Recap / Taskmaster Series 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

From left: Mel Giedroyc, Hugh Dennis, Greg Davies (seated), Lolly Adefope, Alex Horne (seated), Joe Lycett, Noel Fielding

• Taskmaster: Greg Davies
• Taskmaster's Assistant: Alex Horne
• Contestants: Hugh Dennis, Joe Lycett, Lolly Adefope, Mel Giedroyc, Noel Fielding
• Teams:
  • Hugh Dennis and Mel Giedroyc ("The Parents"/"TV's Mel 'n' Hugh"^note a reference to Mel's long-standing comedy/presenting partnership with Sue Perkins, frequently dubbed "Mel 'n' Sue")
  • Joe Lycett, Lolly Adefope and Noel Fielding ("The Youngsters"/"The Children")

This series marks the move to an eight-episode run (previous series were either five or six episodes long).

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

Episodes

Episode 1 - "A Fat Bald White Man"

• Prize Task: The Most Interesting Autograph — On The Most Interesting Vegetable
  • Winner: Noel - a broadbean signed by David Suchet (5 points)
  • Mel - multiple vegetables signed by individual original members of Take That (Band) (with the exception of Jason Orange)^note Howard Donald signed a horseradish, Gary Barlow signed a butternut squash, Mark Owen signed a heritage squash, and Robbie Williams signed a sweet potato (4 points)
  • Lolly - a signed CD of The Black Eyed Peas on a plate of black-eyed peas (3 points)
  • Joe - a yellow courgette signed by the Taskmaster^note points docked because Sara Pascoe, who Joe had convinced to get the Taskmaster's autograph, had told the Taskmaster it was for charity as a cover (2 points)
  • Hugh - a carrot signed by "Malcolm X"^note in actuality a carrot he'd just marked with an 'X' (1 point)

• Task 1: Destroy This Cake In Thirty Minutes. Most Beautiful Destruction Wins
  • Winner: Joe - placed the cake in a bucket and set off a beautiful firework display (5 points)
  • Noel - placed the cake in the washing machine and turned it on (4 points)
  • Mel - flipped the cake upside down and smooshed the cake onto the table (3 points)
  • Lolly - smeared the cake onto the side of the Taskmaster house into the shape of a heart (2 points)
  • Hugh - cut up the cake with several knives and arranged it into the shape of a "clock" (1 point)

• Task 2: Draw The Best Caricature Of The Person On The Other Side Of The Curtain In The Caravan. You May Not Look At The Person And The Person May Only Respond To Questions With Yes Or No Answers. Bonus Points For Finding Out The Person's Full Name^note Jennifer Christine Wright
  • Winner: Noel (5 points)
  • Joe (4 points)
  • Lolly (3 points)
  • Mel (2 points +1 bonus point)
  • Hugh (1 point +1 bonus point)^note Hugh created a bit of controversy by stretching the rules to use a mirror to reflect the model, arguing that he was not looking at the model but a reflection of her. The Taskmaster agreed to let him have points if his work was sufficiently good enough, but ultimately judged it the worst of them regardless. However, he did secure a bonus point by asking her to write her full name down.

• Task 3: Fell All The Arranged Rubber Ducks From Behind A Red Rope. Fastest Wins. Your Time Starts When The First Rubber Duck Falls
  • Winner: Hugh - 8.9 seconds (5 points)^note looped string around the closest ducks and tied string around the fencing panels bearing the farthest ducks, and simply pulled them over
  • Lolly - 1 minute 2 seconds (4 points)^note enlisted the aid of the Taskmaster's Assistant and a member of the filming crew to move the fencing panels closer to the red rope, then used a hose
  • Joe - 1 minute 56 seconds (3 points)^note threw various implements from the shed at the ducks
  • Noel - 4 minutes 50 seconds (2 points)^note threw tennis balls at the ducks, before doing the same as Hugh and tying string around the fencing panels
  • Mel - 7 minutes 25 seconds (1 point)^note attempted to use a tennis ball on an elastic string as a lasso; when that failed, batted tennis balls at the ducks with a tennis racquet, and finally also tied string around the panels

