'Taskmaster' Champion of Champions 3 Preview
Looking ahead at this Sunday and the biggest television event of the year...
I’m not a betting man.
Sports betting in particular holds no interest for me (no matter how hard TV and podcast commercials try to convince me to try it). But even if I were a gambler, one thing I would still never bet on is Taskmaster.
The very nature of the British comedy game show makes it immune to the usual sort of analysis that we associate with competition. Not that people don’t try. There are some fantastic podcasts and YouTube channels (official and unofficial) that provide the sort of analysis of Taskmaster that we typically associate with sports radio.
But what sets Taskmaster apart is the complete unpredictability of it.
Sports can be unpredictable, sure. But in sports, there are set rules. You know, more or less, what you’re going to be watching during any given game. The opposite is true with Taskmaster.
The show’s format sees five comedians competing in a wide range of challenges and games (aka tasks) across the season for points. The tasks are mostly filmed on location and then played back in a studio in front of a live audience, all the contestants, the Taskmaster Greg Davies, and his assistant (little) Alex Horne. Usually, the contestants complete their tasks on their own, but there are always a few “team tasks” that bring together the competitors in groups of two or three from some group events.
Points are awarded by Greg, on a scale of one to five with the winner getting five points, second place getting four, and so on. Sometimes the points are based on objective criteria (speed, accuracy, etc.) and sometimes based on Greg’s judgements of what is “best”. The Taskmaster’s judgement is final and efforts to sway him are usually met with scorn and, sometimes, being given a lower score than might have otherwise been.
The person with the most points at the end of the season is named champion and presented with a golden bust of Greg’s head.
Tasks are almost never repeated and the types of tasks in one episode can vary wildly in what they ask the competitors to do.
For example, in one episode from a recent season, the comedians vying to be crowned champion were asked to (1) bring in the most dependable thing that weighs about 1kg, (2) create a one-minute first dance for a wedding, (3) completely unwind a ball of string and then put it back, (4) drive a small barge down a narrow canal collecting inflated rings on a pole without touching the rings, and (5) throw items into a bucket placed precariously at the top of a pole without knocking over the bucket.
Which brings us back to betting on Taskmaster and the question of how the hell you’re supposed to make a judgement on who is best at a competition where none of the games have anything to do with the previous ones and the points are awarded based on the whims on one man?
The answer, of course, you aren’t. The point of Taskmaster isn’t the points. It’s a showcase for comedians to show different facets of their personalities while still making us laugh. And sometimes the most memorable contestants are the lovable losers who just can’t buy a win, but it’s still hilarious to see them try their hardest and come up short (here’s looking at you Nish Kumar, David Baddiel, and Judi Love).
So what, then, is the point of doing a preview for the upcoming special? Like Taskmaster itself, the point is just to do it. We talk about Taskmaster like it’s sports because the format invites that sort of discussion, even if we know full well it is something completely different. And at the end of the day, it’s just fun to talk about this delightfully ridiculous show that, I think, is the best thing on television right now (sorry The Mandalorian).
So with that in mind, let’s look ahead to this Sunday’s special episode.
Champion of Champions
One thing that sets Taskmaster apart from the other comedy game shows that are so popular on British TV is that contestants can only ever be on one series. You don’t drop in for an episode or two. Comedians are asked to commit to a ten-episode season and after that, they can never do the show again…
Unless they win. Every five series, the five most recent(ish) winners are brought back for a special “Champion of Champions” showdown where they compete against each other. The prize this time? A “life-sized” golden version of the rest of Greg Davies’ body. You know, to go with the head trophy.
There have been two of these specials already, one in 2017 with the champs from series one to five, and a slightly delayed one in 2022 which brought back the winners from series six to ten.
The third such special airs this Sunday at 9pm on Channel Four in the UK (and will be available on the official Taskmaster YouTube channel for the rest of the world 24 hours later). Returning this time are four winners—and one runner-up—from series eleven to fifteen.
Who will claim glory and complete their golden Greg this time? Let’s meet our competitors.
The Favourite: Dara Ó Briain
Statistically, Dara is the best competitor in Taskmaster history. The series 14 champion averaged 3.68 points per task, despite facing stiff competition from his series’ runner-up Sarah Millican who, with an average of 3.48 points per task, is tied for second-best competitor in the show’s history. (Hat tip to Taskmaster statistician Jack Bernhardt for the numbers!)
Were they helped by the fact that the rest of their competitors were notoriously weak (but still hilarious)? Sure. But they still had to partake in team tasks with their “lesser” competition, with Dara being saddled with both John Kearns and Fern Brady (who tied for last in the series) as teammates. Kearns in particular seemed to be designed in a lab to counteract Dara’s effectiveness, usually (but not always) unintentionally.
