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
"The team of two are going to have the time of their lives playing hotels together. And the team of three? Uncle Julian trying to wrangle two lunatics."
—The Taskmaster
Julian "Butch" Clary
"'Confident' and 'Alex' are two words one doesn't associate."
The Taskmaster: Julian! You seem to have a sizzling contempt for Alex I detected early on.
Julian: Oh, really? Well, yes!
Julian: Oh, really? Well, yes!
An actor, comedian, novelist, and presenter known for his style choices and controversial comments.
- Camp Gay: He maintains an acidic and snitty presence throughout the show, brings in fantastic pieces from home as his prize task submissions, and refers to himself as a "renowned homosexual" as he's done numerous times in the past.
- Cloudcuckoolander's Minder: Greg refers to the team consisting of Julian, Lucy, and Sam as "Uncle Julian and the two lunatics".
- Country Matters: When asked for the name of his exercise which consists of hitting Alex with boxing gloves attached to his feet, he quite happily reveals it's named "Punch the Cunt". He does this again in the extended cut of Hotel Taskmaster.
- Curse Cut Short: Just as he’s about to call Alex the C-word in the extended version of the “Hotel Taskmaster” task, the audio cuts to Lucy blowing on her French horn again.
- The Dandy: Inverted. Outside of the show, Julian is known for extravagant sequinned outfits with a full face of makeup. His task outfit is a much more toned-down plaid jacket and workboots and completely barefaced.
- Deadpan Snarker: True to form, from his first lines on the show:The Taskmaster: How are you?Julian: I'm bearing up under the strain, thank you.
- A particularly genius example from the very last filmed task:The Taskmaster's Assistant: Why is she playing the French Horn?Julian: She's French.
- A particularly genius example from the very last filmed task:
- Dirty Old Man: Downplayed. He doesn't make comments about any of the contestants but occasionally hints at a vibrant sex life and one point claims that his prize task for the episode - a ceramic model of a soldier - represents what you want in a soldier, namely being well presented and open to no-strings sex.
- Gentleman Snarker: Julian is particularly withering towards Alex throughout the season but, as noted by Greg at one point, he has a tendency to make what on the page would be inoffensively polite small-talk sound quite cutting.Julian: Bet you got a barbecue, have you?
Alex: Yes. Yes, I've got a barbecue. I built it with my friend: Ben.
Julian: Oh! You've got a friend?
[Back in the studio]
Greg: Julian has developed an incredible technique of saying things to Alex that are seemingly innocent but are, yet, so damning!
Alex: Yeah...I felt so ashamed that I've got a barbecue! - Hidden Depths: Reveals in episode 9 that he has an active interest in cars and driving, and is part of a local advanced motorists organization.
- Innocently Insensitive: Julian is famous for his barbed comments but, he's shown that his words sting even when he's not trying to throw shade.Julian: (On Series 1 Champion Josh Widdicombe) He's sort of small and nasally. I've always liked him. I won't hear a word against him!
- Jerkass to One: He's snarky to everyone as a default but his deliberate barbs are usually aimed at Alex and Alex alone.
- One Head Taller: Team tasks show that Julian is quite tall, with Lucy and Sam both barely reaching his shoulders when standing side-by-side.
- Pop-Cultural Osmosis Failure: The sword-in-the-stone task reveals that Julian hasn't been keeping up with contemporary comedy and he only comes upon the magic word (Widdicombe) because it somehow bubbles up from the deepest recesses of his memory. Incredibly, he still somehow managed to win.Greg: Would it be fair to say that you've not kept abreast of some of the more recent comedians?
Julian: I don't really watch any other comedians. I don't know why.
Greg: Oh...not even "that man with the teeth"?
Julian: Has he been on this show?
Greg: He has! And we've had "small and nasally" on. - Rage Quit: In the street sweeper task, he inadvertently breaks a rule at the very last stage. Rather than start again, he instead takes a moment to consider before barrelling forward, disqualifying himself in what Greg considers "a chillingly calm meltdown."
