Recap / Taskmaster NZ Season Four

Taskmaster recap index
British series:
Series: One | Two | Three | Four | Five | Six | Seven | Eight | Nine | Ten | Eleven | Twelve | Thirteen | Fourteen | Fifteen | Sixteen | Seventeen
Specials: Champion of Champions | New Year Treats and One-Offs
New Zealand series:
Seasons: One | Two | Three | Four
Australian series:
Seasons: One

Cast

Clockwise from bottom-left: Karen O'Leary, Melanie Bracewell, Ray O'Leary, Bubbah (Sieni Leo'o Olo), Dai Henwood. Center from left to right: Jeremy Wells and Paul Williams.

• Taskmaster: Jeremy Wells
• Taskmaster's Assistant: Paul Williams
• Contestants: Bubbah (Sieni Leo'o Olo), Dai Henwood, Karen O'Leary, Melanie Bracewell and Ray O'Leary
• Teams:
  • Melanie Bracewell and Ray O'Leary
  • Bubbah (Sieni Leo'o Olo), Dai Henwood and Karen O'Leary

NOTE: This season was the first one to be broadcast with the localised title Taskmaster New Zealand. It was released on an accelerated schedule (airing two episodes a week) since it coincided with both the FIFA Women's World Cup (which was being co-hosted by New Zealand) and the New Zealand general election in 2023. The programme was moved to an earlier pre-watershed timeslot, which required obscenities to be censored.

This page contains unmarked spoilers for the season in question. If you haven't seen the season yet, you are recommended to leave the page now. You have been warned.

Episodes

Episode 1 - "A Love Bomb."

• Prize Task: Greatest Orange Thing
  • Winner: Ray - stripped to reveal his spray-tanned body and orange briefs (5 points)
  • Bubbah - an orange (4 points)
  • Melanie - an orange-shaped cake with The Taskmaster sitting on it (3 points)
  • Dai - his orange coffee machine made in Germany to which he cracked World War II jokes about (2 points)
  • Karen - a miniature of the Ohakune Carrot (1 point)

• Task 1: Knock The Bails Off The Wickets From The Furthest Distance.
  • Winner: Karen - 61 metres (5 points)
  • Melanie - 58.3 metres (4 points)
  • Dai - 17.65 metres (3 points)
  • Ray - 6.31 metres (2 points)
  • Bubbah - 6.05 metres (1 point)

• Task 2: Do The Most Unpredictable Thing At The End Of the 500 Second Timer^note On the sheet-covered chalkboard, The Taskmaster's Assistant secretly wrote the following predictions: 1. Attack Paul, 2. Take Your Clothes Off, 3. Silly Dance, 4. Loud And/Or Aggressive Noises, 5. Costume Change and 6. Break Wind
  • Winner: Melanie - dressed-up and acted like a cat before the end of timer then dumped a garbage bin over her head (5 points)
  • Dai - stuffed "dry goods" of pasta and cornflakes in his pants (4 points)
  • Bubbah - tackled Paul to the ground (3 points)^note The Taskmaster's Assistant deemed the action as "Attack Paul"
  • Karen - passionately kissed Paul on the lips which left a lipstick mark (2 points)^note The Taskmaster's Assistant deemed the action as "Attack Paul"
  • Ray - splashed a bucket of water on a blindfolded Paul (1 point)^note The Taskmaster's Assistant deemed the action as "Attack Paul"

• Task 3: Be British. Most British Wins.
  • Winner: Bubbah and Ray (5 points)
    • Bubbah - became a reality contestant of Taskmaster Island, a parody of Love Island, and both flirted with and confronted the Assistant over his mingling with Dana
    • Ray - a parody of Mary Poppins called "Sherry Mobbins"^note or "Perry Moppins" by the end of the clip who was retained to discipline a naughty Taskmaster's Assistant
  • Karen - became a football hooligan watching a game, vocally disagreed with a red card decision, and then gave the Assistant a "Liverpool kiss" for agreeing with the referee (3 points)
  • Dai and Melanie (2 points)
    • Dai - dressed as a Welsh guard and invited the Assistant over the border^note actually some string marking off a section of the property filled with English things and then ended with Dai queuing behind the Assistant
    • Melanie - dressed herself as a British monarch ("King Melanie"), spoke in a variable accent, and walked around the property admiring its artifacts before claiming them for herself

