On Thursdays at 9pm on Channel 4, a crack of light penetrates the darkening nights and bathes living rooms across the nation in a comforting, whimsical glow. It does so to a soundtrack that goes something like this: 

Duhhh duh duh duuuuuuuh, duhhh duh duh duuuuuuuh, duhhhh duh duh duuuuuuuuuuuuh, duuhhh duh duh duuuuuuuuuh, duuuuuh duh duh duuuuuuuuh, duuh duh duh duuuuuuuuh, duuuuuh duh duh duuuuuuuuuuh, duuuuh duh duh duh, dooo dooo dooo dooo dooo dooo dooo, twaaaaaaaang. 

I am of course talking about Taskmaster. Alex Horne’s brainchild of absurd escapism and light-hearted fun, that I have long thought to be televisual genius. 

For the unindoctrinated, Taskmaster is a show in which five funny famous faces complete meaningless tasks for the entertainment and enjoyment of the Taskmaster (the inimitable (Lord) Greg Davies). He scores their respective efforts out of five, and the points accumulate throughout the series. At the conclusion, one lucky winner takes home an imposing statue of the Taskmaster’s head. Historically the trophy has been treated with utmost reverence – notably by Kerry Godliman who gave it pride of place in the corner of her garage. 

Taskmaster began its fourteenth series on the 29th of September. The cast this time was made up of Sarah Millican, Fern Brady, Dara Ó Briain, Munya Chawawa and John Kearns. I was familiar with four of the five, with John Kearns being my only unknown dimension. 

I am loathe to provide spoilers, but it must be said that it was an unusually strong beginning for the cohort

‘Let the games commence!’ Greg cried at the beginning of the episode, and commence they did. As is the format, the prize task came first, category being ‘most jaw-dropping item.’ I was rather surprised that this one hadn’t come up before, considering the inevitable barrel-scraping for categories that necessarily has arisen over the last few series. I am loathe to provide spoilers, but it must be said that it was an unusually strong beginning for the cohort. One has to wonder if there may be a theme to Sarah’s offerings in the coming weeks. I suppose we ought to watch this space. 

Next came the first task proper. I may be alone in this, but my personal feeling was that this one fell a bit flat. Perhaps I only felt this way because – having thoroughly prepared for the new series, as any Taskmaster nut ought to – I had recently watched the series thirteen opener. That task was a high-energy scramble, resulting in televisual phenomena including, but not limited to, contestants climbing on Alex’s shoulders and ripping up floorboards. This one was an intellectual pursuit, that I felt was simply a little too subdued to really introduce us to our new cast. A major design feature of the task was that the contestant’s faces were hidden. The moment I fell in love with Chris Ramsey in series thirteen was when his adult features erupted into childish joy at the discovery of a concealed duck (a sentence that I don’t believe has ever been uttered in human history, nor will ever be again). I was given no such chance to connect in this task. Essentially, I just felt that this task may have been better placed later in the series, when the ‘characters’ are more familiar. 

That’s not to say that the task was without laughs – far from it. A particular highlight for me was John’s improvised synopsis of a film called ‘Peas’, which thoroughly endeared him to me as the unknown quality of the series. 

The second task (on location at Gatwick’s South Terminal) was more physical, and allowed more of a chance to get to know the contestants. Fern was the star for me here. She charmingly overshared her unfortunate tendency to accidentally knock full toilet rolls down the loo, authentically birthed a catchphrase of ‘aur naur’ and took a delightfully long time to question, ‘do you think I should have a tactic?’ We were also treated to Dara Ó Briain being Dara Ó Briain – employing words like ‘ratio’ and wearing the smug smile of an arguable national treasure, who knows he doesn’t need to be here to further his career and can simply have fun.

The final task proper was the first team task of the series. As always, the meeting of the teams was a sight to behold. Both introductions this time gave the delightfully awkward impression of an uncle left to chat with the vicar at a wedding. Who was the vicar and who was the uncle was unclear – unnecessary details. This task gave Munya his chance to shine, as an unexpected aficionado of bird and fish species. 

Taskmaster is always a balm to reality, and this series is no exception

I must admit that I zoned out during the live task. This is no reflection on the quality of the task whatsoever. I have zoned out of every live task ever broadcast. I simply do not understand them. Ever. It appeared to be something to do with a seesaw. It looked fun. It was probably very funny. I think we should move on. 

Taskmaster is always a balm to reality, and this series is no exception. The cast appear good-natured, quick-witted and cynical enough to prevent excessive sweetness. I will forever be grateful for its hour of weekly national service, in which the nation can be immersed in warm-hearted weirdness and laugh its head off. 

Here’s to ten weeks of madness. 

Rating: 4/5

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