- Trash the Set: Downplayed. For the nickname task in "Languidly", Julian bangs his fists on the caravan table, and accidentally causes it to collapse.
Lucy "Lucyfer The Rock God" Beaumont
"I'm gonna pretend that the fox shat in my garden again. Is that alright? It's method."
The Taskmaster: Lucy, what's the most rebellious thing you've ever done?
Lucy: I threw a poo out the window.
Lucy: I threw a poo out the window.
An actress and stand-up comedian. She was married to Series 2's Jon Richardson.
- Agent Mulder: Her first prize entry is a painting she believes is possessed.
- Later, she brings in what she claims is an Alien Device taken from her mother's ear, and claims it's responsible for the disappearance of her cat.
- Apologises a Lot: Whether bumping into furniture or accidentally striking Alex, Lucy much more frequently than all her other competitors combined.
- Cloud Cuckoolander:
- She establishes her credentials in the first prize task, when her entry is a wooden painting of a boxer dog which she claims is possessed, due to once feeling a dog she doesn't own getting into her bed and finding it soon afterwards.
- Later, she says she feels as if she has four arms rather than two arms and two legs.Lucy: I think my legs are actually arms without fingers.
The Taskmaster: You think you've got four sets of arms?note
Lucy: Yeah. - During the "secret task" task, as Sam and Julian are bustling about hunting for the task, we cut to Lucy, sitting in the shed, and morosely playing a French horn. No explanation for this is given. She later plays the French Horn again in a separate task in the last episode.
- Literal-Minded: Much like Katherine Parkinson, Lucy doesn't seem aware that contestants can use lateral thinking and sticks to the rules. When she finds out in "The Natural Friends" that this is an option, she laments: "I haven't changed the rules in any of the tasks".
- Oop North: She's from Kingston upon Hull in Yorkshire and exhibits the distinct Hull accent. This, combined with her Cloud Cuckoolander tendencies, leads to some funny pronunciations, such as when she brought in an adult bib pack for a prize task and ended up calling it a "beearp" — making Greg think he was having a stroke.
Sam "Doctor Cigarettes" Campbell
"It's just exciting to know people are talking about me."
"Sometimes I think I'd like to wear you in a little papoose and carry you around."
An award-winning Australian stand-up comedian and actor.—The Taskmaster
- Bribing Your Way to Victory: For the sleep task in "Never Packed A Boot", Sam directly tells Flossie, the child judging the task, that he will pay her £100 if she says that she thinks he is asleep. After some deliberation over whether Sam will pay her the money or not, Flossie tells Alex that she thinks Sam is asleep. Sam finishes joint-first in the task, and Flossie received her £100 in book tokens
. - Cloud Cuckoolander: Sam seems to operate on a different wavelength than most people.Sam: Can I ask questions?
The Taskmaster: You can ask me one.
Sam: ...Are you a child of divorce?- For the best item to follow a drum roll, Sam brings in a lump of cobalt. Asked to explain, he tells a story about a campaign to oppose plane noise in a town in Australia. This has nothing whatsoever to do with the cobalt; he says that since the other contestants were telling stories (about their prizes), he figured he should tell a story too.
- Consistent Clothing Style: His default task outfit and in-studio clothes are all various shades of grey. This is then stunningly subverted in the finale.
- Nice Guy: Consistently argues on behalf of his competitors getting points if he feels the Taskmaster is being too harsh.
- Noodle Implements: He occasionally appears for pre-taped tasks wielding tools that he doesn't end up using. Whatever applications he'd hoped to use them for are left to the imagination.
Sue "Lassue Perkins" Perkins
"Don't make me fart in the darkness listening to my own name!"
Sue: It's a win-win. Either it works, or...
Alex: ...or you lose.
Alex: ...or you lose.
