Taskmaster The Podcast - Ep 20. Sian Gibson - S2 Ep.2

Episode Date: February 25, 2021

Get ready for some nursery rhyme parodies and some very trendy clothing. This week Ed is joined by the brilliant actress and TM S8 contestant Sian Gibson! They go through the episode task by task and discuss age appropriate fashion, egg based meals and whether Joe Wilkinson does look like a punched toaster. If you would like to watch along as Ed and his guests revisit the early series of Taskmaster then go to https://www.channel4.com/programmes/taskmaster/episode-guide where you will find all episodes. Get in touch with Ed and future guests:[e-mail] Visit the Taskmaster Youtube channelwww.youtube.com/taskmaster For all your Taskmaster goodies visit www.taskmasterstore.com  Sales, advertising and general enquiries:[e-mail] the podcast is produced by Daisy Knight for Avalon Television Ltd  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hello and welcome to the Taskmaster podcast. It is Ed Gamble here. I am the host of the Taskmaster podcast and here's what we're doing. We are going through Taskmaster episode by And here's what we're doing. We are going through Taskmaster episode by episode. We are currently on series two. Today we'll be chatting about episode two. We'll be drilling down into the details. We'll be chatting about the scoring.

We'll be chatting about each task in order. We'll be chatting about Taskmaster memories. It's mainly about Taskmaster. You should know that from the title of it. If you didn't realise that, prob switch off now. Also, I would would say go and watch the episode we're about to talk about series 2 episode 2 it is available on all four go and give it a little watch uh and we have a very exciting special guest today our special guest today is the brilliant sean gibson sean gibson of course no she was not on series 2 she was on series 8 she is a massive Taskmaster fan

this is what we like to see on this podcast people who know their stuff she's been on the inside of it she's watched the outside of it it's going to be a really fun chat so go away watch series 2 episode 2 or if you think you can remember it by all means carry on listening

and here is the brilliant Sian Gibson. Sian, welcome to the Taskmaster podcast. Thank you very much for joining us. Thank you for having me. It's very exciting. Now, you're here, I've been assured, you are a Taskmaster super fan. It's super fanfare. Yeah, I absolutely love the show. And especially with lockdown and it's just on all the time. It's brilliant. It's perfect timing for it now.

Yeah, a lot of people have been saying it's really, it's a bit of a tonic. It's a very soothing show just because it's so silly and it's got absolutely no agenda other than to be entertaining. I think it's really helped a lot of people. It has and i think i mean i've loved all series apart from my own but um i do think the last series was just the best because it was just at the time

especially not not taking anything away from any of the guests because they were wonderful but it just came at exactly the right time yeah totally and I obviously yeah I think no I think you're right all the guests were amazing but it was just so perfectly timed that people were it was just getting to the point where everyone's uh everyone was fraying slightly the everyone's patience was going yeah and then to be able to have a weekly a weekly thing as well because I think with tv these days when they drop everything all at once and you burn through it in two days, you can feel a bit blue after that.

And then you don't even know what it was about. I'm watching these series, and I watched something the other day, and I watched it in two days. I couldn't tell you one thing that happened in it, because it's just all a blur. But it was so nice to have your Thursday nights, know what's happening.

And I was proper belly laughing, like never before. It was amazing. It was a very funny series, I think, Series 10. Especially as I think they were all, it was clearly a group of mates by the end who were all getting on really well. But I think that's probably the case for most of the series. It felt like the case for the series you were on, Series 8. It felt like you were all pretty good buddies by the end of it oh i loved it it's just such a weird program really isn't it that you just shoved together for five days in studio you haven't

seen each other before then and then you you do you get competitive but you're all really is the word spurring each other spurring yeah spurring each other on spurring each other that's burning yeah spurring each other on spurring each other on me and Paul Sinner were like little grandparents at the end we felt like the oldies at the end going you did really well well done just did you did you know any of the other any of the other contestants before you did did Taskmaster I knew who they were but I'd never met them um I was really scared going on to Taskmaster because I knew who they were but I'd never met them. I was really scared going on to Taskmaster because I absolutely love it but I'm not a stand-up. It does say on my Wikipedia I'm a stand-up. Does it? Do you think that's why they booked you? Do you think they just read the

Wikipedia? Well I think so but I've never changed it because I quite like the idea that I am. Well you've got that there now so you so that's always there to be fulfilled. Yeah. You can always live up to your own Wikipedia. It says stand-up and impressionist. And I can only do two impressions. And I just think, well, keep that on. But yeah, so I was booked and I'm not a stand-up,

so I was quite scared because I know, and Joe Thomas wasn't either, so that made me feel a bit better. But it was quite scary. But you just lose it because Greg and Alex just take over the show. And it's their show. And you just feel in safe hands. And you don't ever feel sort of intimidated.

And I don't think anyone's there to kind of one-upmanship. And I think that on every series, do you? Being a stand-up, do you feel like that? Completely. I think, yeah, everyone's on the same page and everyone gets their moment as well, which is what makes it so difficult to other panel shows. You're never fighting for attention

because you know that they're going to come to you. You've got your tasks and they'll ask you about your tasks and you get the chance to shine and be yourself as well. So I think sometimes with stand-ups, you can see they're a little bit uncomfortable to start with because they can't be in control of their persona because they've just they've been themselves and they have to just live with that yeah yeah and I think I loved um I mean he's a good friend of mine but I loved Johnny on the last series as well because you saw a different side to Johnny how you normally see him on panel shows or whatever yeah it was it was nice to see that

because you had all that Johnny Vegas stuff during the film tasks like him absolutely losing his mind and having a meltdown and falling over twice um but then in the studio in the studio as well it was I mean he's always had that element of pathos to his his comic persona but you really saw where that came from in the studio I think you saw what a clearly nice man he is had you had you put Johnny onto it had he seen it before or had you recommended that he go and do it um he he said he'd watch my episodes I don't know if he did but he said he had when it was on I don't I'm not sure if that's true but then when it came in I went you have to do it you will have the most fun that you will ever have in your life. And it is the best program I've ever done.

