Heartwarming / Taskmaster

Remind us of all the ways that a show about comedians doing silly tasks can make you feel warm and fuzzy inside. Your time starts now.

General

• In general, panels that gel together on-screen continue their friendships long after shooting ends. According to Alex Series 4's panel continues to get along particularly well, and Ed Gamble noted on the the podcast that the Series 4 panel reunited for afternoon tea after they got jealous of the Series 9 panel doing the same.
• The trip to Cologne offered up as a prize task in Series 1 did actually happen. Tim, Frank, and Josh did actually go over, then Alex joined them for a few hours the next day, and Tim remembers the trip fondly on the podcast.
• The show appears to have gained a large influx of fans internationally during 2020-2021, amid the chaos, uncertainty, and frustration of the COVID-19 pandemic (among other things) and the numerous lockdowns and economic upheavals that resulted from it. A common refrain is that it's surprisingly relaxing and comforting to watch something unabashedly, joyfully silly and lighthearted as an escape from all the stress and misery.
• In general, there seem to be very few contestants who haven't genuinely enjoyed their time on the show. In particular, they uniformly comment on how lovely the whole production staff is.
• Despite so much of the show's humour being based on pratfalls, embarrassment, and mockery, the show is very finely balanced — including the format, the tone, and the enthusiastic participation of Greg, Alex, and the contestants — to make it genuinely feel all in good fun on everyone's part, with only a very few momentary exceptions. Greg in particular, beneath his tyrannical persona, is plainly anxious to make sure that everyone has a good time and never feels actually unsupported or hurt. It all makes for a show full of heart, and genuinely enjoyable even for people who can't stand cringe comedy.

Series 1

• During episode 1's "paint the horse while riding a horse" task, Romesh's characteristic grumpiness evaporates and he starts giggling joyously as he rides around the arena. His studio chat afterwards suggests that he enjoyed the ride so much, he had a transcendent experience and started seeing 'auras'.
  • Frank, similarly, was so pleased with his portrait that he bought some watercolours and took up painting afterward.

Series 2

• When asked if Joe's shot in episode 1 should still count, both Katherine and Richard vote for it, even though it automatically puts Joe in first place.
• During the live task of the season finale, the contestants had to do a series of tasks including "eat a whole banana, correctly put on a tie" which Katherine correctly argues puts her at a distinct disadvantage compared to her male counterparts. Richard defused the situation by altering the task by moving a single comma. "Eat a whole banana correctly, put on a tie."

Series 3

• In episode 3:
  • The studio watches Rob's 'domino rally', where Alex tips the crew and Rob into a ballpit with a van and a gym mat. Alex describes the making-of, then smiles and (in a rare occurrence) describes setting up a contestant's attempt as "a lot of fun", which Rob agrees with.
  • Paul being Not So Stoic and smiling in disbelief when he finds out he won the episode, to everyone's enthusiastic congratulations.

Series 4

• In a task clearly set up to look like a team task in theory but causes the contestants to get in each other's way in practice, Mel and Hugh nonetheless figure it out and work together to fill a tub with random objects before wrapping it in clingfilm (and Mel even wraps Alex's feet in clingfilm so they won't get cold after Hugh stole his shoes and socks). Greg puts on a show of crying Tears of Joy at their cooperation... especially in comparison to the other team, who unleashed chaos and broke stuff.
• When the contestants are asked to bring in "their best chair", Hugh brings in what his son describes as his favourite chair, and a photo of it flashes up on screen: it's Hugh carrying his (then a toddler) son on his shoulders. Greg finds it adorable, and for once gives Hugh high marks in the prize round.

