Taskmaster Australia
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Taskmaster Australia is an Australian comedy panel game show first broadcast on Network 10 on 2February 2023. Based on the British show Taskmaster created by comedian Alex Horne, the program revolves around a group of five celebrities – mainly comedians – attempting to complete a series of challenges, judged by the "Taskmaster", Tom Gleeson, and accompanied by his assistant, comedian Tom Cashman, frequently referred to as "Lesser Tom".
The show's first season was broadcast in early 2023, and the second and third seasons aired in 2024. Season four was filmed in late 2024 and premiered on 27March 2025. Season five was filmed in March 2025 and a sixth season has been confirmed.
Format
Taskmaster is a comedic panel show where five contestants compete in the completion of tasks set by "The Taskmaster" (Tom Gleeson) and umpired by the "Taskmaster's Assistant" (Tom Cashman). The tasks can involve physical, creative and lateral thinking skills.
Following the format of the British version, in each episode contestants compete for five prizes that they have brought in, along a theme that they are ranked against for points. Three pre-recorded tasks—completed separately by each contestant (or occasionally in teams)—are shown and judged in the studio by The Taskmaster. Tasks are filmed within the Taskmaster Retreat, with the areas including The Lounge, The Kitchen, The Lab and The Caravan. A final live task takes place in the studio. As well as winners within each episode, one contestant becomes the winner of the series and takes home a trophy modelled after The Taskmaster's head.
Cast
In the studio, other than while attempting the live task, the contestants sit on a row of chairs in alphabetical order of forename from left to right.
Key
- * Series champion
Production
The Taskmaster franchise was conceived by Alex Horne and first televised in Britain, where Horne plays the Taskmaster's Assistant. The British version debuted in 2015. Confirmation of an Australian version was announced in October 2022, to be produced by Avalon Television (the British production company) with New Zealand-based Kevin & Co. for Network 10. This is the first Kevin & Co. production outside New Zealand.
The pre-recorded tasks were filmed in the same house and grounds, Jennie Hu's Boutique Venue on Croft Lane, Riverhead, New Zealand that Taskmaster NZ uses. It is known as "The Taskmaster Retreat" in the Australian version and "The Taskmaster Ranch" in the New Zealand version. Filming took up to ten hours per day.
Filming for the studio shows took place in December 2022 at the NEP Studios in Eveleigh, Sydney, New South Wales. Gleeson remarked of the filming, that it was the first show he had done where "right from the very first episode, all the audience seats were sold out".
Tasks for the series were written by a team, which includes Sam Smith (who also writes tasks for the New Zealand version), alongside Cashman, with development assisted by show producer Cam Bakker, and, as with all the international adaptations, sent to show creator Alex Horne for final approval. Executive producer Sarah Thornton remarked that the aim is to bring in new writers each series to "keep it fresh".
In July 2023, a second series began filming in Melbourne, Victoria for a 2024 airdate. The cast was revealed on 10July 2023 as Peter Helliar, Mel Buttle, Aaron Chen, Concetta Caristo, and Rhys Nicholson.
Studio filming for a third series took place in the week beginning 18 March 2024. The cast was confirmed as Anne Edmonds, Jenny Tian, Josh Thomas, Lloyd Langford and Wil Anderson on 21 March 2024.
In May 2024, it was announced that the third filmed series would instead air as season two in mid-2024, and the second filmed series would air in late 2024.
Episodes
| Series | Episodes | Originally released | |
|---|---|---|---|
| First released | Last released | ||
| 1 | 10 | 2 February 2023(2023-02-02) | 6 April 2023(2023-04-06) |
| 2 | 10 | 23 May 2024(2024-05-23) | 25 July 2024(2024-07-25) |
| 3 | 10 | 24 September 2024(2024-09-24) | 26 November 2024(2024-11-26) |
| 4 | 10 | 27 March 2025(2025-03-27) | 29 May 2025(2025-05-29) |
| 5 | 10 | 7 May 2026(2026-05-07) | TBA |
Series 1 (2023)
The first series consists of 10 episodes and was broadcast on Network 10 starting on 2February 2023. In order of placement, the contestants were Danielle Walker, Jimmy Rees, Julia Morris, Luke McGregor and Nina Oyama.