• Live Task: Make The Most Juice With One Tool, One Fruit, And A Potential Handicap^note Contestants who picked the same tool as another were required to be blindfolded, contestants who picked the same fruit were required to be one-handed, and contestants who picked both objects the same were required to hop up and down on top of both previous handicaps
  • Winner: Mel - made 7 mL of juice from a lime with a shoe (5 points)^note Mel was the only contestant to complete the task without any handicaps
  • Hugh - made 4 mL of juice from a pineapple with tweezers (4 points)
  • Joe - made 3 mL of juice from a pineapple with a hammer (3 points)
  • Noel - made 2 mL of juice from grapes with tweezers (2 points)
  • Lolly - made 0.4 mL of juice from grapes with a hammer (1 point)

• Episode Ranking:
  1. Winner: Noel Fielding (18 points)
  2. Joe Lycett (17 points)
  3. Mel Giedroyc (16 points)
  4. Hugh Dennis and Lolly Adefope (13 points)

Episode 2 - "Look at Me"

• Prize Task: Most Boastful Item
  • Winner: Noel - The issue of ''NME where he was named "Sexiest Man of the Year" (5 points)
  • Lolly - a GCSE Maths Award Certificate earned and awarded when she was nine (4 points)
  • Mel - a collection of awards earned by her guinea pig (3 points)
  • Joe - a selfie taken with the Chuckle Brothers (2 points)
  • Hugh - a "Loser's Medal" earned after a disastrous school football tournament, given to him by the then-manager of Wolverhampton Wanderers (1 point)

• Task 1: Keep The Basketball On The Running Machine As Long As Possible. You May Not Touch The Ball Or The Machine
  • Winner: Hugh (5 points)^note kept the ball on the machine for several minutes, then unplugged the running machine; the ball stayed on the machine for another four months before being knocked off by the weather
  • Lolly (4 points)^note kept the ball on the machine for 15.8 seconds
  • Mel (3 points)^note kept the ball on the machine for 9 seconds
  • Joe (2 points)^note kept the ball on the machine for 3.8 seconds
  • Noel (1 point)^note kept the ball on the machine for 3.75 seconds

• Task 2: Paint The Best Portrait Of The Taskmaster. Only The Paint And Brush May Touch The Mat, Easel And Canvas
  • Winner: Noel (5 points)
  • Joe (4 points)
  • Mel (3 points)
  • Lolly (2 points)
  • Hugh (Disqualified)^note placed rugs down on the red mat surrounding the canvas, against the rules

• Trick Task: The Above, But You Must Smile At The Camera With Increasing Enthusiasm Every Thirty Seconds
  • Victim: Joe

• Task 3: Team Task - Land The Most Flour On The Target. You May Not Leave The Bandstand
  • Winner: Mel and Hugh (5 points)
  • Joe, Lolly and Noel (Disqualified)^note Though they managed to get substantially more flour onto the target, Noel tampered with the clock to give them more time

• Task 4: Without Touching The Egg Or The Egg Cup, Get The Egg Into The Egg Cup Using Only The Equipment On The Table. Touching Any Equipment That Another Contestant Has Touched Will Incur A One Minute Time Penalty For Both Contestants
  • Winner: Lolly - 1 minute and 28 seconds using blue tack (5 points)^note 1 minute penalty added for using the blue tack touched by Mel
  • Noel - 3 minutes and 2.5 seconds using a bread slice (4 points)^note 3 minute penalty added for using the bread slice touched by Joe, Hugh, and Mel
  • Joe - 3 minutes and 2.8 seconds using a bread slice (3 points)^note 3 minute penalty added for using the bread slice touched by Hugh, Mel, and Noel
  • Hugh - 5 minutes and 14 seconds using a bread slice and a chopstick(2 points)^note 3 minute penalty added for using the bread slice touched by Joe, Mel, and Noel and 1 minute penalty added for using the chopstick touched by Mel
  • Mel - 5 minutes and 57 seconds touching every item before using the bread slice (1 point)^note 3 minute penalty added for using the bread slice touched by Hugh, Joe, and Noel; 1 minute penalty added for touching the blue tack touched by Lolly; and 1 minute penalty added for touching the chopstick touched by Hugh

• Live Task: Looking At The Taskmaster At All Times And With Your Arms Beneath A Hairdresser's Smock, Attach As Many Balloons Together As Possible in 100 seconds
  • Winner: Mel (5 points)
  • Hugh (4 points)
  • Lolly and Noel (3 points)
  • Joe (2 points)

• Episode Ranking:
  1. Winner: Mel Giedroyc (20 points)
  2. Lolly Adefope and Noel Fielding (18 points)
  3. Hugh Dennis (17 points)
  4. Joe Lycett (13 points)

Episode 3 - "Hollowing Out A Baguette"