Series 5

• Mark and Nish demonstrate a touching bromance, bonding through their similar efforts and levels of failure. It is especially noticeable in "The Leprechaun and the Lesbian": when it becomes clear that Aisling, Bob, and Sally would all be disqualified from the bread-slicing challenge, Mark and Nish happily hug each other and cheer because they won't be dead last for once.
• Nish's "most incredible" footage was of him quickly and incorrectly filling out a Sudoku puzzle. Greg is so underwhelmed, he finds it necessary to go into "teacher mode" and pull Nish aside and encourage him as if he were an underperforming student.
• Nish's sheer joy at learning that he made it to triple-digit points, after being the "loser" for much of the series. He still came in last, but he was so happy that he made it to triple digits. That's the right attitude to have.
• Mark and Nish's song for Rosalind, while very funny, also has a lot of heart. The song, sung and played by Nish on guitar, and Mark on drums, is all about how they feel they'll never be "good enough" compared to Rosalind. This is especially meaningful considering that Nish was the Butt-Monkey for all of Series 5. Greg was blown away by how touching the song was, noting that this was a rare moment where he genuinely had nothing bad to say about Nish's performance. While the other team's song was just as funny, if not more so, Greg declared Mark and Nish the winners of this round because of how much effort and soul they put into their song. Hilariously, though, Mark and Nish claim that Rosalind did not show any emotion or reaction to their performance at all.
  • The reaction of all the contestants upon learning that Rosalind was in the audience.

Series 7

• In "Lotta Soup", the contestants are asked to bring in the worst gift a relative gave him. James brings in a calendar made by his young nephew, each of which has a joke the nephew wrote himself, as comedians hate being given material. Greg and the audience find it "absolutely charming", and James admits that he's fond of the gift and "really likes the guy".
• During the live task in "The Perfect Stuff", Jessica Knappett fell off the stage. Greg, in one of the few moments across the series that he breaks his Taskmaster persona, genuinely freaks out and immediately runs over to check she's alright and help her up. In subsequent seasons, the stage extension that Jessica fell off was named "The Knappett" in her honour.
• Despite spending most of his time tormenting Alex, making fun of Greg, and, when paired for team challenges, driving Phil and James mad with his trollish behavior, Rhod's always quick to jump to another contestant's defense over a task, even to his own detriment, and at the end of one prize task where he won he can be heard over the applause telling Phil that he thought he should have won it instead.
• Following the infamous argument in the penultimate episode, Rhod is on the defensive in the finale ready to justify his work in the tie-yourself-up challenge. Instead, the other contestants openly call it genius and Phil notes "we would love to hate that, but that was fucking great." Rhod's visibly surprised and pleased, genuinely touched.

Series 8

• During the live task of "Stuck in a Mammal Groove", which required the contestants to zip themselves up in two modified sleeping bags, Paul Sinha struggles with even getting into the first sleeping bag due to an injury to his right arm which required him to use it as little as possible. Even after the whistle is blown (signalling the end of the task) and Greg tells him that he doesn't need to, he still insists on completing the task. The other four contestants then gather around to help him suit up inside his sleeping bags.
• Similarly, Paul's win in "Aquatic Sewing Machine" was warmly celebrated by the cast and audience; he hadn't yet won an episode and was trailing the rest of the contestants. By the time of the final task, he was in second place, only just behind Iain, and the studio task (guess what 5-syllable word Greg is about to say) was a winner-takes-all event. Iain took an early lead but Paul eventually caught up until it was neck-and-neck, until Paul guessed the final word correctly and won the show. Considering how Paul had clearly been struggling throughout the series (partly due to his undiagnosed Parkinson's disease), his victory was a truly lovely moment.

Series 9

• The Series 9 panel got along so well that they thought it would be fun for them all to wear matching tuxedos to the finale.