For team tasks in this series, the team of three was made up of Rees, McGregor and Oyama, with the team of two consisting of Walker and Morris.
Walker was the winner of the series, with Morris as runner-up, Rees in 3rd, Oyama in 4th, and McGregor in 5th.
The following year, series 1 episodes were made available on the official Taskmaster YouTube channel.
| No. | Title | Winner | Original release date | Australian viewers (overnight) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Foot Juice" | Danielle Walker | 2 February 2023(2023-02-02) | 360,000 |
| 2 | "Keep It Clean and Flowing" | Nina Oyama | 9 February 2023(2023-02-09) | 305,000 |
| 3 | "Cricketmaster" | Julia Morris | 16 February 2023(2023-02-16) | 314,000 |
| 4 | "BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM" | Jimmy Rees | 23 February 2023(2023-02-23) | 302,000 |
| 5 | "Are You Okay?" | Julia Morris | 2 March 2023(2023-03-02) | 309,000 |
| 6 | "Lucky with a Sausage" | Danielle Walker | 9 March 2023(2023-03-09) | 304,000 |
| 7 | "The Energy of a Sickly Child" | Jimmy Rees | 16 March 2023(2023-03-16) | 270,000 |
| 8 | "Dumb in Unison" | Julia Morris | 23 March 2023(2023-03-23) | 242,000 |
| 9 | "Sorry for Your Loss" | Jimmy Rees | 30 March 2023(2023-03-30) | 235,000 |
| 10 | "Don't Ask Me What a JC Is" | Danielle Walker | 6 April 2023(2023-04-06) | 269,000 |
Series 2 (2024)
Originally filmed as the third series, the second series consists of ten episodes and was broadcast on Network 10 starting on 23 May 2024. In order of placement, the contestants were Anne Edmonds, Jenny Tian, Josh Thomas, Lloyd Langford and Wil Anderson.
For team tasks in this series, the team of three was made up of Tian, Langford and Anderson, with the team of two consisting of Edmonds and Thomas.
Langford was the winner of the series after a tie-breaker, with Edmonds as runner-up, Anderson in 3rd, Tian in 4th, and Thomas in 5th.
Series 2 episodes were released weekly on the official Taskmaster YouTube channel.
| No. overall | No. in series | Title | Winner | Original release date | Australian viewers (national) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | 1 | "Don't Slip on the Chips Old Man" | Wil Anderson | 23 May 2024(2024-05-23) | 409,000 |
| 12 | 2 | "A Hotly Contested Auction" | Lloyd Langford | 30 May 2024(2024-05-30) | 368,000 |
| 13 | 3 | "Answer the Phone Gary" | Lloyd Langford | 6 June 2024(2024-06-06) | 326,000 |
| 14 | 4 | "Oink Oink Bitches" | Wil Anderson | 13 June 2024(2024-06-13) | 397,000 |
| 15 | 5 | "The Moment of Divorce Is Recorded" | Josh Thomas | 20 June 2024(2024-06-20) | 444,000 |
| 16 | 6 | "Everyone Here Is a Nerd" | Lloyd Langford | 27 June 2024(2024-06-27) | 385,000 |
| 17 | 7 | "You've Gotta Find the Slop" | Anne Edmonds | 4 July 2024(2024-07-04) | 430,000 |
| 18 | 8 | "Dingo Dongo" | Josh Thomas | 11 July 2024(2024-07-11) | 397,000 |
| 19 | 9 | "Killed by a Nerd" | Jenny Tian | 18 July 2024(2024-07-18) | 420,000 |
| 20 | 10 | "Fun Sexy Wrestle" | Wil Anderson | 25 July 2024(2024-07-25) | 431,000 |
Series 3 (2024)
Originally filmed as the second series, the third series aired following the conclusion of the second series. It began airing on Network10 starting on 24September 2024. The contestants featured this season are Aaron Chen, Concetta Caristo, Mel Buttle, Peter Helliar and Rhys Nicholson.
For team tasks in this series, the team of three was made up of Chen, Helliar and Nicholson, with the team of two consisting of Caristo and Buttle.
Chen was the winner of the series, with Caristo and Helliar as joint runners-up, Nicholson in 4th, and Buttle in 5th.
