British series:
Series: One | Two | Three | Four | Five | Six | Seven | Eight | Nine | Ten | Eleven | Twelve | Thirteen | Fourteen | Fifteen | Sixteen
Specials: New Year Treat | New Year Treat II | New Year Treat III | New Year Treat IV
New Zealand series:
Seasons: One | Two | Three | Four
Australian Series:
Seasons: One
Adrian Chiles
A television personality who has presented programmes such as The One Show and Match Of The Day.
- Boring, but Practical: He chose the second shortest pole length out of all the contestants for the obstacle course task, but won due to largely succeeding at preventing the pole from touching anything. He also placed second in the live task by simply drawing a face on his rugby ball with a pen instead of trying to use the fancier art supplies provided.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: In his sole appearance on the show, Adrian had one of the best single-episode performances of anyone in Taskmaster history. He scored a whopping 22 points (out of 25 available), easily outpacing runner-up Jonnie Peacock's 15. This included him coming first in every one of the pre-recorded tasks.
- Failed a Spot Check: During the drink-the-vinegar task, he realizes that litmus paper was probably hidden in the room somewhere and he actually picks the packet up but doesn't realize what it was and put it away.
- Incredibly Lame Fun: When presenting his prize submission, he says he's reached the age where the simple things give him the most pleasure, such as ironing tea towels and de-scaling tea urns. He also asks to keep a cooking book he found in the caravan as he collects vintage cooking books.
- Naked People Are Funny: Discussed in the companion podcast. Adrian reveals that for the egg task, he was willing to remove his underwear as well, but he was stopped by Alex.
Claudia Winkleman
A television presenter best known for programmes like The Great British Sewing Bee, Strictly Come Dancing, and Would I Lie to You?.
- Butt-Monkey: Of all the contestants for the special, Claudia suffered the most of anyone. She easily had the worst performance of the cast, never scoring higher than fourth place in any of the tasks (even getting disqualified from one of them). By the end of the episode, she was only able to earn 6 points, which meant she averaged a total of 1.2 points per task. Her closest competitor in the rankings, Lady Leshurr, did twice as well as her with 12 points.
- Can't Hold His Liquor: When presented with a table full of shot glasses, she mentions she's a light drunk and that she needed to take a nap at her own wedding after a single glass of wine.
- Early-Bird Cameo: While Claudia hasn't made a physical appearance on the show prior to shooting the New Year Treat, she has been mentioned twice on different occasions:
- Josh Widdicombe, in his bid to make Fred the Swede blush, questions him about his celebrity crushes like whether he fancies Claudia Winkleman.
- Morgana Robinson's prize entry for the Series 12 finale is a wig with a fringe reminiscent of Claudia's own trademark look, which the former argues fulfils the brief of being a magnificent floppy thing.
- Epic Fail: During the pole-and-obstacle-course task, she incurs so many penalties that her 410cm pole is brought down to a mere 10cm, far behind Sayeeda Warsi who came in fourth with 207cm.
- Incredibly Lame Fun: She enthusiastically talks about sharing Pot Noodles and Wotsits with Alex, to Greg's disbelief.
- Precision F-Strike: She doesn't say the words out loud, but after Alex's bitchy crack about how Leshurr's basketball portrait of her is accurate because "it is orange", Claudia is visibly mouthing the words "fuck you!" at him while giving him the middle finger.
Jonnie Peacock
Sprinter and paralympian who won gold medals at the 2012 and 2016 Paralympics.
- All for Nothing:
- He constructs an elaborate ramp for the catch-an-egg task, only for the egg to crack during the roll down and break completely when he catches it with a tennis racket. This results in a disqualification.
- He finds clues that direct him to the correct glass for the drink-the-vinegar task, but knocks it over ... resulting in a longer time as he needs to go find a straw to suck up the spilt vinegar.
- Awesomeness by Analysis: In the drink-the-vinegar task, he's the only contestant to find the indicator paper hidden in the living room along with all the clues that directed him to the 85th glass on the table.
- Establishing Character Moment: In the opening titles, Jonnie is the only contestant who runs through the smoke. His athletisicm is on full display during the catch-an-egg task, and when he passes the pole through the telephone box in the third task.
- Genre Savvy: In the vinegar task, he correctly identifies there would be some clue as to what glass had the vinegar in. In the pole task, he realises that one long touch has the same penalty as a short touch.
Lady Leshurr
A rapper and singer-songwriter specialising in grime.
- Dynamic Entry: At the start of the pole-carrying task, she charges the front door of the Taskmaster House, only to bounce back when the pole makes impact.
- Refuge in Audacity: She asks Alex to procure oak-smoked salmon for the catch-an-egg task and used it to launch her egg across the table in the lab. Greg says that she must have been craving some smoked salmon and used the task as an excuse to have someone else pay for some.
- Shout-Out: During the catch-an-egg task, she says she's going to spin her egg like a Beyblade.
- Trademark Favorite Food: A downplayed example within the context of this programme. While her choice of salmon would just appear to be an off-the-cuff lavish choice, fans of her music will already be familiar with Leshurr's affinity for smoked salmon.
Rt. Hon. Sayeeda Warsi, Baroness Warsi, PC
A lawyer, politician, and member of the House of Lords.
- Bait-and-Switch: For the catch-an-egg task, she dressed up in an elaborate superhero outfit, which included roller skates. Instead of skating, however, she did her task entirely seated.
- Wrong Genre Savvy: Sayeeda falls into the trap of trying to appeal to Greg's emotions when she is selling her prize entry with a heart-rending backstory. Naturally, Greg ranks it near the bottom for annoying him.