You've got no lines that you've got to worry about. You just go in and you can only be yourself. That's the only thing you can do. So it's easy. And I said, you'll love it. And he was a bit worried about it. And he phoned me on the first day after his first day of tasks in the house. And he was like, I've done really badly.

I've done really bad. I've done really bad. I said, it doesn't matter. You'll just be brilliant. And by sort of like by the time he'd done the studio, and obviously his was different two hours because his was COVID studio. Yeah. And he phoned me on the second day and he was going, it's the best job I've ever done.

I'm having the best time. And I think everyone must feel that. Yeah. No, it's so exciting. Because obviously I was similar to you in that I think everyone must feel that yeah no it's so exciting because obviously I was I was similar to you in that I was a fan of the show before I did it so I had all these expectations uh for filming the tasks and doing the studio and it lived up to all of the expectations and smashed them like it's it's such a brilliant show to do and you just I mean I watched loads back before I did it as well

thinking I want to be a bit like that I'm watching different contestants but you just can't because the panic takes over when you when you open that envelope there's nothing you could I bet Kenneth Branner would study he could study it he wouldn't be able to do it. No, exactly. It's the pressure. It's the pressure. I just panicked. That's all I did for the whole time. So when you were watching it back before you filmed the tasks, who did you have in mind when you went in to do the tasks? Who were you like, I want to do it a bit like that. That's the sort of contestant that I want to be.

Well, the very first episode of Taskmaster I ever saw, which made me think, what the hell is this, was Rasheen on the horse doing a painting and I thought she was amazing in it yeah um I just loved her attitude on it but I'm and I loved Mel yeah um on it um but you just you just can't be like anyone can you you've just and that yeah that's the that is the joy of it. It will always be a unique experience, I think. Do you have any favourite Taskmaster series or favourite Taskmaster contestants from past series?

I can't say because you watch... As I said, with lockdown, you're re-watching things now and you forget things. So every series I watch is my favorite um apart from my own but every series apart from your own because i can't watch it i don't watch anything really do you not watch it even if you ask master you won't watch anything that you're in no it's very good i can't um but every series i want to watch your series. Amazing. Watch the next series. That's my favorite series.

But then if I was to see yours now, I'd go, it's yours. It's every episode is just so different, isn't it? So yeah, you're right. There's a,

I think everyone, everyone has a moment in every episode, which is brilliant, which is, which is great. Like there's no, you wouldn't go, this person is the best person from this series.

Cause everyone has a moment that makes, it makes you think that they're the best. best I know what was what was your moment what was your favorite oh I don't I mean I think you're right I think looking back because now this is this is great I mean I've sorted myself out the sweetest job here to be able to re-watch all of Taskmaster every week I watched a new episode that I've not seen in a while. And it's just great. I love, I mean, we've just started doing series two now. And it's such a joy. It's such a joy.

Welcoming back these old friends. It's really fun. So now, at the moment, series two is my favourite. So let's crack into this. Let's do this. Series two, episode two. It's crack into this. Let's do this. This is series two, episode two. It's the prize task. Trendiest item of clothing, Sian.

The trendiest item of clothing. Now, I don't think, I'm going to say this at the top. I don't think anyone brought in a trendy item of clothing. No, no one did. Although I did like Catherine's leggings. Yeah, that was, I think that was the only thing that I thought oh maybe maybe that could be considered trendy but then I thought about it I thought they would be trendy and fashionable on Catherine because she is fashionable well that's it with Doc those I

don't know what those things those red boots were they were absolutely shocking but he's a very cool person so you think well it must be cool he could bring in some oven gloves and you'd go yeah yeah they're really cool um and i'd probably go and try to buy some but he's they they were awful none of them were very trendy but what is trendy yeah because alex said the definition of trendy was fashionable now i guess but then things are trendy at the time and then they they go out of trend and then exactly but the red the red waterproof converse are you that's you're right that's exactly the sort of thing I'd see Doc Brown wearing and I'd say I'd say oh they're great where'd you get them and he'd

tell me and I'd go and buy a pair I put them on I go I look like a fisherman what am I doing I know and also just get a pair of wellies. Why do you need waterproof Converse? Yeah, it's not a good look. On dock, fine. I mean, the same with Catherine. They're both very cool. Imagine Greg wearing those unicorn versus dinosaur leggings. Or me. I'm 44. Now, Ed, what's the cutoff point of being trendy? I don't know. I don't know. I think it's difficult isn't it because there's certain i think there's trendy things you can wear after you're 35 that are trendy within your age bracket

and that's fine well i bought a pair of dungarees before lockdown that's okay i think dungarees are all right too old for dungarees no you're not there's i i think dungarees come in cycles i think i think you can get away with dungarees i bought them what color they're black they're black i bought them from the kids department because they were a lot cheaper um but i saw someone in london and you know some hipstery person and um i mean admittedly she was in her 20s but i thought they look cool and then i think well I'm a lot older than her. Am I allowed to do that? So I don't know what trendy is.

Well, I also have a pair of dungarees because I thought they were trendy. I've never worn them outside of the house. I haven't! I tend to do things where I buy things. I'm like, I'll look amazing in this. I'll be the toast of the town. And then I'll be like, it's more of an at-home thing, actually. Well, exactly.

And I think I'd go out and my friends would say to me, you look like a children's TV presenter. What are you doing? You just look ridiculous. But other people can get away with it. But I would have struggled with that task. Yeah. Would you have brought the dungarees?

