# Taskmaster, and other British panel shows: the omnibus thread **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** reality-or-game-show\ **Created:** [February 10, 2023, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taskmaster-and-other-british-panel-shows-the-omnibus-thread/979600 "2023-02-10T22:52:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2023, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taskmaster-and-other-british-panel-shows-the-omnibus-thread/979600/21 "2023-02-11T23:11:50Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > You all should try to track down **Richard Osman’s House Of Games**. I think many of you would like it very much. > > It’s a very gentle quiz show with very simple questions and games, but only celebs (i.e. comedians, TV presenters, sportspeople) compete. You will be introduced to a lot of UK culture and personalities via this show, and it’s also just loads of fun. > > It’s been running for six years, and they just celebrated their 500th episode, so lots to catch up on Wasn’t that one of Alex Horne’s inspirations for the original Taskmaster live show he created for the Edinburgh Fringe, that eventually became the TV series? Thanks for the suggestion! ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2023, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taskmaster-and-other-british-panel-shows-the-omnibus-thread/979600/22 "2023-02-12T00:03:29Z")
> [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](#): > > Wasn’t that one of Alex Horne’s inspirations for the original Taskmaster live show No, it wasn’t even on at that point. According to Wikipedia his inspiration was _The Crystal Maze_, which was an action puzzle game show similar to _Legends Of The Hidden Temple_. Alex Horne has been a contestant on _House Of Games_, though. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2023, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taskmaster-and-other-british-panel-shows-the-omnibus-thread/979600/23 "2023-02-12T00:49:46Z")
I haven’t read through the thread yet, but I doubt this has been mentioned. A few months ago I kept noticing how dark David Mitchell’s eyes were. Like really dark. [![](https://www.bbc.co.uk/staticarchive/0b8c1e6c24cac541d0ec830cd91e9ef78f47f333.jpg) ](https://www.bbc.co.uk/staticarchive/0b8c1e6c24cac541d0ec830cd91e9ef78f47f333.jpg) Eventually I looked it up. Turns out there’s an actual, medical reason for it. > **[Aniridia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aniridia?useskin=vector)** > > Aniridia is the absence of the iris, a muscular structure that opens and closes the pupil to allow light into the eye. It is also responsible for eye color. Without it, the central eye appears all black. It can be congenital, in which both eyes are usually involved, or caused by a penetrant injury. Isolated aniridia is a congenital disorder which is not limited to a defect in iris development, but is a panocular condition with macular and optic nerve hypoplasia, cataract, and corneal chan Th... On the topic of David…I had been watching both WILTY and Taskmaster for quite a while and it wasn’t until this specific clip that I found out that David is married to Victoria Coren Mitchell. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/nHbSBjuoVE4/maxresdefault.jpg "Awkward moment as Lee rips into David's marriage! | Would I Lie To You? - BBC") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nHbSBjuoVE4) ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2023, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taskmaster-and-other-british-panel-shows-the-omnibus-thread/979600/24 "2023-02-12T01:00:34Z")
Also, I have to say how much I love it when Lee (on WILTY) knows (or has decided) that one of his own teammates is lying and starts poking holes in their story too. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2023, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taskmaster-and-other-british-panel-shows-the-omnibus-thread/979600/25 "2023-02-12T01:20:21Z")
And can we talk about Jimmy’s completely unnecessary joke. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/pHTTQ_gI76k/maxresdefault.jpg "Everyone Loses It After Jimmy Carr's Unnecessary Joke | 8 Out Of 10 Cats Does Countdown | Channel 4") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHTTQ_gI76k) And for this one, if you’re not familiar Jimmy had some tax evasion issues that he’s very open about. He jokes about not paying his tax as often as he jokes about all his cosmetic surgery. This one goes downhill in a hurry. Even if you don’t like the show or don’t like Jimmy, just stick with this one from where I have it cued up to the first question the next contestant gets and see if you can turn away. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/qMIggDSnPGk/maxresdefault.jpg "Jimmy Carr BREAKS DOWN At The Most Hilarious Wrong Answer | I Literally Just Told You | Channel 4") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qMIggDSnPGk) I’m guessing most of you have seen this, but I always love seeing Greg’s reaction to Katherine saying “I changed it”. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/kFdWJ-kApEo/maxresdefault.jpg "Buy A Gift For The Taskmaster For £20 | Full Task | Taskmaster") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFdWJ-kApEo) In this one, I like her “I just don’t care” joke, but it is a semi-scripted joke. I’ve seen her shoehorn the same shtick in other shows as well. I’m not going to be able to quickly find it but I remember Jimmy saying something on 8OO10CDC and you could see her start with the fake tears. But I still like it. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/Aeq5ybFcsCo/maxresdefault.jpg "Taskmaster | Katherine Ryan's BEST BITS") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aeq5ybFcsCo) ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2023, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taskmaster-and-other-british-panel-shows-the-omnibus-thread/979600/26 "2023-02-12T01:25:49Z")
