Taskmaster (TV series)

Taskmaster is a British comedy panel game show created by comedian and musician Alex Horne and presented by both Horne and Greg Davies. In the programme a group of five celebritiesmainly comediansattempt to complete a series of challenges, with Horne acting as umpire in each challenge and Davies, the titular "Taskmaster", judging the work and awarding points based on contestants' performances. The concept for the programme was first created by Horne for the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2010; he later secured a deal with Dave to adapt it for television with the first episode premiering in 2015. After the ninth series in 2019, the programme was acquired by Channel 4. Taskmaster proved a success on British television, spawning international versions in Australia, Belgium, Croatia, Denmark, Finland, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Canada (Quebec), Sweden, Spain and the United States. A British spin-off series, Junior Taskmaster, was announced in March 2023. Additionally, a tie-in board game and two books have been released. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Horne hosted #HomeTasking, a series of tasks for people to film in their own homes; for each task, a montage of attempts was posted on YouTube that featured Davies awarding points to his favourite entries. History Taskmaster was the brainchild of comedian Alex Horne, whose idea was inspired by The Crystal Maze, his work for Big Brother, and his envy of his close friend Tim Key winning the Edinburgh Comedy Award in 2009. The original concept of the programme took place over the course of two years. In 2009, 20 comedians, including Stuart Goldsmith, Josie Long, Mark Watson, Tim Key, Joe Wilkinson and Mike Wozniak, received monthly tasks by email over the course of a year stipulating a variety of tasks. Horne then presented their efforts as part of a two-hour show titled The Task Master, at the 2010 Edinburgh Festival Fringe which focused on demonstrating the differing attempts by the contestants before revealing who won based on their performances. Mike Wozniak won the first Taskmaster competition. In 2011, Horne conducted another stage show titled TaskmasterII, with ten contestants tackling tasks. Both stage shows proved a success with their audiences, leading Horne to recruit production company Avalon to help produce an adaptation of his concept for television before pitching his idea to several different broadcasters.