Revuew: Taskmaster, “An act of self-erasure.” | Series 22, Episode 4

It’s series 22, episode 4 of Taskmaster, and we’re back in the studio with Chloe Petts, who has ample armpit hair; Isy Suttie, who you should probably not hire to sing your company motto; Matt Lucas, who has very little armpit hair; Nina Conti, who we finally get to see do ventriloquism; and Richard Ayoade, who can recite his times tables with astonishing speed. 

This was another middle-of-the-road episode for me, though the tasks got stronger throughout the episode. Mostly I’m still missing the in-studio camaraderie we’ve seen in most previous seasons; everybody seems comfortable enough bantering with Taskmaster Greg Davies, but there’s relatively little connection between and among the contestants. Every cohort benefits from a human ray of sunshine (last season had two, with Joel Dommett and Joanna Page); I think Suttie’s mostly fulfilling that role here, but it’s not a strong enough counterbalance to personalities like Petts and Ayoade.