Taskmaster – The Final review: After 16 series, is the show’s well of wacky ideas running dry?
Taskmaster – The Finale
Inside The Tower Of London
Have you ever sat in front of the television and thought to yourself, “What I really enjoy right now is watching Sue Perkins fire a ring donut at Alex Horne from a piece of industrial-strength elastic tied to the top of a garbage can”?
Then you were lucky last night. That was just one of the eccentric spectacles on offer Taskmaster – The Final (Ch4).
This is Taskmaster’s 16th series and there are indications that they may be running out of crazy, strange ideas. A challenge for the five participants was to get some practice. Comedian Lucy Beaumont simply head-butted an exercise ball, while actress Susan Wokoma donned a pair of boxing gloves and used some small weights as abdominal rollers. To be honest, I’ve seen crazier things.
It was the donut that kept the show’s reputation alive for its weirdness, which shouldn’t really be funny but somehow is. Participants were introduced to the sweet treat, which was mounted on a small pedestal, and ordered, “Do something shocking but family-friendly with this doughnut.”
A challenge for the five participants was to get some practice. Comedian Lucy Beaumont simply head-butted an exercise ball, while actress Susan Wokoma donned a pair of boxing gloves and used some small weights as abdominal rollers. To be honest, I’ve seen crazier things
Gamesmaster Horne was just asking for trouble, right? He was shot by Perkins with the donut, while Julian Clary slowly chewed his and then spit it in Horne’s face. Charming.
But the winner was Beaumont, who dressed as a bird, ate the donut, vomited it up and fed it to Horne.
In cold print it doesn’t sound very funny, but that’s the magic of Taskmaster. Accept it as childish and silly, and somehow you get carried away by the maniacal laughter. Well, mostly swept up.
The winner of the series was Australian comedian Sam Campbell, the only contestant who could throw a ball into a large pool of smaller balls without any balls falling to the ground. Who knows when that skill might come in handy?
A shocking revelation came out Inside the Tower of London (Ch5). Some of the country’s most senior officials felt so uncomfortable during the lockdown that they refused to return to their normal duties.
They are the famous ravens of the Tower, who were locked in their cages for six months as part of the crackdown on bird flu. And Raven Master Chris Skaife couldn’t entice them to go back.
Mind you, his main method seemed to be standing outside the cage and shouting, “Come on then, all of you.” Finally, one of the younger ravens fell for the oldest trick in the book – a trail of food – and the others followed.
The Tower Of London employee Chris
So if the government is really serious about getting civil servants back into the office, would a trail of light snacks around Whitehall be enough?
Elsewhere in the tower, a costume was prepared to be worn by the Earl of Caledon at the coronation of George IV in 1821, complete with wine and food stains. The knees up afterwards cost the equivalent of £13 million, and the Count appeared to have spilled most of the food budget down his front and sleeves.
The stars of the show were the Yeoman Warders, who have smart, brash personalities to match their bright, brash costumes.
One of them warmed up the tour audience with the words: ‘Who wants a story with a happy ending?’
“Yes,” was the cheerful answer.
“Then go visit somewhere else.”
Once a formidable symbol of power, the Tower is now simply another branch of showbiz.
JONATHAN TETELMAN: The Great Puccini (DG 486 4683)
Jonathan Tetelman, born in Chile but raised in New Jersey, is a tenor to watch, with a beautiful, cultured voice.
A year after his acclaimed first DG recital with arias recorded in Gran Canaria, he went to Prague to record this freshly sung album with Giacomo Puccini’s most famous tenor scenes.
Jonathan Tetelman, born in Chile but raised in New Jersey, is a tenor to watch, with a beautiful, cultured voice
It’s a bit early for the centenary of the composer’s death, but very welcome, as Tetelman is in better spirits than some of his great rivals and has a feel for Puccini’s phrasing.
The expected hit songs – ‘Che gelida manina’, ‘Nessun dorma’, ‘E lucevan le stelle’ – are here, but some selections are a bit unusual, like the scene from Madama Butterfly Act 3.
La Boheme gets three fragments, including the love duet with the excellent Federica Lombardi and the farewell quartet from Act 3; and in total Tetelman is supported by six other singers.
Music by Le Villi, Manon Lescaut and Il Tabarro is included; Carlo Rizzi conducts the Prague Philharmonia in an idiomatic manner, but the climax of ‘Nessun dorma’ sounds a bit strange.
ENJOY, GAUDETE! Choral music for Christmas (Naxos 8.574575)
The Christmas music on this CD is beautifully sung, but you may have already come across it, because it was released in 2011 on another label.
David Hill, one of our top choir leaders, conducts just 16 professional singers in the IKON ensemble convened for special projects.
The Christmas music on this CD is beautifully sung, but you may have already come across it, because it was released in 2011 on another label
The 2009 recordings of St John the Evangelist, Upper Norwood still sound good and my only reservation is that many of the arrangements are very awkward and unnecessarily complicated.
The simplicity of the Coventry Carol all but disappears under the weight of the harmonies Richard Allain piles on it, and some modern composers are guilty of this.
I do enjoy Kenneth Leighton’s GK Chestertoon setting and there are classics by Whitacre, Holst, Warlock, Joubert and Howells; the title track by Adrian Peacock was new in 2009.
TULLIE POTTER