Taskmaster (Greg Davies sets some comedians daft challenges!)

Whilst I do like her, the extent of her comedy is being able to be the foil for Jimmy Carr's jokes on Cats Does Countdown. There are far more comedians I'd have on long before I'd have Susie Dent on. NYT is the perfect spot for her.

Really enjoyed attending the Taskmaster taping last week for Champion of Champions. It was absolutely brilliant and went on for nearly 4 and a half hours so there's some serious editing and great (unhinged) material to be left on the cutting room floor.

The prize task alone took over an hour to film given the madness (of one particular contestant).

And there was an 'incident' in the studio task that caused a bit of chaos (lips are sealed until after broadcast) which has never happened before. When you watch it, you'll might be able to take a guess… I'll let know after it airs but it has never happened before.

Overall, it was wonderful and would recommend trying to attend if you have the means/availability/time etc.

He's also going to be on the next season of Last One Laughing UK, sometime early 2026.

Have to agree that a couple of the tasks were really sub par, but overall the episode was okay (but that's mainly due to how likeable I find Mathew, Maisie, and Sam).

Any leaks on the series 21 cast yet? I saw a supposed list on reddit a couple of months back, but nothing since.

John Robins initially wanted to be a character from Rainbow for the studio task. The tape wouldn't work (he complained loads during the task) so he could only get one piece on (the mustache) and then picked Hitler on the spot. Had a improv spiel about why he'd be a good fit for Taskmaster. Was quite funny but a little bit dark given the subject matter. Lots of banter then going down the line about the remaining choices and how they'd interact with the fuhrer. Things like how good Dawn French would come off next to Hitler (they also didn't want to badmouth her in any way as they've been trying to get her on). Even Sam Campbell said he was Stalin before he tried a blue smurf when Avatar was dq'd.

Alex was then told by the gallery they couldn't broadcast any of the Hitler stuff in any way so they had to re-do John's choice and between them (but mainly John) he said Chaplin which they agreed would work (once there was no mention of Hitler outside of the "thank god it's not who I thought it was" remark) which is why the crowd did more of a "wahaaaaay" chant when he said Chaplin (as it was a refilm when they had decided). It was the first time they've ever had to change something in the live task as Greg said how he'd score Hitler and Chaplin would be different. Very very funny on the night but poor John was mortified and on his knees at one point.

Great clip. And that's still not the full recording (was closer to an hour). Can confirm the Alistair Campbell bit had everyone in stitches, it was also the bit that made us all think "the song will never go to air" but thankfully they clipped it.

I was so impressed that Sam did it all first time.