Taskmaster has been running for more than a decade, and hosts Greg Davies and Alex Horne still don’t know what they’re going to get. Season 22 brings Matt Lucas, Nina Conti, Isy Suttie, Richard Ayoade, and Chloe Petts into the series, and Davies and Horne joined Collider to explain how they build each lineup, why contestants keep missing the most obvious loopholes, and why the show isn’t changing its formula for its growing North American audience.
The Perfect Balance of Five
The key to Taskmaster’s freshness is the tension between competition and comedy. Davies likes people who enter the spirit of the game fully but don’t fall apart if they lose. He says the confrontational side of himself is “a persona of sorts” — he doesn’t actually enjoy arguing with people, so he hopes contestants just take his awarded points at face value.
Horne agrees that contestants shouldn’t have to choose between trying to win and trying to be funny. “You’re not going to make any friends” if they only do one or the other. The ideal cast member, in his view, is someone who tries to do the tasks well while naturally being funny.
Finding the perfect five takes thought and luck. Horne admits there’s “some thought behind” the casting, “and then a bit of fingers crossed.” Once they lock in an awkward, almost reluctant presence like Ayoade, they look for someone with “slightly more high energy” to balance the group. Davies says the contestants always confound their expectations — they reveal parts of themselves and can surprise by showing things they “didn’t know existed.”
The Loophole Problem
Contestants have gotten better at spotting the team’s tricks over the years. Horne says he has to “annoyingly” change how he prepares tasks to stay ahead of them. Davies finds this amusing — he particularly enjoys seeing Horne predict the ways contestants might try to break the show’s logic.
There have been times when Horne has clearly thought through what might ruin things, with increasingly specific restrictions written on the famous Taskmaster envelopes. Those caveats include not being allowed to move something or “stand on one leg.” Even with all those rules, Horne is still amazed by how little contestants actually prepare. They could “do so much,” but they still don’t “look under the table,” “turn over the task,” or bring “a pen knife.”
Horne jokes that “comedians are lazy,” with Davies adding, “They’re pretty sort of basic people, these comedians. They’re like ants.” If that’s a generalization, the format itself stops most loopholes. Horne believes that when contestants are suddenly asked to do something completely out of their comfort zone, “everything else goes out the window. Just all logic.”
Why Pressure Makes Them Fail
Pressure is the show’s secret weapon. Contestants get frustrated on the final studio day when they discover their favorite task hasn’t made the episode. Davies says Season 22 wasn’t particularly chaotic compared to previous series — there was “lots of fun,” but “there was no anarchy.” Horne describes how Ayoade “got on his bicycle and cycled home” at the end of every show. “That’s how rock and roll he is.”
Davies and Horne often find failure funnier than success. The chaos comes from contestants overlooking obvious solutions under pressure, not from careful planning going wrong.
The Fictional Lineup
The hosts have some ideas for an alternative fictional lineup. Davies names Seinfeld’s George Costanza (Jason Alexander) as his ultimate contestant — “I would enjoy pushing that character … at last to his final breaking point,” he says gleefully. Horne’s picks represent the variety they strive for each season: Bamm-Bamm from The Flintstones and Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot. Surely Poirot would be the ultimate winner?
Davies’ final pick lands on “plonker” Rodney Trotter (Nicholas Lyndhurst) from Only Fools and Horses. By the laws of sitcoms, Trotter would spectacularly fail at each task.
No Formula Change for North America
The show has a growing audience in North America, but Davies and Horne aren’t changing the recipe. The formula works — they’ve been doing it for 22 seasons, plus holiday specials and Champion of Champions battles, and many of Britain’s most famous comedians have already taken part.
The hosts also discussed the possibility of appearing on SNL UK. Davies and Horne want to host the latest UK/US crossover.
What We Make Of It
The comedy of Taskmaster comes from the contradiction between the hosts’ control and the contestants’ obliviousness. Horne spends his time thinking through every loophole and writing specific restrictions on envelopes, but the contestants still miss the simplest ones. They don’t look under the table. They don’t turn over the task. They don’t bring a pen knife.
That mismatch is the show’s engine. The hosts are preparing for everything, and the contestants are failing at the basics. It’s a comedy of contradictions that makes the show work.
The fact that contestants get better at spotting the tricks doesn’t hurt the formula — it just forces Horne to keep rewriting envelopes. Davies enjoys watching Horne’s predictions play out. The contestants reveal things they didn’t know existed, and Davies hopes they just take his awarded points at face value.
The show’s North American growth is real, but Davies and Horne aren’t changing the recipe. That’s the honest answer. The format is working, and they’re not messing with it.
“Comedians are lazy.”
That’s Horne’s joke, and it captures the whole dynamic. The hosts are meticulous. The contestants are like ants. The show is chaos, and everyone watches.
Source material: “With 1.4 Billion Views, Greg Davies & Alex Horne Aren’t Changing ‘Taskmaster’,” Collider.
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