Or do you have anything else that you thought would have been a better item? Well, I think at the moment, if it was now, I'd maybe take in some pyjamas. Yes, of course. Because loungewear is all the trend. That's the trend, isn't it? Of course. And I've got some yellow ones with little Dalmatians in top hats. That's got to be trendy in pyjamas, isn't it? I think, well, you know, I'm not plugged into the pyjama fashion world,

but I'd assume yellow with Dalmatians is trendy. And I think you would have appealed to Greg. Greg would have probably said, I'm a very lazy man who likes lying around. Yes. The pyjamas, five points. See, this is why you won, because you go into his mind.

Yeah, you've got to get into his mind. That's where I went wrong. So I think the pyjamas is a great idea. I mean, I think it's better than everything that they brought in on this series, because the Richard Osman, Osman's T-shirt with his face on every person. Funny, not trendy.

Funny, not trendy and scary. You wouldn't wear it. No. Imagine if he wore that in public. It'd be absolutely petrifying. And it's also, T-shirts are a dodgy one. It's like when you see mums in school in Ramones T-shirts and you think, you don't even know who they are

name an album it's you can't do it no and so that's not trendy I like Joe's tie Joe's tie I think was the closest to being trendy I think that I think that should have won really I think if Doc put that tie on you'd go yes where did you buy that that is cutting edge yeah poor joe even when we're saying his items the best we're saying it would look better than another contestant yeah i think yeah i think put that with the right outfit and the right person and it would look it would look you'd go oh retro yeah retro cool with jo'd think, oh, you've just, for some reason you've woken up naked near a car boot sale. Now, John, John's cardigan with a waistcoat stitched in, which is not an item of clothing I ever knew existed.

I didn't see, I couldn't, I couldn't guess the waistcoat from that picture. No. So I don't even know if that existed. So do you think he made, do you think he made that up up because what a thing to try and scrabble back some points by saying I think he took a cardigan imagine imagine a waistcoat stitched into it yes I do that was my thinking because I thought I can't see I paused I didn't see a little cardigan within that um a little waistcoat within that cardigan did you no i didn't actually

i just i sort of took him at face value just because i thought why would anyone make that up unless they are um sleeves that you can like take on and off and that's what he means oh imagine that i feel like if it had detachable sleeves we would have seen that in action, surely. I think within John's fashion world, that is trendy. I mean, again, 2020-21, that could be loungewear. Yeah, it could be loungewear, yeah. I mean, it should stay loungewear. I don't... Don't go out of your house.

The cardigan with the waistcoat is not... I can't see that entering the catwalks anytime soon no no and it was an awful color no yeah really bad yeah i think that should that should have lost quite frankly um but it somehow got three points uh richard osmond got one point i mean neither of us were a fan of that you know and did he make it himself I think he said someone made it for him. I know, but he kind of said that and I didn't believe it. Because he said that at first and then I thought, I wanted to know more. Who made that for him?

Right. So do you think he made it himself for the show or he made it himself in just a fit of ego? In a fit of ego because he said, everyone gets my name wrong. So this is clearly a topic he's discussed before. Yeah. Oh, wow. I mean, if it turns out he's made that himself,

that is it. I think it's probably the end of his career, to be honest. Joe Wilkinson got two points. Unfair, I think. It should have been around the top. I think that's very unfair. Should have been four or five.

The tie with the lady in the car on it. John, we just said, cardigan, three points. Disgusting. Four points for Catherine Ryan's leggings and five points, an undeserved five points for Doc Brown's waterproof. Very undeserved because if Richard had brought those in, he'd have been laughed off that stage.

Of course he would have done. They look like the sort of shoes that you have to wear if there's a lot of lightning in your area. Or Ronald McDonald would wear. Just awful. Joe. Simple. Bought my best tie.

Yeah, it's just the one I get most wolf whistles in. What's the lady? It's my Auntie Pam. You've had your Auntie Pam sewn into a tie? Yeah, yeah, it's cos she lives in Norwich, miles away. You want to see her sometimes, don't you? And you want to see her underneath a small vintage car. Yeah, she does wind me up a bit.

So, let's have a look at task one of this episode. Eat the egg in the fastest time. A very simple, straightforward task. That does wind me up a bit. So let's have a look at task one of this episode. Eat the egg in the fastest time. A very simple, straightforward task to kick off the show. I mean, you say simple and straightforward. Some people made an, literally made an absolute meal of it. Now I want to know straight away, Sian, what would you have done?

I'd have panicked, which I do with every task, and I'd have probably at the raw egg but not as not as calmly or gracefully as richard yeah i'd have just been gagging and drinking it and just wouldn't have done it in a fast time but i i just wouldn't have thought of cooking it no but i wouldn't i would have thought of cooking. It would have passed my mind, but it's the fastest time. Yeah. So you can't, you know that someone, at least one other person is gonna eat the raw egg

straight away. So I think I would have, it would have been straight down with me. Yeah, me too. I even wrote down as a note here, I might've eaten it, I might've panicked like you, but eating it straight away, including the shell just to be safe oh because you'd have thought

you'd have been in the mind of Greg and thought that's not a whole egg a whole I would have thought it says eat the egg so the shell is part of the egg

right so you've got to get the whole thing down like a python you're like Rocky Balboa but also if you notice that when when Richardard gulped it down they they're all saying he didn't achieve full leg because some spilled out because he you know he tried to crack it into that little tiny egg cup he had a little tiny egg cup which i guess you've got to

go and get a bowl or something from the kitchen crack it into that and then drink it but just to be safe i probably would have taken it down with the shell yeah yeah and and i wouldn't have and i'd have been i'd have taken longer to to eat that egg than if i'd have fried it and just totally ruined the test but i would have given it a good go i think that was what happened with katherine really because she looked like she was gonna eat the whole raw egg she took a tiny sip and then decided to not eat it yeah i think she knew that if she tried to eat it it would have taken her so long that it would have been pointless and she still would have eaten egg i was surprised at katherine on that task yeah normally she's a bit more get stuck in yeah attack it right yeah i was surprised um but i

think you're exactly right that she thought there's no other way of doing this. Everyone would have beaten me anyway. What is the point? My favorite quote from Catherine in that is, I hate eating gross stuff. As if everyone else is like, oh, give me a bit of gross stuff. Yes, please. It's not really my thing. I hate eating gross stuff.

