Taskmaster's New Year Treat trophy.
Taskmaster's New Year Treat is an annual series of special episodes of Taskmaster that air at the beginning of the year on Channel 4, beginning in 2021. These specials feature five celebrities from different specialities competing to win a trophy in the shape of the Taskmaster's eyebrows. Originally it was advertised as "five celebrities you would never expect to see together", however from 2022 onwards it has simply been described as featuring non-comedians. For the specials, the Taskmaster House has a classic cinema theme.
The episodes are officially listed as "New Year Treat" followed by the year of the New Years celebration they coincide with, such as "New Year Treat 2023", for example. However not all release in the actual year itself, so to avoid confusion this wiki uses numerals to differentiate them.
Both the youngest contestant in the show's history, Lenny Rush, and the eldest, Sue Johnston, partook in New Year Treat specials, and both won.
New Year Treat 1[]
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| The fastest duck. | ||||||
New Year Treat 1, officially New Year Treat 2021, was the first one-off New Year special of Taskmaster and aired on 1 January 2021 on Channel 4. The episode was entitled The fastest duck. and featured panellists John Hannah, Krishnan Guru-Murthy, Nicola Coughlan, Rylan Clark-Neal and Shirley Ballas. The episode was won by Shirley Ballas.
On the Channel 4 streaming service, this episode is listed under Series 11, and is listed as "Series 11, Episode 101". This episode had unique fanfares during the ad break transitions.
Episode breakdown[]
| Task | Description | John Hannah | Krishnan Guru-Murthy | Nicola Coughlan | Rylan Clark-Neal | Shirley Ballas |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Prize: Best thing to bring to a party. | 1 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 5 |
| 2 | Get the biggest thing through the doughnut without breaking the doughnut. | 2 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 4 |
| 3 | Sculpt the scene on the other side of this wall. | 3 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 1 |
| 4 | Build the lightest tower on this set of scales. You may not move the scales or tape anything to them, and you may not tamper with or block the fan. The fan will be on for 1 minute every other minute. Your tower must be taller than a wolf and stand by itself for 10 seconds. | 5 | 4 | 0 | DQ | 3 |
| Bonus: Every time Alex rings his little bell, you have to pretend you've had a brilliant idea. | – | – | – | 0 | – | |
| 5 | Live: Without your fellow contestants seeing, select one object from your box. If you select the same object as one of your fellow contestants, you will both lose 1 actual point. | -1 | -1 | -1 | 0 | -1 |
| Live: Strike the most balls into the bath with your object. If any of your balls touch the Taskmaster, you lose 1 actual point. | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 5 | |
| Total | 10 | 12 | 10 | 13 | 17 | |
Trailer[]
New Year Treat 2[]
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| Basic recipe 28. | ||||||
New Year Treat 2, officially New Year Treat 2022, was the second one-off New Year special of Taskmaster and aired on 1 January 2022 on Channel 4. The episode was entitled Basic recipe 28. and featured panellists Adrian Chiles, Claudia Winkleman, Jonnie Peacock, Lady Leshurr and Sayeeda Warsi. The episode was won by Adrian Chiles. Alan Davies filled in the position of Jonnie Peacock as he was ill.
Episode breakdown[]
| Task | Description | Adrian Chiles | Claudia Winkleman | Jonnie Peacock | Lady Leshurr | Sayeeda Warsi |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Prize: Most beguiling, unwieldy, shiny thing. | 3 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 2 |
| 2 | Put the egg in the egg cup in the most daring way. If the egg breaks, you are disqualified. | 5 | 2 | DQ | 3 | 4 |
| 3 | Drink all the vinegar. | 5 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| 4 | Choose a length for this pole, then guide it through the course. The person who completes the course with the longest pole wins. Every time your pole touches something other than your hands, 10cm will be taken from its length. | 5 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 2 |
| 5 | Live: Choose a ball. | 4 | 2 | 3[1] | 1 | 5 |
| Live: Turn your ball into a head. Your new head must be the head of one of your fellow contestants. | ||||||
| Total | 22 | 6 | 15 | 12 | 13 | |
- ↑ These points were attributed to Jonnie but won by Alan Davies, who replaced him for the studio segments of this episode.
Trailer[]
New Year Treat 3[]
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| That's a swizz. | ||||||
New Year Treat 3, officially New Year Treat 2023, was the third one-off New Year special of Taskmaster and aired on 1 January 2023 on Channel 4. The episode was entitled That's a swizz. and featured panellists Amelia Dimoldenberg, Carol Vorderman, Greg James, Mo Farah and Rebecca Lucy Taylor. The episode was won by Mo Farah.
Episode breakdown[]
| Task | Description | Amelia Dimoldenberg | Carol Vorderman | Greg James | Mo Farah | Rebecca Lucy Taylor |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Prize: The thing which Greg would be most surprised that you own. | 3 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 2 |
| 2 | Count all the dots on this card. You may not touch or mark the card. You must answer the door and obey the instructions every time the doorbell rings. | 3 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 1 |
| 3 | Recreate the picture that Alex is holding. Your face must not move from this position. Alex will show you the picture for five seconds when you've finished reading the task and then for a further three seconds every time you land a ball in the bucket. | 2 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 4 |
| 4 | Put the most carp pellets in the fishbowl. You must not bend at the waist or knees at any point. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 4 |
| 5 | Live: Obey Greg's instructions. You must only obey the instructions which start with "Greg says". | 5 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 3 |
| Total | 14 | 14 | 14 | 20 | 14 | |
Trailer[]
New Year Treat 4[]
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| Huh? | ||||||
New Year Treat 4, officially New Year Treat 2024, was the fourth one-off New Year special of Taskmaster and aired on 2 January 2024 on Channel 4. The episode was entitled Huh? and featured panellists Deborah Meaden, Kojey Radical, Lenny Rush, Steve Backshall and Zoe Ball. The episode was won by Lenny Rush.
