AT 9PM ON THURSDAY 14TH APRIL
“This has become one of the funniest shows on television”
Helen Stewart, The Sunday Times
“Taskmaster is the show we need right now”
★★★★ Anita Singh, The Daily Telegraph
“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
Channel 4’s BAFTA and National Comedy Award-winning behemoth is back for a brand-new series as Greg Davies’s revered golden noggin will be won for the 13th time by the comic who proves their mettle over 10 gruelling episodes. Ever present throughout proceedings is Greg’s miniature sidekick, Alex Horne, gripping onto his tablet for dear life and looking very proud of himself for being so ruthlessly efficient in administering each and every task.
The latest excitable intake are: stand-up, actor, and author Ardal O’Hanlon (Father Ted, C4), award winning comedian Bridget Christie (Stand Up For Her, Netflix), stand-up comedian, podcaster and TV host Chris Ramsey (The Chris Ramsey Show, Comedy Central), comedian and presenter Judi Love (Loose Women, ITV), and comedian, actress, and podcaster Sophie Duker (Live At The Apollo, BBC One).
Survival for this courageous quintet will depend on their abilities to paint perfectly with their lips, effectively wrangle a cement mixer and chase Alex around a tree while he’s pedalling a tricycle. Should they impress the Taskmaster, he will reward them with points and the occasional admiring word. But should they stumble or show any kind of weakness… he’ll scent blood and pounce on them like a puma. (Metaphorically).
The launch of series 13 also sees the unveiling of the brand new Taskmaster App; a show companion where viewers can watch the show on TV and score along at home, taking on the role of the mighty Taskmaster themselves. The app also features the Taskmaster Academy with quizzes from every series of the show, group and solo tasking games, and a Jukebox featuring all of the music from the show.
Taskmaster series 13 airs weekly from 9pm, Thursday 14th April 2022
Previews available via Ready To Air
WHAT THE PRESS HAVE SAID:
“Charming, batshit, hilarious…That something so pointless, so silly, so endlessly daft should exist is just delightful”
★★★★ Lucy Mangan, The Guardian
“Taskmaster is a beacon of silliness; a show that leaves dignity at the door and offers good-natured absurdity instead”
Phil Harrison, The Observer
“Now on its 12th series, and still probably the funniest show on TV”
Guardian Guide
“the well of ingeniously tedious tasks will seemingly never run dry. Davies and Horne are a fine double act, and their “pre-prepared banter” is as much a reason to watch as the tasks”
Joe Clay, The Times
“Alex Horne’s peculiarly brilliant imagination keeps churning out inventive challenges, Greg Davies continues to hand out withering insults and a steady stream of competitors line up to take both on the chin, they could screen this wonderful show all year round and no one would much mind”
Gabriel Tate, The Daily Telegraph
“The formula has evolved slightly over the years and across the channels, but it’s still the case that for pure, artisanal silliness, there’s not much that can beat a dose of Taskmaster”
David Butcher, Radio Times
“on the basis of this opening episode, it’s going to be an excellent series”
★★★★★ Steven Perkins, TV Times Magazine
“The peculiarly addictive, even oddly poignant affair… as Greg Davies’s eponymous mad god put the latest lost souls through their pointless paces”
Ali Catteral, The Guardian
“Back with more absurd mayhem, this is possibly the best comedy game show on telly”
Sara Wallis, The Daily Mirror
“The hilarious, BAFTA-winning game show is… as wacky as ever”
★★★★ Daily Mail
“Taskmaster is still the most reliably lough-out-loud show”
★★★★★ Mail on Sunday
“[A] sort of wonderful silliness that makes this show unique (well, until the copycats arrived”
Gerrard Gilbert, The I
“The most consistently funny show on TV returns”
Simon Ward, Virgin Media
“I’m beyond delighted to report that the wonderful Greg Davies and the wonderful Alex Horne are back with another series of the wonderful Taskmaster”
Mike Ward, Daily Express
★★★★ Boyd Hilton, Heat Magazine
“As always, it’s fun, incredibly silly and very funny viewing”
The Sun TV Mag
“Alex Horne’s ridiculous challenge show continues to be the most reliably entertaining hour on TV”
Total TV Guide
“There’s an infantile joy in comedy game show Taskmaster… it’s becoming more popular than ever, and comedians are falling over themselves top take part”
Tom Spilsbury, TV Choice
★★★★ JL, TV Times Magazine
“Taskmaster is one of the best TV Game shows of all time. Fact”
Sara Wallis, The People
“It’s pure mindless fun… it often veers into unexpectedly hilarious territory”
Simon Bland, Joe.co.uk
ENDS
For more information please contact:
Florrie Sheehan at Avalon: fsheehan@avalonuk.com
Kate Conway at Channel 4: KConway@Channel4.co.uk
NOTES TO EDITORS:
- Taskmaster is a BAFTA winning and International Emmy nominated comedy entertainment 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.