• Prize Task: Best Membership/Subscription
  • Winner: Noel - a subscription to Cheese Postie, a gourmet toasted cheese sandwich club (5 points)
  • Lolly - a subscription to The Cheese Society, a monthly cheese club (4 points)
  • Joe - a membership to Cure & Simple, a bacon / pork products club (3 points)
  • Mel - a subscription to Moving Ahead, the official magazine/report of Crossrail, part of the London-South East rail network (2 points)
  • Hugh - a membership to the Cloud Appreciation Society, an organisation which shares photographs of interesting clouds (1 point)

• Task 1: Camouflage Yourself
  • Winner: Noel - a green-screened image of himself positioned in the fruitbowl of the Taskmaster Caravan (5 points)
  • Hugh and Joe (4 points)
    • Hugh - unscrewed the door of the house, strapped it to his back, and stood in the doorframe
    • Joe - hidden amongst a group of Twitter followers (including former contestant Al Murray) wearing identical black beanies and black-and-white striped sweaters
  • Lolly - hidden under a grass-covered poncho with icing sugar (inexplicably) poured over it (2 points)
  • Mel - hidden (poorly) behind a vase in the Taskmaster House living room (1 point)^note misinterpreted the task; was under the belief that she couldn't leave the living room (where the task was located)

• Task 2: Team Task - Make A Trailer For Taskmaster: The Movie''
  • Winner: Hugh and Mel - Tugtemester (3 points)
  • Joe, Lolly and Noel (2 points)

• Task 3: Persuade Three Dogs To Stand On The Red Mat. Exactly Twelve Legs Must Be On The Mat At The Same Time
  • Winner: Joe - 44.6 seconds (5 points)
  • Noel - 6 minutes 28 seconds (4 points)
  • Hugh - 6 minutes 51 seconds (3 points)^note interpreted the task to include '10 dog legs and his own 2 legs', which was deemed valid
  • Mel - 14 minutes 24 seconds (1 point)

• "Trick" Task: The Above, But Chickens Instead Of Dogs^note Apparently, this was supposed to be the original task, but an outbreak of avian flu after Lolly had completed filming of the task required the Taskmaster's Assistant to substitute another animal for the other contestants. Among the chickens were also other species of birds, including ducks and geese. Given the added difficulty, Lolly was awarded two bonus points.
  • Victim: Lolly - 13 minutes 40 seconds (4 points)

• Task 4: Without Moving The Fishbowls, Transfer Water From Fishbowl A To Fishbowl B. You May Only Use The Items Provided On The Table. During The Task, You Must Commentate While Only Referring To Yourself In The Third Person^note There Is A Block Of Chocolate On The Table. If You Eat Any Of The Chocolate, You Will Be Docked Five Points
  • Winner: Hugh (4 points)
  • Noel (3 points)
  • Joe (0 points)^note transferred the most water but ate the chocolate, negating his 5 points. He also didn't commentate his process, which the Taskmaster appeared willing to overlook (though it is possible that, given that his points were ultimately wiped out, the Taskmaster was simply playing this up to annoy Hugh, who would have otherwise come second and did commentate).
  • Mel (-4 points)^note ate the chocolate. Mel offered to take on Joe's penalty -5 points, but the Taskmaster overruled her. Had he accepted, Mel would have scored -9 points in this task
  • Lolly (Disqualified)^note Moved the fishbowls despite being told not to move the fishbowls. After reading out that she could not move the fishbowls, Lolly moved the fishbowls. Essentially, she moved the fishbowls.
    
    This task is the first occasion in the show's run where a contestant has scored negative points.

• Live Task: Take It In Turns To Say A Five-Letter Word When The Music Stops. You May Not Say A Word That Has Been Previously Said. If You Fail To Say A Word Before The Music Restarts You Are Eliminated, And The Game Continues With Different Length Words^note round 1 - 5 letters, round 2 - 6 letters, round 3 - 7 letters, round 4 - 2 letters
  • Winner: Joe (5 points)
  • (in order of elimination) Mel, Lolly, Hugh, Noel (0 points)

• Tiebreaker: Decant A Bottle Of Wine Into Another Bottle From The Top Of An Umpire's Chair
  • Winner: Joe - 79 millilitres (1 point)^note Tiebreakers are not technically worth points and so do not count towards the overall episode and season tally; it is included here simply for the purposes of clarifying the winner
  • Noel - 16 millilitres (and some shards of glass) (0 points)^note appeared to misinterpret the task; spent the first fifty seconds drinking the wine (with the apparent intention to fill the second bottle via urination) before simply dropping the wine bottle onto the other one and letting it smash

