A Canadian watches Taskmaster Series 12 - Episode 1 Reaction - 6-Inch Paintings & Alex's Pop Shop 

The "well that's nice" from Victoria was so adorable

At 2 min and 15 seconds into the episode, I fell in love with Morgana when she cheekily grinned "oh yes you can".

Possibly the best first episode of a series I can recall. Fantastic lineup, all of them have so much potential. Amazing creative tasks. So many laugh out loud moments. Absolute banger of an episode 🔥

The drop on the balloon got delayed because she was throwing shit every where and it messed up the drop mechanism lol. Totally vibing with all the contestants, shout outs to Morgana, no idea who she was before this show but was a fan after the first 10 minutes. It's hard not to hear David Mitchel when Vicki is confused and ranting, it's adorable lol. It's gonna be a great season. Long Live the Task Master!

I wonder if Guz brought Lumbu with him in case the house is haunted.

Series 9 had 3 female contestants. David Baddiel Ed Gamble Jo Brand Katy Wix Rose Matefeo

As an American, I can say that Desiree Burch is doing my country proud so far. Even when she fails, she is all-American in doing it. Fun fact: The stage task this episode is almost exactly the same as a stage task used in New Zealand Season 1. I think they changed the categories a bit, was all.

One of the best (perhaps the best) opening episode any Taskmaster series has had. All the contestants seems great fun and have brilliant chemistry together. Really good tasks as well, the time shop is one of my favourites for the show.

as soon as Victoria said diamonds when I was watching this on the telly, I thought, Neil Talks is gonna love this....

absolutely loved this episode my money is on Morgana to win the series. hope all goes well with the book if you do record your progress would love to see it even if you only upload it after you finish the book

Victoria's laugh was so wholesome, loving the series so far (although, there was a technical problem, Channel 4 aired the censored version, we didn't get "the little fucker" from Morgana etc.)

I didn't know Morgana until I looked her up and realised she'd been on 8 out of 10 cats does countdown a few times in dictionary corner. The character she was playing looks totally different.

Nobody was continually bad and no one was continually good, it was all mixed up and not in a contrived way so it's always going to be a guess to who will win. Looks like being a great series of 5 very likeable contestants having fun.

This was a wicked episode of Taskmaster! I genuinely loved this show

My favourite show, and now I get to enjoy it again with a Canadian friend.

I don't think Alan is the Baddiel of the series, he's probably going to be more like he is on QI. He's just there to have fun, not to win. He might do quite well, he'll actually put in effort, either to win or to make it funny. Baddiel was apathetic to the whole show, almost to a wearying extent. Alan's there to have a laugh, not to just put in minimal effort and take up time on the show.

Fun fact. Channel 4 in the UK broadcast the incorrect version on the initial showing. The version shown had some words bleeped out and an on-screen warning "Don't try this at home" during the dart throwing. The End Of Part and Start of Part videos were also generic with Horne just waving rather than, for example, holding up two fingers at the start of part 2. I assume the last one was because w got a version they can reformat and show with more or fewer breaks and isn't a change to the series in general.

John Craven (now in his 80's) was a journalist with the BBC, he's probably best known for a childrens news show called Newsround or John Cravens Newsround (depending on the era of your childhood). It was on in the afternoon during kids TV just before the final kids show of the day... He's associated with and credited with introducing the phrase "and finally" before the last news story. As a result, a book called "And Finally - Funny Stories From John Cravens Newsround" was published.

I cannot even describe how it KICKED OFF on Twitter because Channel 4 accidentally broadcast the censored version. We swore at them, a LOT! For like 50 minutes straight. DING trended on twitter because of the bleeping sound effect.

I'm excited for this season. I'm British but this is still the first time I've known all 5 contestants, and I'm fairly sure that this is going to be one of the most competitive seasons so far.

I think this might be my favorite season I truly love Victoria I find her so funny and adorable and she's not even trying.