I like nice stuff. I had a lot of respect for her in that, though. She kept composure and she was like, nope, not doing it. She did. A classy way of walking out of that. She's always classy. She's always classy. True.

And so was Joe with his little meat platter. Surprisingly classy. Well, classy, again, within the world of Joe. So the meal he prepared involved a half crescent of sausage rolls. And a half crescent of like pepperami or something, was it? As soon as I saw that, I just thought that's probably the crew's lunch. Yes, yes. It probably is with his little orange juice.

Yeah, but it was lovely. It was lovely. I enjoyed that. I did enjoy that he loved a lot which wasn't happy about but um and I think I think that um he should have got extra points actually how many points did he get for that he only got two points for that because I mean he it was on time to be fair to him uh and he took 10 minutes 46 seconds uh which is you know way way higher than a lot of other people but i liked it i did like it yeah it was just because it was on time eat the egg in the

fastest time it was if it was prepare the egg in the most inventive way or make a lovely egg meal he would have he would have got five points for me make a lovely egg meal, he would have got five points for me. Make a lovely egg meal. It was Doc Brown, not an egg man. Not an egg man. Was very clear about that. Yeah. He scrambled and seasoned his eggs. Again, I have a lot of respect for that, that he was like,

I'm not going to win it. Someone's going to do it quicker than me, so I'm going to season my eggs. Oh, and he seasoned his eggs the way my husband seasons food, which really winds me up like he'll just put a bit of salt on a chip or something and he'll be like putting it on as if he's like a michelin star chef do you know like leaning over and do you know what i mean that's what doc brown was doing i was thinking you're just putting a bit of pepper in a bit of scrambled egg doc you know calm yourself now i know i know what you mean sean because i probably do it as well oh wait what is it it winds me up that it just makes me feel like i'm doing something proper i mean we as greg pointed out doc brown clearly not an egg man because he tried to

break into the egg uh using his teeth like it was an apple awful effort who said an egg hungry whore it was one of my favorite it was john it was john uh who made the point that he was going to have the egg raw but a lot of it went on the table and he wasn't going to slurp it off the table like an egg hungry whore i get it and i i loved that because you could see the sentence form in his mind and his brain saying, don't say that out loud. And then his mouth did it before he could stop himself. He scrambled them in the microwave, which no, he lost a lot of respect for me there.

Yeah. I do that for my dog. Scrambled eggs in the microwave. Yeah. Your dog has scrambled eggs. Oh yeah. Yeah. On a weekend,

which you know, is all the time now. She likes a bit of scrambled egg and ham. I love that your dog is the only dog in the now she likes a bit of scrambled egg and ham i love that your dog is the only dog in the country that has a notion of brunch only microwaved it's definitely microwaved does that make a difference then is it better for dogs to scramble them in the mind now it's just quicker yeah i suppose if you're at the point where you're getting a pan out for a dog you're like this has gone too far now and i'm

putting like seasoning on as well really leaning over it really leaning over like doc um of course richard gulped it down but he did leave a lot of egg on the table i don't i don't agree that's valid and he should have been disqualified that's that's where i'm at with it he was a bit cocky when he with his with his cup of tea well you told that as well I was told this specifically um oh don't feel free to bring your cup of tea or you can bring your coffee with you when you come and do a task just very relaxed yeah but I was never I don't need any any distractions I was never relaxed enough it took enough for me to get through that plastic door, let alone have a cup of tea in my hand. Yeah, that is scary, that bit, isn't it?

Because you never know what's going to be behind there because you're waiting outside the door for them to call you in. You never know what to do. It's like stars in the rise. You walk through that door and you're just like, hi. And you're just looking at everyone thinking, what am I going to do next? Because they genuinely don't tell you what's coming up or give you any clue as to what's coming up.

I always found that going into them or beforehand, like you'd see the producer or you'd see the director or you'd see Alex or even just the cameraman as well, who would just look at you like they knew what was coming because they obviously did and sort of smile coquettishly or like in a guarded way and you're like oh no what is it because they all they all seem like they think I'm about to make a fool out of myself which is probably right but um I always I also found that I mean Alex would tell you this I was the most indecisive um contestant ever and just paranoid that I'd every task, when I'd finish it, I'd go, oh my God, oh my God, what did Lou do? We can't tell you. Obviously they don't tell you anything. And I'd go, oh my God, should I have done this? Did you think I did that? Should I have done this? Would it have been better if I'd have put the sand in the bucket? And they're like, we can't tell you anything. Well, how did it, now I've done

it, how did everyone else do it? We can't tell you anything well how did it now i've done it how how did everyone else do we can't tell you you have to watch it on the live show and i didn't believe that until i was on the show that they hadn't seen the footage before do you know like when you're on the stage and they show you oh and this is what um joe brand has done i didn't believe that that is the first time you'd seen it I kind of just thought everyone would talk about it yeah because I guess there is that element of television sometimes where things aren't as they seem on screen there's production behind the scenes where people are slightly more in on things and they're less improvised than you than they're presented to be but yeah Taskmaster they really stick to those rules you're not allowed to know what's coming up and it has to be a real reaction but I think it works because the your reactions are real on on stage aren't they yeah for sure I I went when I was doing my tasks um I was booked in to to go um to a different location you know

when you have the different locations yes and um I was at um the NTA awards and I saw paul sinner and i'd heard that he was on the show but now everyone's always so secretive about who's on and whatever yeah and i went up to him and i was like oh hi i think we're doing the same pro and he was he looked at me like didn't have a clue i was it was just he was being papped was having his phone to take it i went i'm going tomorrow but i'm going to a secret location he went yeah yeah it's at a railway bridge and I went, I'm going tomorrow, but I'm going to a secret location. He went, yeah, yeah, it's at a railway bridge. And I was like, okay, right, I'll see you in a few weeks.