• Episode Ranking:
  1. Winner: Joe Lycett (19 points +1 tiebreaker)
  2. Noel Fielding (19 points)
  3. Hugh Dennis (15 points)
  4. Lolly Adefope (12 points)
  5. Mel Giedroyc (3 points)

As of the broadcast of the Taskmaster New Year Treat 2020, this is the episode with the lowest individual score (Mel Giedroyc with 3 points). Had the Taskmaster allowed Mel's offer of taking on Joe's 5 point penalty, Mel would have been the first ever contestant to end an episode with negative points (at -2), which would also have made this episode have the largest gap (26 points) between first place and last (Joe on a hypothetical 24 points and Mel on the hypothetical -2).

Episode 4 - "Friendship is Truth"

• Prize Task: Most Surprising Picture Of Themselves
  • Winner: Lolly - a photograph of herself in "whiteface" as Lady Diana Spencer (5 points)
  • Joe - himself, shirtless in a hammock, with his back-fat pressed through the hammock (4 points)
  • Mel - a photograph of herself digitally inserted into Le Déjeuner sur l'herbe by Édouard Manet (3 points)
  • Noel - a photograph of himself as the Virgin Mary and Julian Barrett as the baby Jesus (2 points)
  • Hugh - a photograph of his own face which he claims to use as a mask when in public (1 point)

• Task 1: Make The Highest Splash. Before You Make Your Attempt, You Have To Say Who You Think Will Win The Task^note whoever correctly guesses the winner will gain five bonus points
  • Winner: Noel^note guessed that Mel would generate the highest splash (5 points)
  • Mel^note guessed that Lolly or Hugh would generate the highest splash (4 points)
  • Joe^note guessed that Joe would generate the highest splash (3 points)
  • Hugh^note guessed that Hugh would generate the highest splash (2 points)
  • Lolly^note guessed that Lolly would generate the highest splash (1 point)

• Task 2: Choreograph A Dance For You And The Taskmaster's Assistant To Perform To Any Of The Provided Ringtones
  • Winner: Mel and Noel (5 points)
    • Mel - intended to use "Sencha" and mentions it by name during the dance, but she read the CD incorrectly and ended up using the ringtone "Radiate"
    • Noel - used the ringtone "Sencha"
  • Lolly - used the ringtone "Playtime" (3 points)
  • Joe - used the ringtone "Playtime" (2 points)
  • Hugh - used the ringtone "Uplift" (1 point)

• Task 3: Create A Portrait Of A Celebrity Using Toilet Paper
  • Winner: Noel - a self-portrait (5 points)
  • Joe - Pam St. Clements (Pat Butcher from Eastenders) (4 points)
  • Hugh - HRM The Queen (3 points)
  • Lolly and Mel (2 points)
    • Lolly - Harry Potter
    • Mel - Barry Gibb/Kris Kristofferson^note there was confusion; the Taskmaster's Assistant had written down the former, whereas Mel insisted that she had intended it to be the latter

• Task 4: Do The Most Incredible Thing With This Pummel Horse In Ten Minutes
  • Joint Winner: Mel and Hugh (5 points)
    • Mel - made the pommel horse disappear in the grandiose style of a Vegas magic show (although the Taskmaster heavily suspects that there was camera trickery involved and assistance from the camera crew in moving the pommel horse out of frame)
    • Hugh - vaulted over the pommel horse until he exhausted himself. The Taskmaster gave Hugh first out of pity for his age.
  • Joe and Noel (3 points)
    • Joe - a modern art piece of a well-endowed horse whose owner has abandoned it and his Zimmer, only to meet a tragic fate elsewhere.
    • Noel - dressed as a Russian babushka, used magic to turn the pommel horse back into the Taskmaster's Assistant before straddling him for a ride.
  • Lolly - did some questionable gymnastics on, around, and under the pommel horse (after watching the gymnastic events from the previous Summer Olympics events as preparation) (1 point)

• Live Task: Make The Highest Tower Out Of Cardboard Tubes In 100 Seconds
  • Winner: Hugh and Mel (5 points)
  • Joe, Lolly, and Noel (3 points)

• Episode Ranking:
  1. Winner: Mel Giedroyc (24 points)
  2. Noel Fielding (23 points)
  3. Joe Lycett (19 points)
  4. Hugh Dennis (17 points)
  5. Lolly Adefope (15 points)

Episode 5 - "Meat"

