The much anticipated and vaunted 11th series of Taskmaster aired last night.
The format is beginning to look a little tired. Even, Greg Davies, the Taskmaster himself, looked less enthusiastic than usual. Despite the calibre of the contestants the first episode lacked the vitality of previous shows. Perhaps lockdown blues have taken their toll or perhaps the brilliance and hilarity of series 10 has set a bar that’s just too high. (Review here)
Series 11 stars, Charlotte Ritchie, Jamali Maddix, Lee Mack, Mike Wozniak and Sarah Kendall struggled to make the tasks, devised by the show’s creator Alex Horne, as entertaining as in previous series. Even the improvisational brilliance of Lee Mack was stretched to the limit in capturing a motorised rat. The saving grace of the first episode was Charlotte Richie as she went about her tasks with sheer joy and almost childlike exuberance.
If this was your first experience of Taskmaster you may be wondering what all the fuss is about. Well go to All4 and catch-up with the previous 10 series and you’ll find out.
Taskmaster is totally dependent on the enthusiasm, commitment and comic inventiveness of the celebrity contestants which allows them to laugh at themselves and for the viewers to laugh along with them.
With another 9 episodes to follow, the pace of the tasks and the sarcasm of the Taskmaster will surely pick up and justify this show being the highlight of the week.