Series 10

• Since Series 10's studio parts were filmed in the middle of the COVID-19 Pandemic without a live audience, there were concerns about how it would impact the atmosphere of the show. Any fears were assuaged by the cast's chemistry in the premiere, as they often leave each other crying with laughter. Alex said on the Taskmaster Podcast that everyone was so glad to interact with others after being in lockdown that they started in a great mood.
• In the finale, Greg makes fun of the allegedly poor quality of a set of homemade clay masks that Katherine Parkinson brought in for the prize round. Katherine appears to be genuinely a little bit hurt by the mockery, so later in the episode, Greg gives her a bonus point for another task that she did poorly on, admitting that he thinks he went a bit too far and feels a bit bad about it. The episode winner Richard Herring also audibly makes a point of complimenting them when collecting the prizes at the end.

Series 12

• The Series 12 cast reveal trailer is surprisingly sweet, as it is framed around Greg and Alex catching up while Alex cleans the studio. Greg acknowledges that he can be quite mean to Alex and has gotten him a present as a token of respect (the present being the cast members for Series 12). Given all the bullying that goes on between the two, it's a nice change of pace.
• During the "ride a bicycle" task in "The Customized Inhaler," Victoria manages fourth place despite never having ridden a bicycle before. As comical as her attempts are, one can only cheer her determination and pluck in the face of her obvious anxiety and bewilderment (and indeed that's the attitude in the studio).
• "A Chair in a Sweet":
  • The prize task is to bring in something that one of the other competitors would want. Although Greg openly admits that he was hoping for the contestants to use this as an opportunity to make fun of each other, most of them actually took it seriously and brought in very considerate gifts (poor Victoria, who did seem to interpret the task the way Greg wanted and brought Alan a voucher for a season pass to the rivals of his favorite football team, is left with egg on her face). It's immediately clear that the winner of the task is Desiree, who commissioned a painting of a dog that Guz wanted as a pet, and Morgana immediately promises to give it to Guz if she wins. In the end, Guz wins the prizes, but as the credits roll he immediately starts handing out the prizes to their intended recipients.
  • During the final live task to make and throw paper aeroplanes, the contestants go out of their way to support each other, with Guz demonstrating how to best fold the paper, and all the contestants cheering on or advising Victoria during her turn. Especially heartwarming as she was the final contestant and no one had scored any points during the game, and the whole group was determined for her to make it.
• Victoria consistently struggles throughout the season, particularly during prize tasks, in one case coming in fourth place for her entry in the "Most Elegant Thing Beginning with G" prize task - a homemade Mr. Greedy doll. She presents the same doll two episodes later, under the category "Most Ridiculous Thin Thing", successfully arguing that since Greg ridiculed it during the previous entry, it must be a contender for first place in this instance. Greg is nothing but complementary towards her attempt, going as far as tipping an invisible hat towards her, resulting in her only win in the category throughout the series, much to her delight. Adding to the heartwarming, Morgana can clearly be heard shouting "Yeah, Go on baby!" over the ensuring applause.
  Greg: Victoria, with an absolute masterful hand by a poker professional, she takes the five points with Mr. Greedy Esquire.
• In "Caring Uncle Minpict", after reading out the task to propose to Alex in the most irresistible way, Victoria takes no time to plan and simply blurts out a half-hearted proposal mostly focused on how it wouldn't actually count because she's already married. In the studio, she admits that her heart wasn't in that task.
  Victoria: I’m so happily married, I’m so besotted with my husband, I genuinely worried about proposing to another man even as a joke. I thought maybe that’s not nice. It’s ridiculous.
  Greg: It's pretty damn sweet, if you ask me.

Series 13

• In the pedometer task in "The 75th Question", Chris Ramsey spends a large portion of his twenty minutes inside the very hot dome in the yard, mistakenly believing it to be a requirement of the task. At the end of the task, Alex presents him with a glass of ice water and an ice lolly to make sure he doesn't overheat.
• When Sophie wins her first episode ("The 75th Question"), she genuinely appears to be on the verge of tears when her victory is announced. She has very much the same reaction when it's revealed she won the series.
• The final shot of the finale shows all five contestants holding hands and doing a dance inspired by Bridget Christie's strange walk from the pedometer task. Despite all the times they mock others' attempts at the tasks, it's clear this cast genuinely got along and had fun during the series. This is also the first opportunity since Series 9 where the contestants have all celebrated the champion in close proximity because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Series 14