• Prize Task: Cutest Thing
  • Winner: Lolly - a photo of herself as a baby (5 points)
  • Joe - a picture of his dog Bertie (4 points)
  • Noel - a plate of googly eyes to make other things cute (3 points)
  • Mel - a zip-up felt "pea pod" with three stuffed-toy peas inside (2 points)
  • Hugh - a cat-shaped squeezy stress-release toy with eyes that bulge out and a meowing noise (1 point)

• Task 1: Slide The Furthest
  • Winner: Mel (5 points)
  • Hugh (4 points)
  • Noel (3 points)
  • Joe (2 points)
  • Lolly (1 point)

• Task 2: Put On A Wetsuit And Diving Gear While Maintaining Constant Eye Contact, Visual Contact And Conversation With A Swede Via Online Chat
  • Winner: Lolly (5 points)
  • Joe (4 points +1 bonus point)^note Earned a bonus point for putting on the wetsuit the best
  • Hugh (3 points)
  • Mel (2 points)
  • Noel (Disqualified +1 bonus point)^note Did not actually wear the diving gear but simply placed it on top of his head. The bonus point was awarded for his honesty in acknowledging that he and the Swede would probably not maintain contact

• Task 3: Team Task - Secret Collaborative Bath Preparation^note Each contestant was given a secret task involving a bath that they were, initially at least, not allowed to inform the others about; one was required to cover the bath with clingfilm, another was required to fill the bath with many different objects as possible and, in the case of the three-person team, the third was required to fill the bath with water. Unspoken but implied was that they were required to complete all three tasks collaboratively as best as possible.
  • Winner: Hugh and Mel^note Hugh was asked to fill the bath with objects, Mel to clingfilm it. After working out the task, each helped the other to complete their task (5 points)
  • Joe, Lolly and Noel^note Joe was asked to clingfilm the bath, Lolly to fill it with objects, and Noel to fill it with water. Joe and Lolly spent most of the time sabotaging each other's while Noel stood by and watched; ironically, during their struggle Joe or Lolly at some point dislodged the plug, meaning Noel didn't even manage to complete his part of the task (0 points)

• Task 4: Throw Something Into Something. Most Unbelievable Throw Wins
  • Winner: Mel - threw a mannequin torso into the boot of a slow-moving van while blindfolded (5 points)
  • Noel - threw a tennis ball into a caravan, and when the tennis ball was thrown back out, caught and bounced it with a tennis racket, and then lobbed it into a flowerpot (4 points)
  • Hugh - threw toast into a toaster placed on the roof of the Taskmaster house (3 points)
  • Joe - threw nuts into the small end of a traffic cone which he is seated relatively close to (2 points)
  • Lolly - threw Skittles from an umpire's chair into the Taskmaster's Assistant's mug (1 point)

• Live Task: Make The Longest Continuous Noise. Bonus Point For Best Noise
  • Winner: Joe (5 points)
  • Hugh (4 points +1 bonus point)
  • Lolly (3 points)
  • Mel (2 points)
  • Noel (1 point)

• Tiebreaker: Eat As Many Peas As Possible In One Minute
  • Winner: Hugh Dennis (1 point)^note Tiebreakers are not technically worth points and so do not count towards the overall episode and season tally; it is included here simply for the purposes of clarifying the winner
  • Mel Giedroyc (0 point)

• Episode Ranking:
  1. Winner: Hugh Dennis (21 points +1 tiebreaker)
  2. Mel Giedroyc (21 points)
  3. Joe Lycett (18 points)
  4. Lolly Adefope (15 points)
  5. Noel Fielding (12 points)

Episode 6 - "Spatchcock It"

• Prize Task: Best Sheep-Related Item
  • Winner: Lolly - sponsored a surprisingly angry-looking sheep on the Taskmaster's behalf (5 points)
  • Joe and Noel (3 points)
    • Joe - a lamb shank on a bed of mash, gravy and a jus
    • Noel - a knitted woollen effigy of himself called "Woollen Noel"
  • Hugh - a sheep hat bought on holiday in Kenya (2 points)
  • Mel - raw wool (1 point)

• Task 1: Get This Stuffed Camel^note Stuart Through The Smallest Gap
  • Winner: Mel (5 points)^note traveled to the local high street and ran through a babyGAP store with the camel, the smallest of all the GAP stores
  • Hugh (4 points)
  • Lolly (3 points)
  • Joe (2 points)
  • Noel (1 point)