I’m putting this in it’s own post because it’s important. Carrot In A Box is required viewing for anyone that’s a fan of these shows or Jon or Sean in particular. If you haven’t seen it, can you come up with the right answer? [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/0UGuPvrsG3E/maxresdefault.jpg ""Carrot in a Box" Jimmy Carr IN TEARS After Game with Sean Lock & Jon Richardson! | 8 Out of 10 Cats") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0UGuPvrsG3E) ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2023, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taskmaster-and-other-british-panel-shows-the-omnibus-thread/979600/27 "2023-02-12T01:27:41Z")
Carrot in a Box 2 and 3 are also hilarious. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2023, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taskmaster-and-other-british-panel-shows-the-omnibus-thread/979600/28 "2023-02-12T01:34:52Z")
And the infamous Bad Dong. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/_ITRpXu8d1Q/maxresdefault.jpg "greg davies laughing at bad dong for three minutes straight") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ITRpXu8d1Q) ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2023, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taskmaster-and-other-british-panel-shows-the-omnibus-thread/979600/29 "2023-02-12T01:42:31Z")
And how about a couple of Rhod vs Greg videos “I saw you out” [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/nmRtjAEZbEo/maxresdefault.jpg "Rhod Gilbert’s CREEPY Video Of Greg Davies | Taskmaster") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmRtjAEZbEo) Greg’s double take, priceless: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/I9H-Zf8HLcY/maxresdefault.jpg "Task Leaves Everyone Speechless! | Taskmaster") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9H-Zf8HLcY) Can I just say “I think we all know what happened to BT” and everyone will know what clip I’m talking about? ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2023, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taskmaster-and-other-british-panel-shows-the-omnibus-thread/979600/30 "2023-02-12T01:49:57Z")
Something I’ve noticed on Big Fat Quiz is that they must film for several hours without a break. If you watch outtakes, you’ll often see contestants eating when it’s not their turn. Richard getting his food stolen and the Biff line is great: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/fDbxYQ0KMMs/maxresdefault.jpg "Never Steal Food From Richard Ayoade! | The Big Fat Quiz Of Everything | Rob Beckett") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fDbxYQ0KMMs) Roisin brought an entire cake as her ‘mascot’ on Countdown. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2023, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taskmaster-and-other-british-panel-shows-the-omnibus-thread/979600/31 "2023-02-12T02:06:11Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > On the topic of David…I had been watching both WILTY and Taskmaster for quite a while and it wasn’t until this specific clip that I found out that David is married to Victoria Coren Mitchell. Oh, yes. It’s very sweet. I don’t know how far you’ve gotten in _TM_, but in Victoria’s series, one of the tasks was “propose to Alex in the most irresistible way.” When she read the task, Victoria immediately blurted out an impromptu proposal. In the studio, she explained that she’s so besotted with her husband - her words - that she couldn’t propose to another man, even as a joke. ---
**Author:** ![Amikejo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/amikejo/32/13637_2.png) [@Amikejo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amikejo)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2023, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taskmaster-and-other-british-panel-shows-the-omnibus-thread/979600/32 "2023-02-12T02:27:55Z")
Mr Blobby. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/97fw8xjB5u4/maxresdefault.jpg "Jack Whitehall is Terrified of Mr Blobby - The Big Fat Quiz Of The '90s") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=97fw8xjB5u4) ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2023, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taskmaster-and-other-british-panel-shows-the-omnibus-thread/979600/33 "2023-02-12T02:38:38Z")
I’ve seen that (I think I’ve seen pretty much all of Taskmaster (or all that youtube has to offer)). > [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](#): > > When she read the task, Victoria immediately blurted out an impromptu proposal. That reminds me of all the times (perhaps justifiably) Aisling would get weirded out by certain tasks. “Give Alex A Special Cuddle” comes to mind. Though that was one of the odder tasks to begin with. But Bob and Sally certainly had fun with it. And for no particular reason, that reminds me of another one of my favorite clips. Liza declaring her love for the taskmaster. I do love Liza. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/IJ7pHfLSB9I/maxresdefault.jpg "Declare Your Love for The Taskmaster (Alex Sits on a Cake) | Full Task") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJ7pHfLSB9I&t=408) This one I’m not going to cue up. If you’ve seen this season (or Series), you know what’s going to happen. If you haven’t, just understand that Nish and Mark are the contestants you generally expect the least out of. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/emz6GVWvJlo/maxresdefault.jpg "Write And Perform A Song For A Stranger - FULL TASK") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emz6GVWvJlo) I feel like diving back into individual tasks. Rob doing accents was great. Unrelated, but there was one of the ‘communicate with a swedish person’ or ‘you can’t speak in english’ type task where one of the people, maybe Katherine Ryan, ended up communicating in ASL. When they asked her about it she (or whoever it was) said their high school offered it as foreign language credit. That’s something I really wish was more common. It’s a great idea. I think a lot of kids would take it because it seems fun. Plus, between high school and today, working in retail, I could absolutely have used ASL more times than I’ve had the chance to use any of the Spanish I still remember. I think one of the only times I’ve used it is when someone said “Hablas Espanol?” and knowing they didn’t speak English, I replied _en Espanol_ “No”. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2023, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taskmaster-and-other-british-panel-shows-the-omnibus-thread/979600/34 "2023-02-12T02:57:36Z")