• Live Task: Correctly Don Your Surgical Scrubs, Mask, Stethoscope, Gloves, Hair Net And Shoe Covers While Simultaneously Keeping Your Balloon Aloft. Your Balloon Must Remain In Motion The Entire Time. If Your Balloon Contacts The Ground, You Must Remove Everything You Have Put On And Start Again.
  • Winner: Melanie (5 points)
  • Ray (4 points)^note took advantage of the studio audience to aloft the balloon for him although he was noted to be slow donning the costume even with his hands free
  • Dai (3 points)
  • Karen (2 points)
  • Bubbah (1 point)

• Episode Ranking:
  • 1. Melanie Bracewell (19 points)
  • 2. Ray O'Leary (17 points)
  • 3. Bubbah and Dai Henwood (14 points)
  • 4. Karen O'Leary (13 points)

Episode 2 - "I'm A Therapist Not A Greengrocer"

• Prize Task: The Most Unbelievable Thing
  • Winner: Bubbah - an arm tattoo of her season four castmates to show the unlikely friendship between them (5 points)
  • Ray - a certificate proving he can do a backflip that was done in-studio... by an Obvious Stunt Double (4 points)
  • Melanie - a copy of Ripley's Believe It or Not! with personalised fake facts (3 points)
  • Karen - cutouts of John Campbell and The Taskmaster representing the only two men she would have turn straight for (2 points)
  • Dai - his VCR which still works (1 point)

• Task 1: Team Task - Make The Most Impressive Windmill. You Have Until There Isn't A Piece Of Bread Pushed Down In The Toaster. You Cannot Change The Toaster Settings Or Re-Toast An Already Toasted Bit Of Bread. The Same Person Cannot Operate The Toaster For Two Pushes In A Row. Most Impressive Windmill Wins.
  • Winner: Bubbah, Dai and Karen (5 points)^note Dai kept close track of the toaster and the team eventually started tearing bread in half to make sure they had enough time
  • Melanie and Ray (1 point)^note The two got flustered and failed to make anything substantial before the first piece of toast popped

• Task 2: Blow Out The Candle In The Most Bold And Beautiful Way. You Cannot Use Your Lungs.
  • Winner: Dai - snipped a hanging "Argentinian kumquat"^note actually a squash which fell onto and snuffed the candle during a therapy session to Paul on overcoming his fear of sharks (5 points)
  • Ray - decorated a leafblower to become "Cynthia" and acted out a melodramatic scene in which Cynthia is the scorned lover of the candle ("Lumiere") before blowing it out (4 points)
  • Karen and Melanie (3 points)
    • Karen - dressed herself in balloons (blown up by the Assistant) and feathers, performed a contemporary dance, and then popped a balloon near the flame
    • Melanie - dressed as a "red-feathered, soft-bellied tiramisu" bird, flapped her wings unsuccessfully until the candle blew out, and then fell dead because of climate change
  • Bubbah - blew out her candle during her preparation^note Bubbah's original plan, which was shown to the audience but was also out of consideration for the points, was to wave paper around in an airbending motion to blow the candle out (1 point)

• Task 3: Put The Bowl Of Glitter In The Fridge. If You Spill Any Glitter, You Are Disqualified. Fastest Wins.^note Before the task, The Taskmaster's Assistant made the contestants hold up a bowl to the ceiling with a broom. However, that was a decoy bowl glued to the ceiling while the actual bowl of glitter was sitting on the kitchen counter.
  • Winner: Dai - 1 min 59 secs (5 points)
  • Ray - 3 mins 54 secs (4 points)
  • Melanie - 4 mins 16 secs (3 points)
  • Karen - 10 mins 13 secs (2 points)
  • Bubba - 29 mins 57 secs (1 point)^note Somehow missed the bowl of glitter in the kitchen twice and went on a wild goose chase around the Taskmaster Ranch

• Live Task: Be Tall, A Ball, Or Paul.^note The contestants can either do the following actions: stand tall while raising their hands, curl up into a ball or wear Paul's jacket Each Contestant Will Take It In Turns To Enter The Changing Room And Have 15 Seconds To Become Tall, A Ball or Paul. If Jeremy Correctly Guesses What You Are, You Are Eliminated.
  • Winner: Ray (5 points)
  • Dai (4 points)
  • Bubba, Karen and Melanie (1 point)

• Episode Ranking:
  • 1. Dai Henwood (20 points)
  • 2. Ray O'Leary (18 points)
  • 3. Bubbah and Karen O'Leary (13 points)
  • 4. Melanie Bracewell (11 points)

Episode 3 - "Everyone Is Just A Teal Dress"