• Task 2: Score The Best Goal With This Plastic Bag. You May Not "Handball" The Bag. Most Fastest And Fewest Kicks Wins. Most Skillful Gets A Bonus Point^note 5 seconds were added to each contestant's time for each kick
  • Winner: Hugh - 1 minute 51 seconds, 0 kicks (5 points)^note Hugh was provided with an audience of 'supporters' as 'encouragement'. He manoeuvred the bag over his foot and then extracted it at the goal, allowing him to score in 0 kicks
  • Mel - 3 minutes, 3 kicks (4 points)
  • Lolly - 5 minutes 4 seconds, 8 kicks (3 points)
  • Joe - 1 minute 54 seconds, 77 kicks (2 points +1 bonus point)^note only one bonus point was awarded in this round, and Joe earned a bonus point for the best goal celebration (rather than the intended "most skillful goal")
  • Noel - 7 minutes 12 seconds, 42 kicks (1 points)

• Trick Task: ''Hide This Oversized Inflated Beach Ball From The Taskmaster's Assistant(In The Middle Of A Football Ground) In Five Minutes Without Damaging The Ball^note Contestant had also been required to inflate the ball inside the house as part of another task — and then score a goal with it outside, requiring her to deflate then re-inflate it
  • Victim: Mel

• Task 3: Work Out What's In The Sleeping Bag In Five Minutes Without Looking Inside Or Taking Items Out^note the items were a carrot skipping rope, a crime novel (A Time to Kill by John Grisham), a terrapin, a helmet, and a Frisbee with a fennel sellotaped to it.
  • Joint Winner: Joe, Lolly and Noel (5 points)
  • Mel (2 points)^note for some reason, Mel decided that all of the items were related to one another.
  • Hugh (Disqualified)^note removed items from the sleeping bag by tipping them out

• Live Task: Second Guess The Taskmaster^note a two part task. In part one, the contestants were told to "prepare" a series of objects on a table in front of them without knowing what they were being prepared for. The second part of the task required them to hold all their items in one hand, then put their other hand on their head, with the fastest winning
  • Winner: Noel (5 points)
  • Mel (4 points)
  • Lolly (3 points)
  • Hugh (2 points)
  • Joe (1 point)

• Episode Ranking:
  1. Winner: Lolly Adefope (19 points)
  2. Mel Giedroyc (16 points)
  3. Noel Fielding (15 points)
  4. Joe Lycett (14 points)
  5. Hugh Dennis (13 points)

Episode 7 - "No Stars for Naughty Boys"

• Prize Task: Best Chair
  • Winner: Hugh - his shoulders^note when his son was a child Hugh used to give him rides on his shoulders, prompting his son to claim they were his favourite chair (5 points)
  • Noel - a chair with the upholstery designed to homage David Bowie (4 points)
  • Lolly - a huge^note nine foot, six inches beanbag (3 points)
  • Joe - a chair prototype sculpted to (theoretically) resemble the Taskmaster's head (2 points)
  • Mel - a chair from a dollhouse she owned as a child, belonging to her doll "Philip Pennyfield" (1 point)

• Task 1: Bring The Taskmaster's Assistant His Dinner^note a glass of milk and a tray full of sliced bread While Hopping. Every Time Your Raised Foot Touches The Ground, You Must Eat A Slice Of The Taskmaster's Assistant's Dinner^note each slice eaten incurs a five second penalty. Most Dinner Delivered Fastest Wins^note between the tray and the Taskmaster's Assistant are several strings of bunting
  • Winner: Noel (5 points)
  • Hugh (4 points)^note obtained scissors and cut the bunting before delivering the dinner
  • Joe (3 points)
  • Mel (2 points)
  • Lolly (1 points)

• Task 2: Hide From The Taskmaster's Assistant
  • Winner: Lolly - found after 23 minutes (5 points)^note hid under a board in a shower unit; taunted the Assistant by phoning him and texting pictures of herself at the beach, and then as a baby
  • Mel - found after 2:34 minutes (4 points)^note hid in a closet
  • Joe and Hugh - both found in exactly 1:09 minutes (3 points)^note hid in the bushes (Joe) and chose to hide on the move (Hugh); Joe continued running away from the Taskmaster's Assistant for a few minutes after being found, while Hugh mistook a cameraman for the Taskmaster's Assistant and walked right into him
  • Noel - found after 16 seconds (1 point)^note hid behind the caravan