Despite all this, Dara still nearly ran away with the series points-wise. He is the only person ever to have a “perfect episode”, winning every single task including the prize task and the live studio task. And he was always hilarious doing so, bringing the wit and self-deprecating charm he’s honed through decades of stand-up and Mock the Week to both the location and studio portions of the show.
None of this, of course, means he can’t be beat. He had his share of stumbles during his run, including a near meltdown when he failed to identify a picture of his own hand amidst hundreds of other pictures of hands. He also inadvertently created a new catchphrase for himself—“Wait. What?—when he failed to properly read the instructions for several tasks in the same episode.
Will Dara continue his statistical dominance? Or will the other champions leave him crying out “Wait. What?” in the studio?
The If-This-Was-A-Full-Series-She’d-Probably-Win: Sophie Duker
If the past is anything to go off of, series 13 champion Sophie Duker seems like she has the best chance of beating Dara.
The similarities between the two’s experiences on Taskmaster are quite striking. For exactly one off-season, Sophie enjoyed the title of best-points-per-task-getter with 3.46, before Dara and Sarah came along to unseat her. Weirdly, at that point, the second-highest point-getter was the series 13 runner-up to Sophie, Chris Ramsey with 3.40. And like with series 14, the other three competitors were hilarious but inept at the tasks.
The main difference between Sophie and Dara, however, is that while Dara led his season pretty much from the get-go, Sophie had to build up to her victory. Series 13 began with Chris Ramsey taking a commanding lead, with some believing he could never be caught. But Sophie caught and overtook him, winning the series by two points.
What defined Sophie’s time on Taskmaster was a mix of relentlessness and creativity. She famously won a task by sticking out her tongue for over twenty-six minutes straight (producing a shocking amount of saliva in the process). Other highlights included her challenging Alex to a rap battle and her “House Queens” multi-track song created with her teammates Judi Love and Bridget Christie.
The question for Sophie going into Champion of Champions is can she bring this relentlessness to just one episode? She built up to her victory over the course of a series, and given more episodes I might be more inclined to see her as the favourite. That said, she did win three episodes in her series, the same number as Dara won in his…
The Wild Card: Morgana Robinson
Unlike Dara and Sophie, who each really only had one main competitor in their series, Morgana might have faced the toughest competition out of any series. Four of the competitors in series 12 finish in the top fifteen competitors statistically of all time. Alan Davies and Desiree Burch sit tied at 14th with 3.22 points per task each, Guz Khan at 9th with 3.34, and Morgana at 6th with 3.36. (Poor Victoria Coren Mitchell bore the brunt of Greg’s wrath that season and finished 40 points behind the next nearest competitor).
It could be argued that Morgana has already won the toughest series, giving her a leg up on the other competitors. She threw herself into tasks with reckless abandon and showed great creativity across the series. Her marriage proposal to Alex while dressed (and in character) as a mermaid was haunting and hilarious.
Because of the level of competition in series 12, however, some dispute Morgana’s victory since she won the series by just one point, a point that she was given as a bonus in the first episode by Greg for calling Alex a “little fucker.”
But that argument doesn’t fly here.
For one, the series was so close that any random decision or two by Greg could have swung it a different way. And, there is precedent for winning a series (and then Champion of Champions) thanks to a bonus point.
Back in series one, Josh Widdicombe became the first person to be given a “solo task” when he was the only contestant asked to count all the beans in a tin of baked beans (and then all the spaghetti hoops in a can, and then the grains of rice in a bag of rice). For his efforts, Greg awarded Josh a bonus point. Josh would then win the series by a single point (it’s alleged that one of the other contestants shouted, “the fucking bean point!” when the final scores were revealed) and then went on to win Champion of Champions 1.
So if Josh can win on the bean point, Morgana can win with her “little fucker” point.
What made Morgana stand out in her series was her unpredictability, which could be a great asset in a one-off special. She also has the experience going up against high caliber competition and in a winner-take-all showdown that surely counts for something.
The Richard Herring: Sarah Kendall
Series 11 winner Sarah Kendall bears something in common with her predecessor, series 10 champion Richard Herring. Both beat out their series’ respective “people’s champs” (Mike Wozniak in series 11 and Daisy May Cooper in series 10) by narrow margins. And they were both accused by Greg, at times, of taking a very “route one” approach to the tasks, as they frequently took the most obvious approach.
This is not to say that either was underserving of their win or that Sarah somehow doesn’t deserve to be in this special (there will be no slander of any Taskmaster contestants here). She was a tremendous competitor and had some great moments throughout series 11, such as discovering what her teammates thought was a bag of salt was actually a bag of sugar—something that went unnoticed by the other team.
Going into Champion of Champions 2, Richard spoke about a desire to show a different side of himself and prove that he was capable of doing more than just taking “route one.” And lo and behold, it worked. He is forever a Taskmaster Champion of Champions.