• Prize Task: The Thing You Most Wish You Could Take On An Aeroplane.
  • Winner: None^note The Taskmaster deemed all the submissions to be unworthy of anything more than two points
  • Dai and Ray(2 points)
    • Dai - a boxcutter
    • Ray - 20 litres of shampoo
  • Bubbah, Karen, and Melanie (1 point)
    • Bubbah - a mouthpiece to turn a plastic bottle into a bong
    • Karen - "Danger Keep Out" tape to hog seating
    • Melanie - a parachute to disembark faster

• Task 1: Leave New Zealand. Best Leaving New Zealand Wins. You Have 30 Minutes.
  • Winner: Dai - meditated with Paul underneath a tree wearing a teal dress while singing the theme song to Shortland Street (5 points)
  • Melanie and Ray (4 points)
    • Melanie - dug a hole through the center of the Earth and visited Spain
    • Ray - seceded from New Zealand and established the Democratic Ray-public of Ray on the Taskmaster Ranch property
  • Bubbah - using miniature drawings of herself and Paul, robbed ANZ, left Auckland by plane, parachuting down onto sharks, and then went over a waterfall into a compartment containing Mexico (2 points)
  • Karen - denounced New Zealand and declared her love of Australia by renouncing citizenship, singing the Australian national anthem, and using a marker to modify her New Zealand tattoo into a map of Australia (1 point)

• Task 2: Follow The Instructions On The Tape In The Tape Player. Snap The Pencil. Fastest Wins. Your Time Started When You Entered The Room^note The instructions were spread out across multiple tapes and the contestants had to figure them out by correctly identifying the fish on the covers. There was also a CD that contained the full instructions on a single track loaded into one of the players in the study.
  • Winner: Bubbah - 17 minutes 51 seconds (5 points)
  • Melanie - 20 minutes 25 seconds^note Remembered that there's a fish poster in the shed and used it to figure out which tapes she needed to play(4 points)
  • Karen - 22 minutes 57 seconds (3 points)
  • Ray - 34 minutes 54 seconds^note Discovered the CD containing the full instruction (2 points)
  • Dai - 91 days 17 hours 34 minutes 12 seconds^note Gave up on figuring out the instructions on the filming day and was given the opportunity to complete the task in the studio (1 point)

• Task 3: Find And Inanimate Object And Put It On The Table. Make A One-Minute Horror Film Starring Your Inanimate Object.
  • Winner: Melanie - King Wrong, starring a gorilla figurine (5 points)
  • Bubbah - Marriage on the Rocks - a Bubbah Joint starring a rock (4 points)
  • Karen and Ray (3 points)
    • Karen - What Swans Do In the Shadows, starring a black swan figurine
    • Ray - Flam-I-Ngo What You Did Last Summer, starring a flamingo-shaped umbrella
  • Dai - Binocul-aaaarghs!, starring a pair of binoculars (2 points)

• Live Task: Standing Behind Your Plinth, Place As Many Table Tennis Balls Onto Your Helmet Plate As Possible. If At Any Point The Green Lights Behind You Turn On, You Must Place Your Hands On Your Hips. The Last Person To Have Their Hands On Their Hips Must Perform And Adequate Bow To The Taskmaster.
  • Winner: Bubbah - 41 balls^note Realised she could place the container of balls on her plate and wait for time to run out(5 points)
  • Dai - 15 balls (4 points)
  • Melanie - 13 balls (3 points)
  • Ray - 7 balls (2 points)
  • Karen - 2 balls (1 point)

• Tiebreaker: Pour Exactly One Cup Of Coffee Into The Cup.
  • Winner: Melanie 187 ml (+1 Tiebreaker Point)
  • Bubbah - 672 ml

• Episode Ranking:
  • 1. Melanie (17 points + Tiebreaker)
  • 2. Bubbah (17 points)
  • 3. Dai (14 points)
  • 4. Ray (13 points)
  • 5. Karen (9 points)

Episode 4 - "More Licky Licky"

• Prize Task: Most Unlikely Thing To Find In A Public Restroom
  • Winner: Karen - clean linoleum(5 points)
  • Bubbah - a welcome mat^note She claims this was her second choice and that she initially wanted to bring in the umbilical cord from a friend's recent delivery (4 points)
  • Melanie - a Where's Wally? figurine that cost NZ$120 (3 points)
  • Dai - a used disposable camera containing undeveloped photos from a party he attended in his 20s (2 points)
  • Ray - lewd messages containing the Taskmaster's real phone number (1 point)