• Task 3: Team Task - Blindfolded Bin Obstacle Course (Without Speaking English)^note one contestant gets into a large red wheelie bin, while the other(s) are blindfolded. The blindfolded contestant(s) must push the one in the bin through an obstacle course towards five challenges, which they must then complete, while the one in the bin gives them directions. However, the contestant in the bin must use a language other than English to communicate.
  • Winner: Joe, Lolly and Noel - communicated in German (3 points)
  • Hugh and Mel - communicated in French (2 points)

• Task 4: Unveil A New Handshake. Best Handshake Wins
  • Winner: Joe (5 points)
  • Noel (4 points)
  • Hugh, Lolly and Mel (3 points)

• Live Task: Make The Best And Biggest All-Round Banana Out Of The Provided Bananas
  • Winner: Lolly (5 points)
  • Joe (4 points)
  • Hugh (3 points)
  • Noel (2 points)
  • Mel (1 point)

• Tiebreaker: Open A Jar Of Mayonnaise (Which Has Been Covered In Vaseline) The Quickest
  • Winner: Joe (1 point)^note before he opened the task envelope, Joe grabbed a pair of gloves and asked if he could complete the task without opening the envelope if he could guess what the task was. He won with a time of 0 seconds. As tiebreakers do not count towards the overall tally, a point is recorded here for the purposes of clarifying the winner
  • Hugh and Lolly (0 points)

This episode is the first to end with a three-way tie.

• Episode Ranking:
  1. Winner: Joe Lycett (20 points + 1 tiebreaker)
  2. Hugh Dennis and Lolly Adefope (20 points)
  3. Noel Fielding (19 points)
  4. Mel Giedroyc (13 points)

Episode 8 - "Tony Three Pies"

• Prize Task: Most Cash
  • Winner: Lolly - £2000 in cash, on top of a blank cheque to be made out to exactly 1p more than the next highest prize offering (5 points)
  • Joe - £250 in pennies (4 points)
  • Noel - 500 "Taskmaster Pounds", a currency note of his own invention (3 points)
  • Mel - a briefcase full of almost £1 million... in Monopoly money^note the case contained a top layer of twenty-pound notes in actual British currency, with the rest being Monopoly money. Ironically, she spent almost a thousand pounds just to get enough sets to fill the briefcase, which could have comfortably put her in second place. (2 points)
  • Hugh - 2 million Vietnamese Dong^note equivalent to about £72.20 (1 point)

• Task 1a: Make The Most Exotic Sandwich...
  • Winner: Noel (5 points)^note created an 'exotic dance' sandwich by tying slices of bread to the Taskmaster's Assistant's ears and making him dance
  • Joe (4 points)
  • Lolly (3 points)
  • Mel (2 points)
  • Hugh (1 point)

• Task 1b: ... And Then Eat Your Sandwich^note it was intended to be judged on speed, but since no contestant managed to finish their sandwich it was eventually judged on how much they consumed
  • Winner: Hugh (5 points)
  • Mel (4 points +1 bonus point)^note for getting an M&M stuck up her nose while trying to eat her chocolate-and-white-bread themed sandwich
  • Lolly (3 points)
  • Joe (2 points)
  • Noel (1 point +1 bonus point)^note for eating part of the Assistant's beard

• Task 2: Strike Only One Of The "Golf Balls"^note a Babybel cheese, a rubber duck, a coconut or a ping pong ball With Only One Of The "Golf Clubs"^note an umbrella, a pool noodle, a giant pencil or a snooker cue As Far As Possible With Only Three Attempts
  • Winner: Noel (5 points)^note hit the cheese 29m 6cm with the snooker cue (which he broke in half beforehand for easier use)
  • Hugh (4 points)^note hit the cheese 24m with the snooker cue
  • Joe (3 points)^note hit the cocunut (which disintegrated) 18m 45cm with the snooker cue
  • Mel (2 points)^note hit the ping pong ball 8m 12cm with the snooker cue
  • Lolly (1 point)^note missed the coconut three times with the giant pencil and dropped it 25cm away

• Task 3: Do The Most Surprising Thing With This Rubber Duck
  • Winner: Mel - slipped the duck into a delivery man's package, surprising him when he discovered it (5 points)
  • Noel - got married to the duck in an official wedding service ministered by Tim Key (4 points)
  • Joe - bought the Taskmaster an overnight trip to a yurt, which he delivered via the duck (3 points)
  • Hugh - attached the duck to a noise-box which made a "mooing" sound when activated (2 points)
  • Lolly - attached balloons to a basket containing the duck and sent it flying away (1 point)