And he was just like, not asked at all. He was probably trying to keep that sort of spy thing going of like, we can't be seen to be interacting with each other. People have put two and two together and realised that we're both two taskmasters. I think he was. Oh, that's great. Yeah, I actually think the railway bridge in your series is probably my favourite extra location that Taskmaster have ever done. What a beautiful, amazing place.

I know. It was stunning. It was absolutely stunning and one of my favourite tasks as well. Yeah, I think that goes down as one of the best tasks ever, the sneaking up on Alex task. And again, it's one of those that you think this is easy. Yeah. And just so hard.

I was absolutely terrible at it. Especially if you're Lou getting in a bin. But then I thought, why didn't I get in a bin? Yeah, that's it, isn't it? Well, I might not be the fastest, but I'm the only one who's seasoned, is he? Oh. Peri-peri salt.

If the task's worth doing, it's worth enjoying, right? Task two. This is one I've not seen in ages. I was very happy to watch this one back. Make the best music video for a nursery rhyme. Oh, amazing. It's so good. i loved this task john yeah it's it's john isn't it he he was the winner for me yeah he was brilliant it really i think as well it really revealed the darkness of three blind mice yeah it did well or just he could have done anything

and just sat in a blonde wig at the end and done that smile and anything would have looked quite dark really wouldn't it? Yeah true, true. And just the first frame of the blood and everyone being like I know where this is going and then you see John and you're like oh I actually didn't know where it was going at all. No, that's worse than it could ever possibly have gone. Poor old Catherine mistakenly thought that she had to write and compose her own nursery rhyme. She did very well, I thought. It was pretty incredible, I thought. I didn't know she played piano. I wouldn't have been able to do what she did.

She was brilliant. And animated it. It was pretty incredible, actually. I mean, I wasn't sure the the message of it was weird um and i didn't feel like a nursery rhyme to me it felt more like a sort of educational cartoon yeah yeah but still very good better than richards richards was the worst one wasn't it let's let's be honest oh well it's between richard and joe for the worst ones but Richard's I just thought doing a coming around the mountain in the style of Verve's bittersweet symphony it's not exactly

the most up-to-date parody because I never got that it was the Verve at all I just thought it was a middle-aged man having a breakdown walking across a garden because at one point he got in the side of a van to just walk out the back door of the van i thought what was the point of that because it didn't look very elegant and then he just got in a shed and he sang if you're gonna sing i can't sing just give it your all he was just like not not asked was he just just plodding along just knocking people about um he was my worst one that's what he does when he arrives at set anyway they just happen to have the cameras on that day yeah just knocking everyone about that's what he's like on pointless apparently he's just straight in cuffs out his underarm strong around the head well he's very

tall isn't he can't help himself um huge. Can't help himself. Doc's. Now, Doc's I think about a lot because I think it's great. I think it's so good. Just the swearing, just the occasional swearing in Once I Caught a Fish Alive and the punching of the salmon,

I think is just... Punching a fish. What a joyous thing to do. I absolutely loved it. Punching a fish. He was... But again, he's very cool, isn't he, Doc? Yeah.

I mean, that's where he's probably wearing those rubber converse that's probably where they came in handy well i thought he had him on his hands at the start he had these big red gloves on i thought he got his converse on his hands what's he doing um very clever though yeah to be able to do that i mean that's that's when people really like the acting thing when people actually use their skill that they've got it always blows me away um now joe i mean it's not a good version of old no but he can do anything and he'd make me laugh true and you expected that of joe yeah and i liked seeing alex covered in cotton wool balls yeah it's very sweet it's very sweet. It's very sweet. He's born to be a little sheep.

So he was better than Richard for me. Sound like I've got a vendetta against Richard. I haven't. No, but I think you're right. I just thought that was a very rubbish video. I think he was better than Richard here because I think people should also be rewarded for operating within their own vibes. So Joe absolutely did the best with the personality he was given.

Yeah, exactly. If he made more of an effort, it'd be weird, wouldn't it? Oh, it would. I've written a song, I've done... It would be scarier than John in a wig. Yeah, exactly. Imagine Joe singing Twinkle, Twinkle. Absolutely terrifying.

But he only got one point. think yeah i think you want to swap round him and richard really it should be one one point for richard two points for joe james the 32 three points uh and then joint five points doc brown and john richardson which which i think seems fair although you you seem to be such a big fan of John's. Do you think he should get five points? I prefer John's personally because I'm not a fan of hip hop. You're not a fan of hip hop? Is that hip hop? I'm not a fan of rapping.

That was hip hop. I wouldn't call that, that shouldn't be your entry into the genre of hip hop. I mean. You shouldn't be exploring more bass stuff, Doc Brown's Once I Caught a Fish Alive rap where he punches a salmon.

But that's what he does as well, isn't he? Yes. But, I mean, it's not my favourite music. Fair enough. So I didn't understand it. Maybe that's what it was. Maybe I didn't get it. But a genre of music you do enjoy is instrumental nursery rhymes

that end with northern comedians in blonde wigs. Something I can sing along to, that's what I like. So weird. The funny thing is, I'd already filmed that before the task. I've written down three things as I was watching it. Nightmarish, creepy, and then strangely attractive. So, task three uh now so yeah task three is an interesting one because i when i remembered this one i thought i assumed it was a prize task because this is it doesn't feel like it seems like a prize task so it's using this camera take a picture of an

inanimate object that looks like your closest resemblance wins it definitely feels like a prize task it's certainly i don't think they would do this as a main task in the show now uh it sort of reminds me a bit of the buy a present for the taskmaster yes yes it does i'm not and um very quick i wouldn't have had a clue with this one as again would you not which is there nothing that that popped into your mind straight away? You thought, well, I'll definitely take a picture of that. I'd have probably either taken a picture of a troll. Those little tiny, not like a big fat... The pencil ones.