Season 2 participant Lloyd Langford, celebrity actor Cate Blanchett, and format creator and original Taskmaster assistant Alex Horne each appeared in pre-filmed tasks in the ninth episode, in which the contestants presented the "Most Heavenly Voice".
| No. overall | No. in series | Title | Winner | Original release date | Australian viewers (national) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21 | 1 | "For Your Logie Consideration" | Aaron Chen | 24 September 2024(2024-09-24) | 414,000 |
| 22 | 2 | "Burying a Backpacker" | Mel Buttle | 1 October 2024(2024-10-01) | 419,000 |
| 23 | 3 | "Mop and Bucket Situation" | Concetta Caristo | 8 October 2024(2024-10-08) | 360,000 |
| 24 | 4 | "Sorry About the Fingers" | Rhys Nicholson | 15 October 2024(2024-10-15) | 367,000 |
| 25 | 5 | "Inspired by Pol Pot" | Aaron Chen | 22 October 2024(2024-10-22) | 382,000 |
| 26 | 6 | "Out-Alpha'd by a Sheep" | Concetta Caristo | 29 October 2024(2024-10-29) | 359,000 |
| 27 | 7 | "Gimme Some Item" | Aaron Chen | 5 November 2024(2024-11-05) | 332,000 |
| 28 | 8 | "Tickled in Two Different Ways" | Peter Helliar | 12 November 2024(2024-11-12) | 345,000 |
| 29 | 9 | "A Bit of a Pickle" | Mel Buttle | 19 November 2024(2024-11-19) | 334,000 |
| 30 | 10 | "Wee/Wee" | Mel Buttle | 26 November 2024(2024-11-26) | 360,000 |
Series 4 (2025)
The studio elements of the fourth series were recorded at NEP studios Sydney from 16 to 20 September 2024. Episodes began airing on 27 March 2025. The contestants featured this season are Dave Hughes, Emma Holland, Lisa McCune, Takashi Wakasugi, and Tommy Little.
For team tasks in this series, the team of three was made up of Holland, Wakasugi and Little, with the team of two consisting of Hughes and McCune.
Holland was the winner of the series, with Wakasugi as runner-up, Little in 3rd, McCune in 4th, and Hughes in 5th.
| No. overall | No. in series | Title | Winner | Original release date | Australian viewers (national) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 31 | 1 | "Wasting a Man's Time" | Emma Holland | 27 March 2025(2025-03-27) | 402,000 |
| 32 | 2 | "What Is Life?" | Lisa McCune | 3 April 2025(2025-04-03) | 347,000 |
| 33 | 3 | "Jock on Nerd Action" | Emma Holland | 10 April 2025(2025-04-10) | 316,000 |
| 34 | 4 | "You Gotta Die of Something, So Let's Go" | Tommy Little | 17 April 2025(2025-04-17) | 257,000 |
| 35 | 5 | "It's Tickle Time" | Lisa McCune | 24 April 2025(2025-04-24) | 271,000 |
| 36 | 6 | "Why Are You So Horny?" | Emma Holland | 1 May 2025(2025-05-01) | 244,000 |
| 37 | 7 | "You've Unleashed the Dragon" | Takashi Wakasugi | 8 May 2025(2025-05-08) | 346,000 |
| 38 | 8 | "You Can Have Tomorrow Off School" | Takashi Wakasugi | 15 May 2025(2025-05-15) | 308,000 |
| 39 | 9 | "The Beepie Beepies" | Emma Holland | 22 May 2025(2025-05-22) | 335,000 |
| 40 | 10 | "Yucky, Yucky, Yucky, That's You" | Dave Hughes | 29 May 2025(2025-05-29) | 348,000 |
Series 5 (2026)
The studio elements of the fifth series were recorded at NEP studios Sydney from 17 to 21 March 2025. Episodes will begin airing on 7 May 2026. The contestants featured this season are Anisa Nandaula, Brett Blake, Celia Pacquola, Joel Creasey and Rove McManus.
Series 6 (2026)
The studio elements of the sixth series were recorded at NEP studios Sydney from 13 to 17 October 2025.
Notes
Reception
Critical reception
Reviewing the first season, The Age praised that the third episode saw the series "continue to settle in nicely", largely in the style of the British version. The reviewer noted that Gleeson—"a cheerful, friendly-looking chap who has built a career on telling people they suck"—has a different Taskmaster personality to British host Greg Davies.