This series has totally snuck up on me! I’ve not seen any TM since your reviews of TM NZ. Just watching this shows how much better Greg is as the Taskmaster

neil: what can you do with a fork?! desiree: comedy gold

In the latest episode of Only Connect, Victoria was wearing a redhead wig and gave no explanation whatsoever, leading many to believe that it was for a Task. Guess we'll find out soon.🤔👩‍🦰

“Guys always think this is 6 inches. This is 5!” 😂😂😂 16:13

1:18 "I've done a deep dive on Victoria Coren Mitchell" 🤣🤣 Don't tell David..... 🤣

Great job. Sound volume for you and the show are perfect.

Great first episode, I really enjoyed all five right from the off. Can't wait for more S12, it's going to be a good one.

Bloody love Morgana ,she is a bloody talented and funny lady love her impersonation of Cheryl Cole and tons of other people and she is abloody brilliant actor .

It's so good to have TM back! I missed the first episode as I was away on an extended long weekend break. I was going to watch it on 4OD at the weekend, and now thanks to you, I don't need to.

Wow! Bang up to date with this one. I agree with others, it is far and away the funniest episode 1.

I love the delivery of the unique and different anecdotes, that Greg comes up with to introduce Little Alex Horrrnnneee! Gus Khan looking intense as a psychotic madman; so funny. UK Taskmaster is great, TM Australia is funny and Taskmaster NZ is hysterical

11:05 I think Victoria's got a bit of a point--he's intentionally moving away from them so as to not be discovered--that's a form of hiding. Arguably, there's a form of hiding where you are under something or inside of something, which is *even more* hiding-y, but he was still hiding a bit. Also, thinking over this task I think what I would've done, assuming I found Alex before getting a ball, would be to take off his shoes, link arms with him, and remove his helmet--because of course, nothing in the task said that you can't mess with Alex. Really, it becomes a question of, "what are the unspoken rules?"

Great reaction as always! John Craven used to present Newsround, a version of the news for children

Sorry to comment as I watch, but I'm glad you like Victoria. You might not be aware of her in Canada but she presents a ridiculously and infamously difficult quiz show called Only Connect, is very intelligent and witty (as is clear) and is one of the best female professional poker players in the world (officially). And by the evidence of this episode, she's heading towards the role of contestant who completely falls apart during each task and I love it.

VCM is an absolute treasure!

Morgana is in the brilliant House of Fools (Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer's wonderfully daft sitcom).

Victoria is completely LOVELY,a delight.

Morganna is an actress but she specialises in doing impressions. You can catch her in the latest series of Alan Davies: As yet untitled but she was Pippa Middleton in the comic series "The Windsors" and popped up a few times in Cats does Countdown doing an impression of a soap star called "Natalie Cassidy" Edit: Guz Khan, Desiree Burch and Morgana Robinson are all in this season's Alan Davies: As yet untitled. Victoria Coren Mitchell is in Season 4.

Same happens to me that at least one of them I don't like that much. Maybe by the end of the series it changes. But this is the first time that I like all of them! Such a good start!

They normally don't have team tasks in the first episode as it is a chance to get to know the contestants on their own. Normally episode two has the first team task

Fun fact: Morgana is the half-sister of Brody Dalle, an LA-based punk singer from The Distillers and Spinnerette.

Man I love your vids. I rewatch them alot. I thought the book was gonna be the new Bob Mortimer autobiography.

Love how excited you are with this!! Although it's good to provide some form of competitivity with the scoring, it's almost a side effect of discussing how each has tackled the task for comedic value. In the same way, the not all going straight for the scissors, gave more fun to the tasks (though many mentioned it early on), and VCB popping without was 5 points from me, even if it was time that mattered!!

Victória is so cute here!

Been waiting for this! :-) Gonna edit this as I watch S9 had 3 female contestants with Joe Brand, Katy Wix and Rose Matefaoe. The first thing I ever saw with Guz Khan was his short video about Jurassic World being "racist" (which was filmed by Lumboo, from his WILTY story)

Haha I love how gleeful you were throughout this, really how I felt getting a new series of Taskmaster. Oh, and interestingly, one of these tasks was adapted from Series 1 of the New Zealand version, so if you watch that you'll recognise it.