The little ones that you put on a pencil. Yeah. Or I'd have probably just done something really naff, like got a corkscrew and put some hair on it or something something really shit why okay got a couple of questions now Sian why do you think you look like one of the trolls that you put at the end of pencils because I'm I'm talking to you now and your hair is not stuck straight up in the air well I've brushed it so naturally your hair sits up in a vertical fashion well if I was doing a headstand

um I'd look like one um so in the studio let's let's let's play this through you'd bring in your picture and say this is this looks like me this is the troll from the end of a pencil with the sticky up hair and Greg says well that doesn't look like you your hair's flat and then you say no it's not and you would you do a headstand in the studio then i'd have a go yeah i'd have a good go at it um an ex-boyfriend once said i look like a troll oh god right well that's so that's a good way of doing it i think greg would give you points based on that tragic story so i think that's stuck in my head oh no you no. You don't look like one of the trolls from the end of a pencil, Sian. Thank you. Or, yes, or I'd bring a corkscrew, flip the arms up and put some hair on it.

I don't know. That's rubbish, isn't it? What would you do? That's quite rubbish because, again, you don't have like a twizzly metal body. That's what you think. That's true. That's true. What about you? what would you take it's

difficult because i get compared to a lot of other people because i look like a sort of very boring sort of this sort i mean you know in like a computer in a computer game where you get like a character and you're allowed to customize it i look like the character before you've added any customization to it so maybe that's a compliment maybe i'd take maybe i'd take a picture of one of those or just like a mannequin with no features uh i don't know you'd have to go hunting wouldn't you this is one that i'd agonize over for a long time yeah whereas i think a lot i think most of these contestants didn't agonize about it at all especially richard who i think he must have known immediately what he was going to go

with he was going to go with the eye protect the guy on the eye protection sign because it is undeniable and it is brilliant he's had that conversation before yeah this was an easy task for him he was like yep yep i know that um which is why and i love her i don't think catherine's is an anana i can't even say the word inanimate inanimate inanimate you bailed out before the end there sean inanimate yeah inanimate i don't think she's one of those objects the the spank lady yeah yeah well i guess within the definition of inanimate she it's not and it's not animated it's not moving but i see what you mean it feels like a cheat because it's a representation of a person yeah with long blonde hair yeah it's not i mean she didn't do that well it doesn't really look like her

as far as i can work out it's just a blonde it's just a blonde lady and it is the boobs when greg said about the boobs the low very low slung yeah low slung boobs we never saw the whole picture i wanted them to zoom out and show exactly what was going on yes well it would just be a lady in spanks wouldn't it yeah maybe i don't know But yeah, I don't think that was the great one. And I think this whole task, maybe it was a prize task and maybe they made it a task because Joe's story about the toaster was just so fabulous that that is why they need to keep it in because that made the whole task for me. Yeah.

The punch, the toaster with a big punch hole in the side. Yes, because you can imagine it happening. Yeah, you really can. What Joe is spectacular at is everything he says is within his persona and you can imagine his life being like that. Of course he punches the toaster if it only browns on one side. Of course he does. While he's making one of his weird egg meals

with a semi-crescent of sausage rolls. It was brilliant. And I think it was worth the task of the anemone. Yeah. Of that object. For the sake of Joe punching a toaster. What was Joe going for there? Was he going for the reflection looking like him?

I don't know. I didn't get it. Did you? No, I didn't get it either. I can't even remember if he said that, whether he said, oh, because it's the reflection, which is quite, you could take a picture of a mirror, which is an inanimate object

that happens to have your reflection. Oh, yes. You've got it. It would look like you. And I thought that's what Joe was going for, but unfortunately there was a big punch hole in the toaster and it only had, it didn't have his face in it. And he was looking up.

Yeah. In a weird way. But I think that's better than John's. Yes. It is better than John's. I could have just taken a photo. Yeah. Just because it's 3D,

it doesn't mean that it's any better than just a photo of me on holiday last year but there you go that's another good idea just to bring a photo that's the object and it does it does look like you and but john's didn't it didn't look like him that much no it didn't he looked very old he looked like he looked like an aged john because he was just all grey in his cardigan. Just with his waistcoat sewn in. With his, yeah, or not. Yeah, I think he overthought it in that he was so excited to have access to a 3D printer

that he thought, of course, it's definitely going to win. But it didn't really look like him, which no one said. No one mentioned that it didn't look like him at all. So maybe in the actual, in the room, it looks like John. Yeah, maybe. one mentioned that it didn't look like him at all so maybe in in the actual in the room it looks like john yeah but certainly to us it didn't but that got that got four points um dot brown's uh doll of marvin hume's went down quite badly but i don't think i don't think it was that terrible i i would have if i had a doll that looked like me i'd have taken a doll well i would have taken a troll you'd taken the trouble um i thought that was a good one and who doesn't want to look like jls yes exactly i mean yeah i i don't think it was too bad i mean catherine called him out for racism well and i think that's why we moved on

yeah i think that's why they never went and pressed it any further and just went on to the next person because we were like, hang on. Catherine accused him of saying that two black men look similar. And then the conversation was moved on very swiftly, which is probably why I only got one point because it was not examined too much further. So it was one point for the Marvin Humes doll, two points for the punch toaster,

which is probably where it belongs, to be honest, because I don't know what Joe was going for. We loved the story, but it didn't stick to the task. Catherine Ryan's Spanx Lady got three points. 3D print out four points. Do we think that should have been lower? No. The Richard Osmond eye protection sign gets