• Live Task: Draw The Median Duck^note the average duck out of all five contestants; namely, the third-biggest duck wins. Bonus Point For Best Duck
  • Winner: Mel (5 points)
  • Noel (+1 bonus point)
  • Hugh, Joe and Lolly (0 points)

• Episode Ranking:
  1. Winner: Mel Giedroyc (21 points)
  2. Noel Fielding (20 points)
  3. Joe Lycett (16 points)
  4. Hugh Dennis and Lolly Adefope (13 points)

Episode Tally

• Mel Giedroyc = 3 episodes (Episodes 2, 4 and 8)
• Joe Lycett = 2 episodes (Episodes 3 and 7)
• Noel Fielding, Hugh Dennis and Lolly Adefope = 1 episode
  • Noel (Episode 1)
  • Hugh (Episode 5)
  • Lolly (Episode 6)

This series marks the first time that all five contestants have won at least one episode in the series, and the first series that each contestant has also placed last in at least one episode. It marks the first time that all five contestants have taken part in at least one tiebreaker task, as well as the first instance of a three-way tie. This series has also required the greatest number of tiebreakers (three) to decide the winner of an episode, which was equaled by Series 10.

Task Tally

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

• Noel Fielding: 15 tasks (3 prize tasks, 10 video tasks [1 joint with Mel, 1 joint with Joe and Lolly], 1 team video task, 1 live task)
• Mel Giedroyc: 13 tasks (6 video tasks [1 joint with Noel and 1 joint with Hugh], 3 video team tasks, 3 live tasks, 1 live team task)
• Hugh Dennis: 12 tasks (1 prize task, 6 video tasks [1 joint with Mel], 3 video team tasks, 1 live team task, 1 tiebreaker)
• Lolly Adefope: 10 tasks (4 prize tasks, 4 video tasks [1 joint with Joe and Noel], 1 team video task, 1 live task)
• Joe Lycett: 9 tasks (4 video tasks [1 joint with Lolly and Noel], 1 team video task, 2 live tasks, 2 tiebreakers)

• Only one prize task was not won by either Lolly or Noel. Noel won the first three and Lolly won all but one of the rest.
• The "sleeping bag" task in episode 6 is the first ever non-team task with three joint winners.
• Joe Lycett is the first contestant to win more than one tiebreaker.

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: The Taskmaster (describing Hugh Dennis's drawing of the subject of the "draw the best caricature of the person behind this curtain" task: "For you, what we've learned Hugh, is that a mirror image turns a black woman into a fat bald white man.")
• Episode 2: The Taskmaster (during the live task, instructing the contestants to maintain eye contact with him at all times: "Look at me! Look at me!")
• Episode 3: Hugh Dennis (during his commentary for the "transfer water from bowl A to bowl B" task: "Hugh is hollowing out a baguette... that's not going to work, that's terrible.")
• Episode 4: Lolly Adefope (part of her ringtone dance due to a scripted "flub" from the Taskmaster's Assistant, later elaborated upon during questioning from the Taskmaster: "Friendship is truth... and truth, friendship.")
• Episode 5: The Taskmaster (part of his improvised role-play for a character who was going to be watching the impressive "throw something into something" videos: "We work... in... export. We export meat.")
• Episode 6: The Taskmaster (responding to the Taskmaster's Assistant's description of Hugh Dennis's method of disemboweling a stuffed camel in the "get the camel through the smallest gap" task as "spatchcocking": "Spatchcock it... pull it through a door frame.")
• Episode 7: The Taskmaster (responding to the Taskmaster Assistant's request to give himself a gold star sticker for a good job done, after an accidental case of Thanks for the Mammary with Mel Giedroyc earlier in the episode: "No stars for naughty boys." [Mimes groping someone])
• Episode 8: The Taskmaster (discussing Noel Fielding's surprising physical prowess throughout the series, following the "golf-strike one of the objects with a non-standard golf club" task: "It's weird, isn't it? Before this show, I'd sort of thought of you as this weirdy art-nymph, but the more I see you you're just a lad. Just like 'wa-hey! That's a wig. All those clothes are just for telly. At the weekend, you're out, they call you Tony Three-Pies, and you're like 'wa-hey! Come on, boys'!")

Series Ranking

1. Winner: Noel Fielding (144 points)
2. Joe Lycett (136 points)
3. Mel Giedroyc (134 points)
4. Hugh Dennis (129 points)
5. Lolly Adefope (125 points)