Guz Khan may be the best Taskmaster contestant in years, totally wild and unpredictable. He is also high as a kite in this episode, he said on twitter that Desiree brought in edibles for the cast 😂😂

I got so used to your reactions that I was confused when I watched the episode only by myself :D

Very excited about this season, thank you very much for introducing me to taskmaster.

Here's a true and ridiculous fact for you: Morgana's sister is Brodie Dalle from The Distillers

Who watches these panelshows with a favorite? I just watch for the entertainment value. I couldn't care less who gets the most points.

did you see the special new years treat episode? I ask because you were surprised by the bubble and it was in that one. If you've not seen it there is a special 1 off episode you have not seen yet, if you have and forgotten about it - fair enough didn't want you to miss out as it was a good episode.

Great first episode! I didn't know Morganna, had only seen Desiree on Frankie Boyle's show and Guz only on Neil's reactions. At this point I think the competition will be fierce and anybody could win. Stellar cast!

I don't know about all the tasks but two of the tasks were re-hashes from other countries version of TM. Namely the balloon task was from Sweden and the live task was from NZ.

During the popping the balloon task I was like "I can't do maths nor time but surely taking the scissors is the most efficient way in the way of time!?" I was very happy when Alan had the same idea as me 😂

Desiree's attempt at the balloon as a thing of comedic beauty

I am loving this series of the show!

Great first episode, thanks

When she was throwing forks, one or two hit the portcullis. This affected the crudely constructed mechanism for a few seconds.

I can't remember laughing that much at an episode of this show before. I think Morgana is going to be the breakout character, but Vic is so competitive.

Alex is the creator and comes up with many of the tasks - Tim Key from series one is also credited as a consultant. I think it was originally done at the Edinburgh festival before being originally being picked up by 'Dave' -really a channel in the UK and now 'bought' by channel 4 before Greg was involved. Anyway loved the reaction as always.

Before this I had only seen Morgana in "House of Fools" (which was Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer's sitcom a few years ago) and I am thrilled to see she is a lot like her character in that, posh, horny, rude and insane.

Have you seen the amateur fan made version on RU-vid called "Taskmaster Minnesota"? It's actually very well made. It far FAR out plays the officially US version. It's made by a bunch of people who actually understand the concept of the show and has some fantastic original tasks, some examples; Do the most sexiest thing least sexily OR do the least sexily thing the most sexily. Get around the house (Barn) the fast as possible, you must change your method of traveling at each corner Compose and perform the best new birthday song. I wholeheartedly recommend it to you and anyone in the comments. The one small issue is the sound quality is a bit poor in some places but you get over it because it's so well made in other parts. As a disclaimer, I'm a just an enthusiastic UK viewer and want to see it succeed because they deserve it.

Just saw this episode one of the funniest one in ages absolutely brilliant Morgana is the second Aussie to appear on TM

Glad to see you got the book. Even though I'm a Brit I think some of the 'clues' are simply ridiculous. I'm glad I just got Twitter and Reddit, as the latter has been very helpful. Also the clue checker online is a necessity. I wouldn't worry about being behind though, as there are apparently people who have solved practically every clue, but I think Alex Horne said that some stuff is time locked so no one will be able to get the head yet.

I’m so excited! I’ve been waiting for this! I usually only watch reactions on things I’ve already seen but I’m cool with watching this with you for the first time.

Love Tasks Master, there is a New Zealand version which is hilarious

Good first episode. Victoria is more like David than I'd assumed from other appearances I've seen with her. She's very uptight/passive-aggressive/pedantic (in an exasperated, humorous way), like him. They're clearly a couple defined by similarities, not differences. Morgana intrigues me. Never heard of her before, but she's interesting. "Saucy" is a shallow incomplete term, but it's a good first descriptor with more to follow to start with. Desiree Burch is part of the extended circle you see in the usual Brit panel-show-land, so I'm pretty familiar with her. She's a permanent American ex-pat, like Rich Hall, but unlike him never had any real US TV career first. She didn't spark personalitywise enormously here yet, but clearly did okay in the tasks. Alan didn't do anything spectacularly funny but was solid. I'm a bit undecided on Guz so far. The NZ show gave me a new appreciation in comparison for how good Greg is as Taskmaster. The beats and comedy timing he puts into everything just work, even when he's arbitrary. That gleam in his eyes, that shows he's just taking the piss out of everything, never goes away.