Jack and James getting drunk and ordering food. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/WD-ctGq0BuI/maxresdefault.jpg "Jack Whitehall and James Corden Order Food Into The Studio - The Big Fat Quiz of The Year 2012") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WD-ctGq0BuI) Ardal having an IRL epiphany gets me every time. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/v8LZ3XpeQjM/maxresdefault.jpg "Series 13, Episode 3 Outtakes | Bloopers | Taskmaster") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8LZ3XpeQjM) And some of my favorite Sean Lock jokes: Nazi Island [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/nEVQWBn20ws/maxresdefault.jpg "Sean Lock DERAILS Show and His Career With 'Nazi Island'!! | 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nEVQWBn20ws) Good luck trying it without spit [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/_4oru-a1B7M/maxresdefault.jpg "Sean Lock & Miles Jupp Funniest Moments! The FULL BROMANCE | 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4oru-a1B7M) ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2023, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taskmaster-and-other-british-panel-shows-the-omnibus-thread/979600/35 "2023-02-12T03:16:29Z")
This was a classic moment from 8 Out Of Ten Cats Does Countdown. (Sean Lock: “That’s a challenging wank.”) [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/0Q9IRpFGgPY/maxresdefault.jpg "Sean Lock's OUTRAGEOUS Comment Has Everyone In Tears!! | 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Q9IRpFGgPY) ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2023, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taskmaster-and-other-british-panel-shows-the-omnibus-thread/979600/36 "2023-02-12T14:26:40Z")
Sean Lock was an international treasure. A true loss for comedy, too. ---
**Author:** ![Yookeroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yookeroo/32/323_2.png) [@Yookeroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yookeroo)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2023, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taskmaster-and-other-british-panel-shows-the-omnibus-thread/979600/37 "2023-02-12T17:05:18Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > On the topic of David…I had been watching both WILTY and Taskmaster for quite a while and it wasn’t until this specific clip that I found out that David is married to Victoria Coren Mitchell. When you think about it, how can they not be married? That’s a pair that belong together. ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2023, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taskmaster-and-other-british-panel-shows-the-omnibus-thread/979600/38 "2023-02-12T18:20:41Z")
So I think QI is still the gold standard of British panel shows (we only tried Taskmaster as we’d run out of QIs to watch on Amazon Prime) [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/_wbS_todg9w/maxresdefault.jpg "BEST OF QI! MOST VIEWED & FUNNIEST ANSWERS! With Stephen Fry & Sandi Toksvig") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_wbS_todg9w) They also pulled off a rare trick of successfully replacing a presenter. The show was completely synonymous with Stephen Fry, I couldn’t imagine them successfully replacing him. But Sandi Toksvig totally managed it, and made it her own, if anything surpassing Stephen Fry. ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2023, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taskmaster-and-other-british-panel-shows-the-omnibus-thread/979600/39 "2023-02-12T22:14:43Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > Ivo Graham is a quiet self-deprecating posh “public schoolboy” type… Well, he makes no secret of going to public school (he’s not boasting about it, of course) but more importantly, he’s _really good_. Intelligent and funny - one of the up and coming British comics. We saw him live under awful conditions (first show we saw out of lockdown, everyone in masks, and the gig moved out of the small room and into the big one to space us out more, so that three quarters of the seats were empty) and he was _still_ really good. Here’s a pretty representative clip of him. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/IIhav6q5IsE/maxresdefault.jpg "How To Flirt With Your Dentist With Ivo Graham | Comedy Central Live") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IIhav6q5IsE) j ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2023, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taskmaster-and-other-british-panel-shows-the-omnibus-thread/979600/40 "2023-02-12T22:28:20Z")
> [@griffin1977](#): > > They also pulled off a rare trick of successfully replacing a presenter. The show was completely synonymous with Stephen Fry, I couldn’t imagine them successfully replacing him. But Sandi Toksvig totally managed it, and made it her own, if anything surpassing Stephen Fry. It made sense, but only in retrospect. Sandi was always highly intelligent and quick-witted. Intellectually curious as well. I had no idea she would do so well, but she is downright amazing. I’d say she equaled Stephen, not surpassed. And her accent is fake! She has an American accent. You can hear her talk about that here: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/vkqvpWFOfLE/maxresdefault.jpg "Sandi Toksvig’s British Accent Is Fake | Alan Davies: As Yet Untitled | Dave") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vkqvpWFOfLE) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taskmaster-and-other-british-panel-shows-the-omnibus-thread/979600.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taskmaster-and-other-british-panel-shows-the-omnibus-thread/979600.md?page=3)