Taskmaster: 200 Extraordinary Tasks for Ordinary People is a tie-in book to the UK version of Taskmaster. It was written by Alex Horne and published on 6 September 2018 by BBC Books (an imprint of Penguin Random House).
Contents[]
The book features 203 tasks, categorised into the following sections (with an example from each):
- Warm-Up Tasks
- Task 5: Say as many different items of clothing as possible in alphabetical order. You have two minutes. Your time starts when you next breathe out.
- Party Tasks
- Task 33: Holding your hands behind your back at all times, put something on your head. Fastest wins. Your time starts when your Taskmaster is satisfied you are all holding your hands behind your back and tells you so.
- Pub Tasks
- Task 77: Everyone must return to the table in five minutes wearing as different an outfit as possible. You may not swap clothes with a fellow contestant. Most different outfit wins. Your time starts when your Taskmaster blurts out, 'All change.'
- Transport Tasks
- Task 108: Without opening the window or using the car horn, make a pedestrian give you a thumbs up. Fastest wins. Your time starts when your Taskmaster sucks their thumb noisily.
- Holiday Tasks
- Task 134: Find and demonstrate the most complicated toilet. Most complicated toilet wins. You have until your holiday is cover. Your time starts when you set off on your trip.
- Rainy Day Tasks
- Task 136: Hide the best. Once hidden, everyone must whisper 'I am here' once every 30 seconds until the task is over. Last person to be found by your Taskmaster wins. Your Taskmaster will start searching for you after they have counted to 100 loudly in a voice other than their own.
- Snow or Sand Tasks
- Task 144: Build this sandcastle. The sandcastle that most resemble this sandcastle wins. You have until the tide comes in. Your time starts when you've got sand between your toes.
- Solo Tasks
- Task 152: Read this book in the most extreme situation. Most extreme situation wins. You have until 31 December 2019. Your time started when you began this chapter.
- Advanced Tasks
- Task 192: Read this book in the most different countries. Most countries read in wins. You have until 31 December 2019. Your time starts now.
- Bonus Tasks
- Task 202: Find the mistakes in this book. Most mistaskes found wins. You have until 31 December 2019. Your time starts when you next drop something.
The book has a foreword by Greg Davies, and then Alex Horne. There are suggestions on how to use the book. Some of the tasks have fun facts beneath them relating to the show. The appendix has some more exclusive information about the show, as well as some lists of task performances (e.g. each contestant's recipe for Marmite from series 5). Included is one fifth of the texts sent by Mark Watson in series 5, in a bonus task in which he failed to gain a single point.
Paperback edition[]
Paperback cover
On 5 September 2019 an updated paperback (and ebook) version of the book was published with the title Taskmaster: 220 Extraordinary Tasks for Ordinary People. There are 20 new tasks, as well as updates to previous tasks that had expiry dates.