I loved guz's manic eyes with the ball compared to the zen painting. Plus you just can't write the portcullis failing to fall for Desiree

You've gotta dig deep, we're here for ten weeks.

Alan Davis, As Yet Untitled worth look, Morgana was on it told great stories

This promises to be a great series. I wonder how Victoria is going to do though - she's probably more intelligent than all of the previous contestants combined, but this could turn out to be a handicap for some tasks. She might be great with tasks where you get X minutes to plan and Y minutes to execute, but fail if she needs to decide and execute on the spot.

Fantastic opener. Great line up this series. Re the three females thing...I think you might be right actually. And I didn't even notice! That's awesome.

I know, I should just grow up, but "I've done a deep dive on Victoria Corren" sounds dirty to me.

Gus wrote and starred in a great Series Men like Mobien

*makes happy noises*

As Series 13 is concluding its filming at the moment I believe this might be the final 100% 'COVID-friendly' series - certainly the team and studio sessions of S13 will be back to normal (as is Champion of Champions with S6-10's winners, which has already finished filming and should air as a Christmas/New Year special).

I’m guessing a fork got wedged into the portcullis.

Unsure if you'll get it over there but Greg Davies has just started to host new series of 'Never Mind The Buzzcocks' (great panel show that ran a long time and cancelled 7 years ago. Making this series 29). Reaction or not-probably right up your street

Gus calls for Alex the same way I call my husband ( also called Alex) when I don't know where he is in the house

"Is she a good dart player then?......No". Fantastic :D

Love this series already Victoria-----Katherine P. with enthusiasm and a little more smarts.

My answers to the final challenge were Cool hobby: drumming Cool animal: animal (from the muppets) Famous person: dave grohl Literally wouldve been the same pose for each 😂

Hi Neil, from Pittsburgh! Discovered TM, 8oo10 cats, WILTY & more last Winter. Morgana was on an ep. of 8oo10 cats. She was funny in Dictionary Corner w/ Suzie Dent, as a character she created for another show. She was also on Allen Davies: As yet Untitled on the DAVE RU-vid channel. That's a good show. Allen does a Round Table discussion with groups of comics & people we know(Guz) and some I'm sure we'll be getting to know. Have you seen the show where Victoria travels Britton looking for words to put into the dictionary? Not all of them make it but some do. It's from before she married David I believe. Can't remember the title just now. Take care

"Hung like a Doughnut"...

Record your progress and then post it after the competition ends

I didn’t know Morgana prior to this but I think she’ll win. I like her enthusiasm and cursing. I usually don’t like cursing but when British people do it it’s funny.

Do you have a patreon mate ? If so are there past series of taskmaster on there as first time reactions ?

Alan was too creative with the live task

Well that deserves a resub 😀

There’s been three women once before. First time there’s two brown ppl, tho!

Have you heard of the new Greg Davies show "The Cleaner"? First episode was pretty great

You should check out Morgana Robinson's impression of Russell Brand

If you are new, welcome back.... How can you be back if you are new????????????????

Have you heard of No More Jockeys? It’s Alex Horne, Tim Key & Mark Watson playing a name game here on You Tube. I think you’ll like it, not really for a reaction just for your own amusement.

try "not yet titled" programme Alan davies tv show where he chats to others including most of the cast here

For the balloon popping task, I wished someone would just untie the piece of string. It didn't say you couldn't. I really hope we have at least one person who can do the lateral thinking like Hugh Dennis and Richard Osman (not Rhod Gilbert).

Series 9 had Rose, Katy, and Jo so this is the second one with 3 women

Nope there was another series with 3 female contestants 8 of 9