★ Boyd Hilton, Heat
“weird and wonderful” ★★★★★ Mike Ward, Daily Star
“Its fun to watch not just because the tasks are silly, but also in the execution, as the comics come up with (mostly) inventive ways of making the magic happen” ★★★★ Daily Mail
“an entertaining return of a joyous show” ★★★★ Steve Bennett, Chortle
“the beauty of Taskmaster has always been its winning format” Ian Hyland, The Daily Mirror
“Surreal, downright silly and the most fun to be had on TV” Veronica Lee, The I
“there is nothing not to love” The Sun
“From the beginning its clear that this season… will be a winner. Proper laugh-out-loud TV” The Daily Telegraph, SH
“hilarious as usual” Emily Baker, The I
“The hilarity still comes in waves” Lynn Gibson, Inside Soap
“Extraordinary and hilarious” Jennifer Kyte, Sunday Express
“the novelty game show that struck comedy gold” The Mail on Sunday
“Still one of the most inventive- and definitely the most reliably funny- programme on TV” Total TV Guide
“Crash landing onto its new home on Channel 4 after nine seasons on Dave, its only right that this brilliant, bonkers show reaches a wider audience” Sara Wallis, The Daily Mirror
“The national service for comedians” Joe Clay, The Times
“it’s ridiculously funny” Mike Ward, Daily Express
“it is still as funny, inspired and daft as ever in its tenth series” Bruce Dessau, Beyond The Joke
ENDS
For more information please contact:
Florrie Sheehan at Avalon: fsheehan@avalonuk.com
ABOUT TASKMASTER:
About Taskmaster
- Taskmaster is a BAFTA winning and International Emmy nominated comedy game show originally created by Alex Horne. Greg Davies stars as the all-powerful “Taskmaster” who, with the help of his loyal assistant Horne, sets out to test the wiles, wit and wisdom of five comedians through a series of strange and surreal challenges in what is the most hard-fought and ridiculous comedy entertainment format on TV.
- 84 episodes have been produced in the UK so far, with a further 51 ordered by Channel 4 as part of a landmark six season deal in 2020. Series 10 – 15 will be aired on Channel 4 from Autumn 2020, following nine record-breaking series on UKTV’s Dave.
- Since the programme’s launch in 2015 on UKTV’s Dave, Taskmaster’s audience has grown by 80% from series one to series nine, averaging an audience of 1.8 million viewers at its peak.
- Taskmaster was crowned Best Comedy Entertainment at the BAFTAs 2020 and won Best Entertainment Programme at the Broadcast Awards 2018, having previously received two more nominations for both awards. It has also been nominated for Best Entertainment Programme at the RTS Awards, Broadcasting Press Guild Awards, the Broadcast Digital Awards, and the TV Choice Awards.
- The original Taskmaster programme and format combined has been sold into 106 countries, with 140 episodes of the format being made outside the UK including local versions of the show produced for VTM in Belgium, TVE in Spain, and TVNZ in New Zealand. While the original will air on The CW in the U.S. this August.
- The format has seen huge success in Europe, with the Swedish version winning Programme of the Year at the Kristallen 2019 (Sweden’s TV Academy Awards) and its fourth series for SVT reaching ratings of over a 50% market share in a primetime weekend slot. Two new series have been ordered for MTV in Finland after its first episode ranked in the top ten most watched shows in the country, and there are returning series for Discovery in Norway and TV2 in Denmark.
- The Taskmaster YouTube channel has received over 93 million views and has 447,000 subscribers.
- #HomeTasking had over 76 million impressions across all content on YouTube. Viewing grew by 42%, while subscribers grew by 85% since it launched on the Taskmaster YouTube channel. It was watched in 125 countries with viewers ranging from the US to the UK and from Moldova to Mongolia.
- The Taskmaster Book 200 Extraordinary Tasks for Ordinary People has sold over 110,000 copies.
- A Taskmaster boardgame was released in Autumn 2019 and entirely sold out a week after it went on sale. It has sold over 70,000 copies to date. An expansion pack was released this year along with the launch of the official Taskmaster shop.
- Taskmaster is working with Homeless Link; the national membership charity for frontline homelessness services, creating a virtual Taskmaster at Home event with all the money raised going to homeless charities across the UK. Having raised over £45,000, the virtual event is running throughout the winter months and further information can be found here.