• Task 1: Improve Paul
  • Winner: Karen - had Paul memorise the 50 US states in alphabetical order (5 points)
  • Bubbah - had Paul dress in her street clothes and tried to loosen him up to be more fun (4 points)
  • Dai and Melanie (3 points)
    • Dai - gave Paul a "fashionable" makeover and had him do a runway show
    • Melanie - turned Paul into Paul 3000
  • Ray - swapped outfits with Paul and had Paul complete a Taskmaster challenge (1 point)

• Task 2: Team Task - Select A Scroll. Perform A Play Based On The Historical Event Written On Your Scroll. No Research Allowed.
  • Winner: Bubbah, Dai, and Karen - "Guy Fawkes and the Gunpowder Plot (4 points)
  • Melanie and Ray - "The Assassination of Julius Caesar" (2 points)

• Task 3: Make A Bet With Paul, Then Win It. Once Paul Accepts Your Best With A Sturdy Handshake, You Cannot Make A New Bet.
  • Winner: Ray - whether or not Ray can name 150 Pokémon^note Winner: Ray (5 points)
  • Melanie - who can throw a frisbee the furthest, loser has to chug a can of cola^note Winner: Melanie. Paul had to chug a paint can full of cola (4 points)
  • Karen - whether she or Paul could stuff more marshmallows in their mouth^note Winner: Paul (3 points)
  • Dai - whether or not Paul could find 13 different leaves on the Taskmaster Ranch in under 15 minutes^note Winner: Paul (2 points)
  • Bubbah - who can run the most laps from the caravan to the bathtub in 25 minutes^note Winner:Paul, who completed 119 laps while Bubbah completed 12 (1 point)

• Live Task: One At A Time, You Must Throw Your Six Darts From The Spot And Pop The Balloons That Match The Colour Of Your Vest. Each Popped Balloon Of Your Colour Will Give You One Point. If You Pop Someone Else's Balloon, They Will Receive That Point And You Will Incur A Penalty^note In order: (1) Wear an eyepatch, (2) stand on one foot, (3) swap your throwing hand, (4) throw underarm and (5) wear a second eyepatch.. If You Hit The Black Balloon You Are Eliminated.
  • Winner: Melanie - 7 balloons (5 points)
  • Bubbah and Karen - 6 balloons (3 points)
  • Dai and Ray^note Ray incurred every penalty and would have gotten more, but the production team didn't think anyone would get so many (1 point)

• Episode Ranking:
  • 1. Karen (20 points)
  • 2. Bubbah (16 points)
  • 3. Melanie (17 points)
  • 4. Dai (12 points)
  • 5. Ray (10 points)

Episode 5 - "Your Hand Can Do A Better Job"

• Prize Task: The Best Thing That Reminds Them Of Home.
  • Winner: Dai - a Japanese happi coat (4 points)
  • Melanie and Ray (3 points)
    • Melanie - beer in a perfume bottle
    • Ray - John Warner, his landlord^note and the Taskmaster's former English teacher
  • Bubbah - a salu (2 points)
  • Karen - Eilish Warner, her partner, dressed in a cardboard replica of their home (1 point)

• Task 1: Get As Many Balloons On The Desk As You Can. Each Balloon Must Be Blown Up, Have A Face, And A Name. If A Balloon Falls Off You Must Get On Your Knees And Mourn It Before Placing It Back On. You Have Ten Minutes.^note Fans were placed in the rafters with a sign that read: "The fans will turn on in nine minutes and thirty seconds."
  • Winner: Melanie - 26 balloons (5 points)
  • Bubbah - 19 balloons (4 points)
  • Ray - 14 balloons^note None of Ray's balloons were blown up properly but the Taskmaster found the situation to be so pitiful that he allowed Ray's attempt to stand (3 points)
  • Dai - 9 balloons (2 points)
  • Karen - 4 balloons (1 point)

• Task 2: Become Another Contestant. If You Become The Same Contestant As Someone Else, Your Points Will Be Halved.
  • Winner: Karen - Ray O'Leary (4 points)
  • Dai - Melanie Bracewell (3 points)
  • Bubbah, Melanie, and Ray - Dai Henwood^note All three portrayed Dai by walking around on their knees to emphasize his shortness (1 point)

• Task 3: Get Married. You Cannot Marry Paul.
  • Winner: Karen - to Eilish Warner, her real-life partner (5 points)
  • Dai - to "Shoshana", an anthropomorphised golf bag (4 points)
  • Bubbah - to herself (3 points)
  • Melanie and Ray (1 point)
    • Melanie - to her hand
    • Ray - to "Phinella", a mannequin torso