In this special and Series 18, the chairs in the studio have arms.
Episode breakdown[]
| Task | Description | Deborah Meaden | Kojey Radical | Lenny Rush | Steve Backshall | Zoe Ball |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Prize: Most fun thing to be carrying when you enter a room full of people you don't know. | 1 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 2 |
| 2 | Eat these poppadoms. After each mouthful, you must lose a letter of the alphabet from your vocabulary, then either compliment Greg or insult Alex. Your insults and compliments must all be different. If you use a lost letter at any time, 10g will be added to your final poppadom weight. | 5 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 3 |
| 3 | Draw a picture of yourself eating some fruit on this tablet. You may not touch the touchscreen with any part of your hands. Also, throughout the task, you must become increasingly angry. | 1 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 4 |
| 4 | Make these things pop when the timer hits zero. | 3 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 1 |
| 5 | Live: Say whether the item will fit through the hole or not fit through the hole. If you get it right, you lose an egg. | 3 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 3 |
| Total | 13 | 14 | 19 | 18 | 13 | |
Videos[]
New Year Treat 5[]
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| 412 steps. | ||||||
New Year Treat 5, officially New Year Treat 2025, is the fifth one-off New Year special of Taskmaster and aired on 29 December 2024 on Channel 4. The episode was entitled 412 steps. and featured panellists David James, Hannah Fry, Martin Lewis, Melanie Blatt and Sue Johnston. The episode was won by Sue Johnston.
The cast announcement for this special was not ever uploaded to the Taskmaster YouTube channel. This was the first episode to air before New Year's Day rather than after it, as such it is currently the only episode to not release in the year it is named after. This, alongside the January air dates for the following New Year Treat, makes 2025 the only year so far to not have a New Year Treat special release within it since they began.
Episode breakdown[]
| Task | Description | David James | Hannah Fry | Martin Lewis | Melanie Blatt | Sue Johnston |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Prize: The source of the greatest pride. | 5 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 5 |
| 2 | Don as many gloves as possible. | 2 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 4 |
| Remove all your gloves and put them back in the glove box. You may not put the glasses down. For every gram of sand you spill, a second will be added to your time. | ||||||
| 3 | Do something you regret. | 1 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 5 |
| 4 | Transfer the most water from the bucket to the bottle using only the contents of one of these bins. You may open one bin every minute, but you must use the contents of the bin you open last. You may not touch or move the bucket or the bottle. | DQ | DQ | 3 | 5 | 4 |
| 5 | Live: Draw the most accurate picture of the contents of the box. If you answer Greg's question correctly, you may look in the box for 0.1 seconds. If you answer Greg's question incorrectly, you must start your picture again. You may only answer Greg's question if you are the first to shout your surname. | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| Total | 13 | 16 | 14 | 12 | 19 | |
New Year Treat 6[]
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| Welcome to my pumpathon. • The opposite of ducking? | ||||||
New Year Treat 6 is the sixth New Year special of Taskmaster that aired from 2 to 3 January 2026 on Channel 4. The special features panellists Big Zuu, Jill Scott, Rose Ayling-Ellis, Sam Ryder and Susie Dent, and was won by Rose Ayling-Ellis.
This is the first New Year Treat to run for two episodes rather than just one, comparable to the original Champion of Champions. This special features the first ever group of contestants to be seated out of alphabetical order in the studio (outside of the live task), with Ayling-Ellis being sat after both Ryder and Dent. This is due to her needing to sit where she is able to see an interpreter who was sat next to Alex. It is the second time if Alan Davies filling in for Jonnie Peacock is counted, however Peacock's seat was in the correct place alphabetically. These are the first episodes to have a BSL version uploaded to the official Channel 4 app.
Episode breakdown[]
| Task | Description | Big Zuu | Jill Scott | Rose Ayling-Ellis | Sam Ryder | Susie Dent |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Episode 1: Welcome to my pumpathon. (2 January 2026) | ||||||
| 1 | Prize: Most wonderful thing to whack. | 3 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 4 |
| 2 | Prod the bear. | 1 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 2 |
| 3 | Throw one or more dice to get a number, then clap, cough, nod and blink that number of times before the next flash. If you do not complete the sequence before the next flash, the task is over. At the end of the task, your total number of completed sequences will be multiplied by your number of dice to give you a score. You must berate yourself throughout the task. | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 5 |
| 4 | Do a something-athon for a full 20 minutes. | 4 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 2 |
| 5 | Live: Put your items in Greg's special order. After each shuffle, Greg will tell you how many items are in the correct position, but not which ones. | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| T | Live: What length is Alex's pineapple? | - | ✔ | ✘ | - | - |
| Total | 12 | 15 | 15 | 13 | 13 | |
| Episode 2: The opposite of ducking? (3 January 2026) | ||||||
| 1 | Prize: Most exotic thing from their actual home. | 1 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 3 |
| 2 | Split something in half in a really exciting way. | 3 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 2 |
| 3 | Hold a number of yellow balls in your hand. | 1 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 2 |
| Paint two identical and flattering self-portraits. You must paint on one canvas for no more than five seconds before painting on the other. | ||||||
| 4 | Complete the most instructions in the order they are presented. | 5 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 2 |
| Do the opposite of those instructions in the opposite order. | ||||||
| 5 | Live: Win the shoe games. | 4 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Total | 14 | 16 | 17 | 16 | 12 | |
| Grand Total | 26 | 31 | 32 | 29 | 25 | |