• After Sarah Millican's attempt at the classical music song lyric task, it's revealed that she's got somewhat of a complex regarding her singing voice due to some unkind comments from an 'ex-partner'. She receives nothing but support and appreciation from Greg and the studio audience.
  Greg: Who told you couldn't sing?
  Sarah: Ex-partner.
  Greg: [staring dead into the camera] Fuck you, ex-partner.
• When Dara wins the series, he shakes his fellow contestants' hands but hugs Sarah and kisses her cheek, before lifting the trophy with genuine joy.
• Fern posting on Instagram about how her time on the show made her more comfortable with being autistic and "unmasked"^note For autistic people, masking is making an effort to suppress certain behaviours to appear "normal".. In interviews, she mentions how Alex and the crew went out of their way to make sure she was comfortable, and that she could have happily done tasks all day.

Series 15

• During the canalside task in "The Curse of Politeness" which involves collecting watermelon float rings by operating a barge, Ivo's rudder becomes unattached and they have to wait for a handyman to fix it. It isn't initially clear whether the time spent fixing the rudder would count towards Ivo's overall time, and while Greg is mulling over this decision, Jenny jumps to his defence, arguing that because she and Frankie had filmed before Ivo (and crashed the barge many a time), he shouldn't have the extra time added. Ivo (who has been scoring quite poorly in the episode) leans in to hug Jenny. Greg initially teases that the defence would push him the other way, but he ultimately allows Ivo the time spent without the repairs in between and ultimately earns 4 points.
• In "Trapped in a Loveless Marriage", after a few jokes about the initial awkward first meeting between Frankie and Ivo for their team task, Frankie pays tribute to Ivo by pointing out that it was a pleasure to work with him and he feels that Ivo's sensible advice probably helped them do as well as they did in the tasks. Though it is a little undermined when Greg jokingly points out that Frankie's generous words still can't help but come off as a threat simply by virtue of being said by Frankie Boyle.

Series 16

• As with the lineups of series 9, 12, and 13 before them, the group quickly seems to form a very genuine camaraderie. In particular, whereas other line up's are prone to bickering over points, this batch of contestants is more prone to helping each other out or arguing on their competitor's behalf.
• Sue and Susan in particular quickly become fast friends with a touching dynamic. When they first meet, Susan seems genuinely delighted to be paired with Sue, a beloved figure in British pop culture, and Sue is clearly charmed by her new teammate's positive and fun-loving attitude. Throughout the series, they can often be seen giggling to or supporting each other, with Sue at one point even dancing happily when Susan wins a live task (with Susan joining in.)
  • In particular, in episode 4, one task requires that one team member look at the other for the entirety of the task's duration. Sue makes a self-deprecating remark that Susan wouldn't want to look at her for that long. Susan will not hear of it, and ends up taking on that part of the task herself, seemingly just to prove Sue wrong.
• When tasked with making mischief, Susan's idea is to create a trick task for another competitor, namely Sam. Upon the reveal, she's quick to apologise and offer him a handshake, and Sam genuinely admires her creativity and the amount of thought put into her attempt.
• Sam referring to Sue and Susan as "angels" (and "dynamite chicks") during Episode 4's team task, and persuading Greg to give them two points rather than one "charity" point.
• The cast rallies to find ways for Julian to retrieve his glass in the final round of the live task in "Skateboard Division". In her enthusiasm, Sue rushes to help Julian retrieve his glass to help him win the live task (and consequently, episode 5), accidentally disqualifying herself. The two hug after Julian wins, and he proclaims it an example of solidarity within the LGBT community.
• The cast's Group Hug after Lucy's first episode win in Episode 6.
• The cast's similar reaction when Susan wins Episode 8.
• Following Sue helping Julian in the episode 5 live task above, it seems this group takes an increasingly collaborative approach to the live tasks; they all work together to hide the pineapples from Greg in "Brother Alex", and then help each other put balls in their hats in "I'm Off to Find a Robin".
• Sam attempts to bribe a child (Flossie) with £100. After the child accepts the bribe, Alex revealed on Twitter that Sam actually was true to his word and gave the girl £100.
• In the hotel team task in "Always Forks and Marbles", Alex mentions that even though he only ever tipped Sue, she shared all her tips equally with Susan.
• In the final episode the "prize" Julian brings is an urn containing the ashes of a deceased friend, whose favourite show was in fact Taskmaster so now his friend gets to be "on" the show. As if that wasn't enough, at the end when Julian wins he can be seen talking into the urn - or rather, talking to his friend.
• In general, while some dynamics can be thrown off by one (or more) of the contestants being highly competitive and focused solely on winning, none of the contestants in this series seem to care too much about winning, lending the series a high degree of good humour.