• Live Task: Side With The Taskmaster. Paul Will Read Aloud A Statement And You Must Decide Whether The Taskmaster Would Agree Or Disagree With That Statement By Standing In The Corresponding Bathtub.^note The statements were: Italian food is overrated (Disagree). Jam goes in the fridge (Agree). The people who stand up on planes should be allowed to get off first (Disagree). Ray O'Leary's suit suits him (Agree). Black shoes with white socks is OK (Agree). Tea goes in before the milk (Agree).
  • Winner: Mel - 5 agreements (5 points)
  • Bubbah, Karen, and Ray - 4 agreements (3 points)
  • Dai - 3 agreements (1 point)

• Episode Ranking:
  • 1. Karen O'Leary (16 points)
  • 2. Dai Henwood (14 points)
  • 3. Bubbah and Melanie Bracewell (13 points)
  • 4. Ray O'Leary (11 points)

Episode 6 - "There Had To Be Blood"

• Prize Task: The Most Braggable-about Item
  • Winner: Dai - a bottle of "The Little General" craft beer, brewed to commemorate Stacey Jones of the New Zealand Warriors^note a professional rugby team (4 points)
  • Bubbah, Karen, and Melanie (3 points)
    • Bubbah - a Samoan flag she brought with her as she got her start in the NZ comedy scene
    • Karen - a writing assignment she did in Form 1, for which she received full marks
    • Melanie - the jersey worn by Michael Bracewell, her cousin, when he saved a One Day International New Zealand played against Ireland^note the Bracewells are a well-known family of international cricketers
  • Ray - a tall poppy (1 point)

• Task 1: Break Up Your Marriage.^note A follow-up to the marriage task from the preceding episode
  • Winner: Bubbah - caught herself engaging in an affair with herself and killed herself in a fit of rage, only for their child (also herself) to walk into the room and see the carnage (5 points)
  • Ray - engaged in an affair with the Taskmaster Ranch's lion statue and was caught by Phinella, the mannequin torso he'd married (4 points)
  • Melanie - sawed her hand off because it cheated on her with Paul (3 points)
  • Dai - threw Shoshana, the anthropomorphized golf bag he'd married, off the Taskmaster House's balcony because she was sleeping with his brother (2 points)
  • Karen - sent a video to Eilish Warner, her real-life partner, claiming that she was having an affair with Paul (1 point)

• Task 2: Team Task: Control A Blindfolded Teammate Through The Maze Without Touching The Rope. Your May Not Repeat Any Words In Your Directions. Only The Blindfolded Teammate May Enter The Maze. You Cannot Remove The Blindfold. If You Touch The Rope Or Repeat A Word, The Blindfolded Teammate Must Return To The Start Of the Maze.
  • Winner: Melanie and Ray - 10 minutes 40 seconds (5 points)
  • Bubbah, Dai, and Karen - 40 minutes 9 seconds^note Karen realised she could crawl under the ropes and make it to the end without touching any (2 points)

• Task 3: Use This Entire Roll Of Sellotape In The Most Brilliant Way. You Cannot Waste Any Of It.
  • Winner: Ray - used the tape to tie up Paul and act out a Chained to a Railway scene (4 points)
  • Bubbah and Melanie (3 points)
    • Bubbah - used the tape to try and hang Paul off a rafter on the Taskmaster House balcony as an art installation
    • Melanie - taped various objects to her body and her phone to her face as an artistic statement about the danger of capitalism
  • Dai - used the tape to deliver fruit and produce from the Taskmaster House's kitchen to the ground floor (2 points)
  • Karen - taped up a tennis ball and used it to play cricket with Paul (1 point)

• Live Task: In Your Teams, Deliver The Taskmaster Three Compliments. Standing At Your Plinth, One At A Time, Write An Original Compliment On An Egg And Deliver It To The Taskmaster With Your Remote-Control Car. If You Lose Or Break Your Egg, You Must Start Again.^note This was meant to be an individual task, but technical issues forced it to be reconfigured as a team task
  • Winner: Melanie and Ray (3 points)^note They delivered three compliments but were docked points for poor driving
  • Bubbah, Dai, and Karen (2 points)

• Tiebreaker: Lie Down. Fastest To Lie Down Wins.^note Each contestant received a long set of instructions unique to them. While each envelope contained different instructions, the letter count was the same for all five
  • Winner: Melanie - 1 minute (+1 Tiebreaker Point)
  • Ray - 1 minute 46 seconds^note got sidetracked explaining a legal error he found in his instructions