An actress, comedian, and broadcaster well-known for her appearances on panel shows and documentaries as well as for presenting the BBC iteration of The Great British Bake Off alongside her long-time comedy partner, Series 4's Mel Giedroyc.
- Call-Back: Her task outfit is a boiler suit that matches her pal Mel's from Series 4.
- Epic Fail: When tasked with creating a tower of cans while blindfolded, she knocks down the existing tower... then the remaining cans... then all the cans that are left, all the while asking if there is an existing tower. She resorts to piling them into her lap and comes dead last due to her "tower" not being free-standing.
- Despite everyone else actively trying to help her, Sue manages to finish the live task for "I'm Off To Find A Robin" much later than the others because she won't stop moving and keeps knocking off the balls she needs to hold on her head.
- "Eureka!" Moment: Upon stumbling upon the magic word for the sword-in-the-stone task (Widdicombe) it takes a few seconds for it to sink in that she got the answer she'd been looking for.
- Heroic Sacrifice: She passionately supports Julian trying to complete the live task in "Skateboard Division" but, in her enthusiasm, decides to grab his glass for him, thereby crossing the red line and disqualifying herself and losing points. It did, however, give Julian just enough points to come first in the episode.
- Lady Swears A Lot: In noticeable contrast to Mel, she quickly takes to abusing Alex with rather inventive cursing, dubbing him a "shower of shit" and a "prize anus" among other things.
- Tempting Fate: When presented with the second task envelope of a two-part live task, she desperately mutters: "Please don't say: 'draw it'!"Sue: [Reading the task] Draw your two things!
- Those Two Girls: She's teamed up with Susan and the two immediately hit it off, becoming supportive friends with a witty rapport in taped tasks and in the studio.
Susan "Chain Bastard" Wokoma
"I trained at RADA!"
"Things that didn't surprise me: Sam and Lucy can't drive, and RADA sits on the front of trains and pretends she's the driver."
—The Taskmaster
An actress, writer, and director who has appeared in projects like Enola Holmes and Crazyhead.
- Apologetic Attacker: When tasked with being mischeivous, she devises a trick task that takes Sam 20 minutes to complete. In the studio, she apologises and offers a handshake.
- Classically-Trained Extra: She went to RADA.
- Cloud Cuckoo Lander: It doesn't stand out since she shares her season with Sam and Lucy, perhaps the show's defining examples, but Susan can be a bit odd at times. When tasked with creating a powerful piece entitled Heads, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes note she creates an avant grade piece involving a bucket, chains, and a veiled Taskmaster's Assistant pretending to dismember a rubber duck with an axe, which she claims to be a commentary on the death penalty.
- Drives Like Crazy: When tasked with driving a street cleaner, she has significant difficulty, even crashing into the same object twice - one which has a crew member behind it. In the studio, Alex remarks that she was bemused by the fact that turning the wheel left resulted in the street cleaner turning left. Despite this, she still comes in second place for the task.
- Genki Girl: Endlessly enthusiastic and excited, to the point that at one point Greg comments she had so much fun mimicking Wayne's dancing note that she forgot to do the task. She did, however, come first in that task.
- Heroic Self-Deprecation: When asked if anyone in the series will find the secret task, she says yes, but that it won't be her.
- Impossibly Tacky Clothes: Susan's task outfit consists of a pair of multicolored, sequinned overalls with a green patch on the torso.
- More Deadly Than the Male: In the Make Mischief Task, while everyone else defaulted to clearly staged efforts and quick pranks, she instead created a fake task for Sam which takes twenty minutes and for which he receives zero points. She wins the task.
- Running Gag: When presented with particularly strange tasks, she'll mention that she's a classically trained actor who studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. While not to the extent that Munya mentioned growing up in Zimbabwe throughout Series 14, she does it enough that it gets joked about on the podcast. Eventually, her tendency to do this earns her the nickname "RADA".
- Those Two Girls: She's teamed up with Sue and the two immediately hit it off, becoming supportive friends with a witty rapport in taped tasks and in the studio.