a well-deserved five points. Is that your toaster with a punch in it? Yeah. It's a de-stressor. No, I'm not going to let it go. Why has your toaster got a big punch hole in it? Because sometimes it only

browns it on one side. Task four is... This is madness, task. Order the following pizza for the taskmaster. Extra large, vegetarian, with pepperoni Task four is, this is mad, this task. Order the following pizza for the taskmaster. Extra large, vegetarian with pepperoni, bacon, no cheese and tomato. You must not say extra large pizza,

pepperoni, bacon, cheese, tomato. You get a bonus point if the person taking the order says bubbles. How would you feel about this, Sharn? I'd have loved this one. Really? I'd have loved this task. I'd have been terrible at it, but I'd have loved this one. I'd have loved this task. I'd have been terrible at it, but I'd have loved it. And also, when they say at the end about the bubbles bit, and Joe just says, can you just say bubbles?

And they say it, just genius. Yeah, it is genius because I think a lot of people assumed that you weren't allowed to say bubbles, but it doesn't say that in the task. No! I'd have loved this task. I think it's brilliant. I wouldn't know where to start. Would you have done this one? I tell you what, I would have found it really difficult.

I don't think I'm necessarily that good on the phone. And also, I don't think I've ordered food over the phone for about five years because of apps. So I've not had to call and make an order for food for ages and I'm always I'm not I'd be absolutely ashamed to call for a takeaway now because I order so much at least on an app it's faceless and you can just click you know 80 boxes and then and then work and then pretend there's extra people in the house when it arrives exactly um over the phone no really hard richard was so polite he was he was so polite and he did he did a bit of pretending which i

thought was a bit of a genius move where he pretended that he was surrounded by annoying people who kept changing the order so he could be the apologetic one but it made no sense because just because people were noisy why don't you know the word for cheese? Well at least he could pretend he was a bit distracted or you know yeah that's true I mean yeah I've never been in a party that's so loud I've forgotten

the word pizza. That it was so loud but deadly silent. Sorry there's loads of people here. Of course there is are they the people who got you your t-shirt richard i don't think they were were they he's always blaming imaginary people he made no mistakes he he absolutely like aced the challenge but both of the he took both pizzas he got two pizzas and they were both wrong um but you know it's so this is the thing about this task let's say this now before we discuss other

people's efforts the points seem to be based on what was a right what arrived so richard got one point but surely because they were all different pizza places it should be based on whether you completed the task it's what you order is the task not what arrived because it's then you're leaving up to the human error of the person who's taking the order yeah because what if they just sent you a kebab yeah exactly madness it should be based on what you actually say so that's a that's a big issue for me in this task sean well did you find in your series, as you got, when I started, I wasn't very competitive. I was like, oh, it's just lovely to be here having a lovely time. Then as you went on,

Greg's marking, seething inside of things like, I had two points for that prize task. I just absolutely livid. Yeah, I definitely had moments like that. But then also... I mean, you won. I won, so I was kind of happy with a lot of the scoring, to be honest. Okay, so yeah, Richard, I think, should have had five points

because he got the order right. Joe and Doc both did that thing where they did all that work not saying the words. And when the person said the word, they repeated it back to them yeah so yeah pizza that's right oh shit so frustrating so i thought joe handled it very well one yeah one mistake he must have said pizza uh he got the bubbles like you say just in a genius way could you just say bubbles for me and the guy said bubbles no refused to do it after he'd done it so it was five points

for joe based on what arrived i love how katherine said um i don't i don't come i don't live in this country wasn't what did she say i'm not i'm not english i don't speak english i don't speak english yeah as if there'd be holes in her fluent language that included everything that you needed to order what she wanted. How would you do it, Sian? How would you describe cheese, for example, without saying cheese? I might say, I've thought about this, I might say, I don't eat dairy. Yes, that's good.

So can you put anything non-dairy on it and then take things off from that? Yeah, that's good so can you put anything non-dairy on it and then take things off from that yeah that's good yeah using a yeah using a dietary requirement is probably quite a good way of doing it because i think for me maybe the cheese and tomato thing is the hardest thing to ask for because who has a pizza without cheese and tomato yeah and how do you describe a tomato a tomato is just yeah i don't want that big red thing on it i don't want any red red sauce i guess i think someone did and i think it might be richard who said do you do any other bases sauce bases so i think got a barbecue sauce base which is another good way of doing it i think but still i mean i'll be honest

when i watch this task back and talking about it now, I really want a pizza. I could eat a pizza now. Yeah. And just to let the listener know, it's 10 past 11 in the morning. Well, I nearly had a gin. But then I was worried that because I'm on Zoom with you, that someone might call social services. Because it's 10 o'clock. Hello, I just spoke to you. I just placed an order.

I don't want the pie to have the stuff on it that melts. You know, the... Oh, I forget the word for this as well. I'm not from England. That's it. Thank you. Thank it. Okay. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you. Bye. So it is studio task time. Was the studio tasks something that you look forward to? Did you enjoy the studio tasks? I did. I did enjoy the studio tasks. I never did well in any of the studio tasks. I'm not very, I always think, even though they're not sporty, I'm not very physical.

Right. Okay. Yeah. And I remember week one, we had a task about eating doughnuts that were on like a washing line thing. Yes. Yeah, yeah. And no one had thought, I'm five foot. It was, it was, I had a disadvantage. Lou was gobbling away, having a great time. I couldn't, I got whiplash. This task is like a nightmare scenario situation. So the big, so using the big chopsticks,

get these potatoes into the basket. You must only hold the chopsticks on the grips provided the big chopsticks alone may touch the potatoes. Whoever gets the most in the basket after 100 seconds wins. It feels like a bad dream. Yeah, would height come into play here as well? No, it just feels like a bad dream that like you're eating but it's not going in your mouth or you're running and not going anywhere it feels like that kind of scenario to me yeah the big the big chopsticks thing yeah it is a bit like a nightmare where suddenly you've been shrunk and you've yeah like a little borrower yeah like a borrower eating ramen yeah very very tricky um richard straight away cheats i don't know he loses his mind he just like he's not listening to the task he picks up the potatoes

and puts them onto the chopsticks and then puts them in the basket. If you could do that, just pick the potatoes up and put them in the basket, Richard. I know, I know. But when I watched it, I thought, good for you. I thought that is a great way to do it because the others were stressing me out just watching them. Yeah.