• Episode Ranking:
  • 1. Melanie Bracewell (17 points + 1 tiebreaker)
  • 2. Ray O'Leary (17 points)
  • 3. Bubbah (15 points)
  • 4. Dai Henwood (12 points)
  • 5. Karen O'Leary (9 points)

Episode 7- "A Pretty Skux Cartwheel"

• Prize Task: The Best Gift For Their 12-Year-Old Self.
  • Winner: None
  • Bubbah, Dai, and Karen (3 points)^note The Taskmaster declared these to be sympathy points
    • Bubbah - a fancy lunch because she couldn't afford school lunches as a child^note she claimed that her first choice for the task was a loaded pistol that her 12-year-old self could have used to get money to pay for lunch
    • Dai - a razor and shaving cream, as he grew facial hair at a young age and felt it skewed his emotional development
    • Karen - a helmet covered in mirrored pieces like a disco ball to help her younger self feel secure and confident
  • Melanie - her driving licence (2 points)
  • Ray - a child's chemistry set and the formula for the COVID-19 vaccine so his younger self can patent it and get rich (1 point)

• Task 1: Do Magic. You Cannot Use Editing Trickery.
  • Winner: Bubbah - made herself disappear on the Taskmaster House's balcony and reappeared in the study (5 points)
  • Melanie - made an apple float in mid-air and split it in half without her touching it (4 points)
  • Karen - made a "rabbit" appear out of a hat (3 points)
  • Dai - "swallowed" a paint brush and made it reappear in a book (2 points)
  • Ray - took Paul to "Raysneyland, the most magical place on Earth" (1 point)

• Task 2: Win One Point In Table Tennis Against Paul. If Paul Scores A Point Against You, You Will Be Penalised With A Penalty Of Your Choice^note 1) Put on a jacket. 2) Replace your racket. 3) Make Paul a crustless peanut butter and jam sandwich and cut it into triangles.. You May Not Choose The Same Penalty Twice In A Row.
  • Winner: Dai - 2.1 secs (5 points)
  • Melanie - 2 mins 40 secs (4 points)
  • Karen - 8 mins 19 secs (3 points)
  • Bubbah - 17 mins 33 secs (2 points)
  • Ray - 18 mins 23 secs (1 point)

• Task 3: Make This Teenager Think You're Cool
  • Winner: Bubbah (5 points)
  • Ray (4 points)
  • Dai (3 points)
  • Karen (2 points)
  • Melanie (1 point)

• Live Task: Select A Trophy And Make An Acceptance Speech At the Podium That Include The Word Written On The Bottom Of Your Trophy. If The Taskmaster Correctly Guesses Your Word, You Will Be Eliminated. If Nobody's World Is Guessed, The Weakest Acceptance Speech Will Be Eliminated. Speeches Will Get Shorter With Each Round.
  • Winner: Ray (5 points)
  • Melanie (4 points)
  • Karen (3 points)
  • Dai (2 points)
  • Bubbah (1 point)

• Episode Ranking:
  • 1. Bubbah (16 points)
  • 2. Dai Henwood(15 points)
  • 3. Karen O'Leary and Melanie Bracewell (14 points)
  • 4. Ray O'Leary (13 points)

Episode 8 - "Cigarettes and Steroids"

• Prize Task: The Best Thing To Have At Night
  • Winner: Ray - a teacup full of sleeping pills (5 points)
  • Bubbah - horse-meat pasta for a pleasant dinner (4 points)
  • Dai - a Chinese tea set (3 points)
  • Melanie - a telescope (2 points)
  • Karen - a cassette of Kenny Rogers' Eyes That See in the Dark^note to set the mood for nighttime fun (1 point)

• Task 1: Spin The Most Times On This Office Chair Before Successfully Shooting A Hoop From This Spot. You Have Until You Successfully Shoot A Hoop. You Must Shoot Within Three Seconds Of Completing Your Spins. If You Miss The Shot, You Must Start Again.
  • Winner: Ray - 30 spins (5 points)
  • Melanie - 24 spins (4 points)
  • Bubbah - 21 spins (3 points)
  • Dai - 12 spins (2 points)
  • Karen - 5 spins^note used Loophole Abuse to spin the basketball on her finger while sitting on the office chair, but forgot that she needed the highest number of spins (1 point)

• Task 2: Invent And Build A New Exercise Machine. You Must Be Able To Use It And Successfully Burn 40 Calories.
  • Winner: Dai (3 points)
  • Bubbah, Karen, and Melanie (2 points)
  • Ray (1 point)