I suspect Sarah will want to do something similar (and I don’t just mean win). In the first episode of series 11, she even called herself out for being too straightforward in her approach to the plates-moving task. And where better to prove her range and unpredictability than on Taskmaster’s biggest stage?
Just like all eyes were on Ed Gamble and Liza Tarbuck going into Champion of Champions 2 making Richard’s victory a surprise, the focus on Dara and Sophie going into 3 might leave Sarah room to swoop in and steal the prize.
The Runner-Up: Kiell Smith-Bynoe
It’s hard to say whether Kiell faces the most pressure or the least heading into Champion of Champions 3. On the one hand, he’s the only non-champion ever to compete in Champion of Champions, so if he loses then he can say he wasn’t a real champion so what did anyone expect? On the other, he might see this as he chance for vengeance, to prove to all those champions that they’re not so great if a runner-up like him can beat them all.
Kiell, of course, should not technically be competing in the special. He was only called up when the winner of his series (series 15), Mae Martin was sadly unavailable due to their growing success in America. As the runner-up for series 15, Kiell was the natural choice to replace them.
Mae cruised to victory in series 15 and currently sits tied with Sarah Millican for second all-time in most points per task (3.48). They were a calm, steady presence in the series, bringing outside-the-box thinking that impressed Greg while also riling up their competitors—especially Kiell. The arguments over pineapple drawings and what constitutes a throw were highlights of the season.
So with Kiell stepping in, what can we expect? He was the runner-up, but it was never really close. He had some tremendous highs (his cowering Kenyan bench made out of a hot dog in 1 minute and 21 seconds was delightfully funny and creative) and some ludicrous lows (the one-man band suit incident). He also won three episodes, the same as Dara, Sophie, and Sarah, so a surprise win can’t be counted out.
Kiell always brought the laughs, whether it was with a cheeky smile and wink to the camera, or absolute rage and fury. And he could always fire up the debate among the cast. It will be great fun to see his energy, especially as the outsider, mesh with the champions.
A Quick Look To The Past
As laid out at the beginning, Taskmaster doesn’t play by the rules of usual competitions. As such, there isn’t a tonne to be gleaned from the previous Champion of Champions specials. But let’s take a look back anyway. And who knows? Maybe the key to victory in Champion of Champions 3 is hidden in there somewhere.
The first Champion of Champions was a two-part special which aired in 2017, bringing back Josh Widdicombe (series 1), Katherine Ryan (series 2), Rob Beckett (series 3), Noel Fielding (series 4), and Bob Mortimer (series 5). Individual episodes were won by Katherine and Josh, with Josh ultimately taking home the big prize.
A funny wrinkle about Josh winning is that he was the only contestant without a “head” trophy. In series one the production crew hadn’t known if there would be more seasons and hadn’t made a trophy. As such, Josh was awarded a cheap karate trophy as his prize which he gamely placed atop Davies’ golden body at the end of the first Champion of Champions mini-season (pictured above).
Other highlights include Bob’s edible face mask (and the character who went with it) and Katherine interpreting the “make the biggest mess and then clean it up” task as an opportunity to mess with her family by inventing a cheating relative story and then trying to walk it back. She arguably should have won the whole thing just for that effort alone!
There would be a long gap before Champion of Champions 2, which finally aired in 2022 (after more than half of the lineup for Champion of Champions 3 had already been determined). This special brought back Liza Tarbuck (series 6), Kerry Godliman (series 7), Lou Saunders (series 8), Ed Gamble (series 9) and Richard Herring (series 10).
There were two major medical reasons for the delay, as well as the decision to reduce Champion of Champions 2 to a single episode. One was, of course, the Covid-19 pandemic. The other was Richard Herring being diagnosed with testicular cancer and needing to undergo treatment.
Fortunately, Richard made a complete recovery and was not only healthy enough to compete but to win the whole thing! Which was a surprise to everybody (except maybe him, for the reasons discussed earlier).
Highlights this time included a complete meltdown from Ed Gamble (who many viewed as the favourite) during a task where he had to get a rubber duck into a pond from far away, and a winner-take-all live task where the champions had to convince Greg that their suitcase was full of either bricks or balloons (when really it was full of the other).
Champion of Champions 3 will look more like 2 than 1. It will just be one episode, and it’s being released slightly out of order (series 16 has already aired and champion Sam Campbell is waiting to find out who will join him in Champion of Champions 4).
So, who will join Herring and Widdicombe in glory? We’ll get our answer this weekend. And there will be many laughs and iconic moments along the way.
The specials, like a regular season of Taskmaster, are not really about who wins, but the joy of seeing chaos unfold on our screens—with the added fun of having some old favourites back. It’s the embodiment of “it’s about the journey, not the destination.” We remember who wins, sure, but we remember the moments that got us there more.
In that way, it’s just like life…if life involved having everything we did scored out of five points.