- 128 episodes have been produced in the UK so far, with a further 21 ordered by Channel 4 as part of a landmark six season deal in 2020. Series 10 – 15 air on Channel 4 from Autumn 2020, following nine record-breaking series on UKTV’s Dave.
- The show enjoyed its best performance on record with its Channel 4 launch which reached 3.9 million consolidated views after the first episode, winning the majority share of young viewers 16 – 34’s and making it the best-performing new entertainment show of this year (Broadcast, 2020). Since the programme’s initial launch in 2015 on UKTV’s Dave, Taskmaster’s audience has grown by 80% from series one to series nine.
- Taskmaster was crowned Best Comedy Entertainment Show at the National Comedy Awards 2021, 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 the Bruce Forsyth Entertainment Award at the NTA’s 2021, Studio Entertainment at Rose d’Or 2021, Best Entertainment Programme at the RTS Awards, Broadcasting Press Guild Awards, the Broadcast Digital Awards, Edinburgh TV Award, the TV Choice Awards, and Best Returning Format in the International Format Awards 2020.
- The original Taskmaster programme has been sold to 94 countries, while the format has been sold to 12 with 150 local episodes being made outside the UK including local versions of the show produced for VTM in Belgium, TVE in Spain, and two series for TVNZ in New Zealand. While the original show aired on The CW in the U.S. in 2020.
- Over 300 episodes have been produced outside the UK with local versions across the Nordics, in New Zealand and Portugal.
- The format has seen huge success in Europe, with the Swedish version winning Programme of the Year at the Kristallen in 2020 and 2019 (Sweden’s TV Academy Awards) and its fifth series for SVT reaching ratings of over a 50% market share in a primetime weekend slot. Norway’s original version of Taskmaster, ‘Kongen Befaler’’s won Best Entertainment Show at the prestigious Golden Screen Awards 2020 and won the Norwegian TV Academy Award (Gullruten) for Best Entertainment in 2020, where a fourth has been commissioned by Discovery. 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 a fifth series for TV2 in Denmark.
- The Taskmaster YouTube channel has seen huge success internationally, reaching just over 4.7 billion impressions since it first launched in October 2019, with just under half of the channel’s views and over a third of its subscribers originating from the U.S. The channel has had over 67 million hours of content viewed with 42% of those hours from the US (29 million hours watched). The show has grown significantly in popularity with U.S. audiences and over the last year there have been total of 55 million views, while a total of 14 million hours have been.
- #HomeTasking had over 100 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 136,251 copies, while a second book ‘Bring Me The Head of the Taskmaster’ published in September 2021 and has sold almost 30,000 to date. Both books featured as Sunday Times Bestsellers at launch. The Swedish version of the book has sold 108,000 copies to date.
- A Taskmaster boardgame was released in Autumn 2019 and entirely sold out a week after it went on sale. It has sold almost 180,000 copies to date along with an expansion pack. Both are available to buy on the official Taskmaster shop, TaskmasterStore.com
- 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 £115,000, more information on the virtual event can be found here.