• Task 3: Win Something. You Cannot Win It At The Taskmaster Ranch Or The Taskmaster Studio. You Must Be Able To Prove You Won It.
  • Winner: Bubbah - an "Alumni Making A Difference in South Auckland" certificate from Aorere College, her old high school (5 points)
  • Karen, Melanie, and Ray (3 points)
    • Karen - $10,000 from NZ on Air for a children's song she wrote^note the money is meant to cover production costs for the song, but Karen says she's pocketing the money and producing the song for free
    • Melanie - tickets to a showing for Evil Dead Rise, which she won by calling into the Matt and Jerry Breakfast Show on Radio Hauraki^note hosted by the Taskmaster and Season 2's Matt Heath while pretending to be a man named Lem
    • Ray - a Line Friends doll of Brown dressed as Sally that he won from a claw machine after spending $79 and an hour and 50 minutes to do so
  • Dai - a lottery ticket (1 point)^note ranked last because the Taskmaster spotted that it was actually from the previous year

• Task 3: Team Task - Choose A Topic That Vaguely Interests Your Whole Team The Exact Same Amount. Write It On This Piece Of Paper Then Go To The Study. Start A Podcast About Your Topic. Your Podcast Must Be At Least 20 Minutes Long And Will Be Released To The Public Today. You Must Not Give Any Indication That The Podcast Is A Task.
  • Winner: Melanie and Ray - "bananas" with 362 listens (5 points)
  • Bubbah, Dai, and Karen - "moisturiser" with 9 listens^note which included Melanie and Ray (2 points)

• Live Task: Survive The Great Flour Bluff. Don The Goggles And Face The Barrel Of The Vacuum Cleaner, Which Is Loaded With Flour^note later revealed to be baking soda as flour is highly combustible. You Can Ask The Taskmaster If The Vacuum Is Set To On Or Off, But He Does Not Have To Answer Truthfully. You Can Then Ask Him To Flick The Switch One More Time, And Then You Must Connect The Power Supply.
  • Winner: Karen - 3 correct guesses (5 points)
  • Dai - 2 correct guesses (3 points)
  • Bubbah, Melanie, and Ray - 0 correct guesses (1 point)

• Episode Ranking:
  • 1. Ray O'Leary (20 points)
  • 2. Bubbah and Melanie Bracewell (17 points)
  • 3. Dai Henwood and Karen O'Leary (14 points)

Episode 9 - "Truffle Pig"

• Prize Task: The Sexiest Inanimate Object.
  • Winner: Bubbah - a heater with photos depicting a love story between herself and Ray (5 points)
  • Dai - a light-up female mannequin torso (4 points)
  • Ray - an hourglass (3 points)
  • Melanie - a medical model of the human auditory system^note because she considers someone who listens to be sexy (2 points)
  • Karen - a Scrub Daddy (1 point)

• Task 1: Fire Ammunition From The Slingshot And Knock The Fine China Off The Towers. Each Piece Of Ammunition Must Be Different And Start With The Same Letter Of The Alphabet. You May Only Shoot Each Item Once.
  • Winner: Karen and Melanie - 5 pieces of fine china (5 points)
  • Dai and Ray - 3 pieces of fine china (3 points)
  • Bubbah - 1 piece of fine china (1 point)

• Task 2: Write And Perform A Duet With Yourself.
  • Winner: Bubbah (5 points)
  • Dai (4 points)
  • Melanie (3 points)
  • Karen (2 points)
  • Ray (1 point)

• Task 3: Find And Complete The Most Tasks^note Task envelopes were hidden around the study. There was also one stuck onto each contestant's back while Paul had many taped to his shirt hidden under his jacket. You Must Complete A Task Before Opening A New One.
  • Winner: Ray - 32 tasks^note discovered the task envelopes on Paul's person (5 points)
  • Bubbah - 16 tasks (4 points)
  • Dai - 13 tasks (3 points)
  • Melanie - 12 tasks (2 points)
  • Karen - 11 tasks (1 point)

• Live Task:Team Task - Paint A Painting On The Canvas In Front Of You. You Must Paint With The Hand That Is Attached To Your Team's Pole. One Member Of Each Team Must Pain A Handsome Horse, And One Must Paint A Dangerous Duck. One Member Of The Team Of Three Must Paint A Dangerous Duck Riding A Handsome Horse.^note Although the task was performed in teams, the contestants were scored individually
  • Winner: Melanie - a handsome horse (5 points)
  • Karen - a dangerous duck riding a handsome horse (4 points)
  • Bubbah - a handsome horse (3 points)
  • Ray - a dangerous duck (2 points)
  • Dai - a dangerous duck (1 point)

• Episode Ranking:
  • 1. Bubbah (18 points)
  • 2. Melanie Bracewell (17 points)
  • 3. Dai Henwood (15 points)
  • 4. Ray O'Leary (14 points)
  • 5. Karen O'Leary (13 points)

Episode 10 - "Where Is Scorpio?"