Champion of Champions II

• When Kerry and Lou start bickering over how wonderful Lou's "most wonderful scene" is, Liza delightedly giggles "I've so missed this!"

Champion of Champions III

• The fact that Mae Martin's dad made another puppet specially for Kiell's prize task entry.

New Year's Treat III

• Self Esteem / Rebecca Lucy Taylor a self-confessed fan of the show was constantly happy on the show, called out Greg when he was trying to start a fight between fellow contestant Carol Vorderman and her Countdown successor Rachel Riley and heavily cheered and applauded winners of every task. She subsequently stated in an interview it was the best show she had ever been on and would consider returning for a full series.
• The episode ends with all contestants but one in joint 2nd place, receiving a very sweet "awww, that's nice." Then, in honour of the actual winner, Sir Mo Farrah, everyone starts making the 'Mobot' sign.

Podcast (May Contain Series-Wide Spoilers)

• On episode 15 of Taskmaster: The Podcast, Josh Widdicombe discusses the filming of the Champion of Champions specials. His daughter was born a couple days before he started filming the tasks, so he was in a similar state of exhaustion as Rob Beckett was for the filming of Series 3. Shooting was also more hectic for Josh because he could only spare one day for the special, so the production compressed everything into that one day while the other champions shot their tasks over two days. After finishing the pre-recorded tasks, he found a letter in his dressing room from Alex and the production to Josh's daughter, which he later had framed on her nursery walls:
  Dear Pearl. Have the best life ever. Your time starts now.
• On her appearance on episode 42 of the podcast, Mel Giedroyc finally reveals what she did with all those wax seals she took from the task envelopes; she ended up giving all of them but one to the son of a woman she worked with on a theatre show, who was a massive Taskmaster fan.
• Episode 86 deals with the second Champion of Champions contest, and features two of its competitors, Ed and Richard Herring. They're both intensely competitive, but the one thing they can both agree on without hesitation is that Liza Tarbuck should have won.
• While recapping her Taskmaster experience on the podcast, Fern Brady mentions that Dara Ó Briain was genuinely fuming at John Kearns after the team task for "Dafty in the Middle" but that she managed to smooth things over by reminding Dara that John had a baby at home and that he must be exhausted. This magnanimity was then reversed when she and Dara learned that John deliberately sabotaged their efforts.
• Paul Sinha refused to badmouth any of his competitors from Series 8 and used copious self-deprecation to keep the focus on himself. He also made an effort to defend Iain Stirling — who's been harshly criticised for his aggression and short temper — and told the listening audience that he and Iain got along great when the cameras weren't recording.
• On Taskmaster: The People's Podcast, Fern Brady discussed how extremely positive an experience doing the show was for her as an autistic person. She had often felt very uncomfortable and self-conscious with having to mask her autistic traits while participating in other productions, but on Taskmaster she felt welcomed and encouraged to be fully herself. She also noted she had heard from autistic fans that they had been thrilled and inspired by her participation.

---