• Prize Task: The Cheapest Luxury Thing.
  • Winner: Dai - revitalizing foot pads (5 points)
  • Bubbah - a Nintendo Switch and several games...which she stole from Ray (4 points)
  • Ray - a spa experience provided by himself (3 points)
  • Karen - a suitcase full of shampoo she'd found^note Ray's prize task submission for episode 3, which Mel had won then thrown away (2 points)
  • Melanie - an unpaid intern (1 point)

• Task 1: Team Task - Who Stole The Cookie From The Cookie Jar? You May Make One Accusation Against One Suspect. Your Accusation Begins When You Say The Word "J'Accuse".
  • Winner: Melanie and Ray^note followed various clues to find a security tape to reveal that a Red Herring did it (5 points)
  • Bubbah, Dai, and Karen^note immediately accused Paul and walked out of the lab (1 point)

• Task 2: Roll An Egg From The Desk And Into Your Locker. Your Feet May Not Move At The Same Time As The Egg Moves. If The Egg Breaks, You Must Return To The Start With A New Egg. There Are Only Six Eggs.
  • Winner: Karen (5 points)
  • Ray (4 points)
  • Melanie (3 points)
  • Dai (2 points)
  • Bubbah (1 point)

• Task 3: Ruin This Office Leaving Party.
  • Winner: Melanie (5 points)
  • Bubbah (4 points)
  • Dai (3 points)
  • Karen (2 points)
  • Ray (1 point)

• Live Task: Cross Behind This Screen And Disguise Your Silhouette From The Taskmaster. You Can Use The Objects Behind The Screen To Help You, But You Must Cross One At A Time.
  • Winner: Karen - 3 successes (5 points)
  • Bubbah - 2 successes (4 points)
  • Dai and Melanie - 1 success (3 points)
  • Ray - no successes (1 point)

• Episode Ranking:
  • 1. Melanie Bracewell (17 points)^note meaning she won the same suitcase full of shampoo twice
  • 2. Karen O'Leary (15 points)
  • 3. Bubbah, Dai Henwood, and Ray O'Leary (14 points)

Task Tally

A breakdown of the tasks as won by the contestants is as follows:

• Melanie Bracewell: 15 tasks (0 prize tasks, 5 video tasks [1 joint with Karen], 3 team tasks, 4 live tasks, 1 live team task, 2 tiebreakers)
• Ray O'Leary: 13 tasks (2 prize tasks, 5 video tasks [1 joint with Bubbah], 3 team tasks, 2 live tasks, 1 live team task)
• Bubbah: 12 tasks (2 prize tasks, 7 video tasks [1 joint with Ray], 2 team tasks, 1 live task)
• Karen O'Leary: 11 tasks (1 prize task, 6 video tasks [1 joint with Melanie], 2 team tasks, 2 live tasks)
• Dai Henwood: 10 tasks (3 prize tasks, 5 video tasks, 2 team tasks, 0 live tasks)

Nobody won the prize tasks in episodes 3 and 7.

Episode Tally

• Melanie Bracewell = 4 episodes (Episodes 1, 3, 6 and 10)
• Bubbah and Karen O'Leary = 2 episodes
  • Bubbah (Episodes 7 and 9)
  • Karen O'Leary (Episodes 4 and 5)
• Dai Henwood and Ray O'Leary = 1 episode
  • Dai Henwood (Episode 2)
  • Ray O'Leary (Episode 8)

Episode Titles

Each episode is a Title Drop made by either a participant in the show, the Taskmaster, or the Taskmaster's Assistant. In this series, the titles were provided by:

• Episode 1 - Bubbah
• Episode 2 - Dai Henwood
• Episode 3 - Dai Henwood
• Episode 4 - Karen O'Leary
• Episode 5 - Melanie Bracewell
• Episode 6 - Melanie Bracewell
• Episode 7 - Dai Henwood
• Episode 8 - Dai Henwood
• Episode 9 - Ray O'Leary
• Episode 10 - The Taskmaster's Assistant

Series Ranking

1. Winner: Melanie Bracewell (159 points)
2. Bubbah (153 points)
3. Ray O'Leary (147 points)
4. Dai Henwood (144 points)
5. Karen O'Leary (136 points)