But because they're trying to do it properly, right? Knocking their sticks together. I know. And then I liked Joe with his snooker vibe of like trying to pop them. That was great. Yeah, really good. I mean, I think Joe, his reaction to even potatoes being in the vicinity, it was like he was having flashbacks to the previous episode

because, of course, there was the potato throw incident. The legendary potato throw incident was in episode one of this series. That goes down in history. Yeah. So he's obviously now scarred by potatoes forever so he handled it very well as always joe handled it very well i mean the the the studio tasks are fun but i i've always felt there was an added level of pressure uh because there was the audience there and i think i think i'm similar to you in that i I'm not a sort of sporty person. I am competitive, but quite often I don't have the manual dexterity to be able to do these things.

No, and it's just too much pressure. And there's things like when they are physical as well, it's just bringing every flashback of school sports day back to me. Yeah, exactly. You might as well just get me to do like egg and spoon race across the stage. Well, that's something they definitely would do as well. So it is a victory for John in this episode, a very strong competitor, John.

25 points for him. 19 points for Catherine Ryan. 25 points for him, 19 points for Catherine Ryan, 18 points for Doc Brown, 15 points for Richard Osman and 13 points for Joe Wilkinson, bottom of the episode, which is a place he became very comfortable with over the series and ended up there.

And that puts John in the lead in the series with 43 points looking like a good competitor uh at this stage um it's the it's a strong lineup this and it feels immediately more competitive than series one did yes it did one just seemed like an experiment yes exactly exactly and then they found they found what was great about it yeah and and really focused on that. No, you're right. Absolutely. And I didn't care who won in one.

It was just like, oh, let's just watch these people having a laugh and making a fool of themselves. Whereas you get to two and you do start taking sides and you do start getting, well, that's ridiculous. You should have had four points for that and really getting into it. But I think you're right. I think two is when it starts changing. But definitely Greg has got a lot stricter with the marking. Yeah, he has. And I think that's at the request of a lot of people, the general public as well,

really tend to get at him and tell him he needs to be stricter with his scoring. But then he goes really strict and everyone's upset about that as well yeah um we got some emails now sean from our fine listenership um question for sean have you ever experienced a more awkward moment than when you and Joe Thomas met for the team task were you as surprised as you seemed when he walked through the door from Sarah in Nottingham I mean this this really sticks in my memory as a particularly awkward taskmaster moment well what happened was I kind of knew at some point you would have that

surprise of me because you you know I watched the series so I knew that I'd be teamed up with someone I wasn't expecting it that day I don't know why it was such a surprise but also as I don't know Joe and I've only ever seen him on telly and I didn't know how he'd react to me because I'm I'm a bit of a hugger I'd have loved to have run across and hugged him but he just looked like he was just thinking don't come near me I could see it in his eyes and I just thought I don't quite know what to do in this situation and you also think is this part of a task because I don't know about you Ed but when as soon as you step into that house you don't know if it's a task.

When someone asks you if you want a cup of tea, is this a task? Are you judging what is this going to come in later? I judged absolutely everything. So I was thinking, is this part of it? Does he know I was here? So he's being casual because he knew I was here? Or is he as shocked as I am? I don't know.

I just didn't know what to do so at that point you thought Joe's personality might have been part of the task yes yes you just don't know you've just got to second guess everything but I thought maybe he knew I was here so he's just being casual or maybe he doesn't like me and doesn't want to hug me do I hug I don't know I just didn't think it would be on camera. Especially with Joe, I think, because I've known Joe for a long, long time. And I love watching people meet Joe Thomas for the first time.

I'd say that's in my top five hobbies, people meet Joe Thomas for the first time. And I'm so happy they got that on camera with you because he's such a lovely man, but a real man a real unique personality has his eyes shut a lot of the time uh just quite just has a weird way of thinking about things uh and exactly i i know exactly what you mean he walked in and you're like hang on why is he being like this so was it quite a normal reaction that I gave then? Oh, fully. A fully normal reaction.

Oh, God. No, don't you worry. I think you were always the normal one in the room with Joe Thomas. He was brilliant. And he just gets... But he got so into the tasks. Yeah. Like we had the creative tasks with Joe where we had to do a um an album cover yes it was amazing yeah and so

into it yeah and then another week he'll bring a grape into a prize yeah because he's just not asked and not thought about it uh this is from alan in bolton uh uh he says um in the apologize to alex task your initial question is, what can I do with a poo? You ended up sending a naked selfie of Alex, but what was your original idea involving a poo? Love the podcast, Alan from Bolton. Again, panic, Alan. As soon as I read the task out, I panic and think, what can I do? And I thought, if you're going to do something something really bad to someone surely it involves a poo I did think about uh trying to find not my own poo trying to find a dog poo and

putting it in his car um putting it on the car seat um but the producers talked me out of that one oh really did they did they have to talk you out of it? They very rarely do talk anyone out of anything, but it turns out you found the line by putting dog feces in Alex's car. Well, it is taking it a bit too far, isn't it? But that was actually one of my favourite tasks as well because we got a picture of Alex, and it wasn't him naked, obviously, because I've not taken a picture of Alex naked, and sent it to Greg and Greg was doing the Royal Variety at the time but Alex's face he was

just mortified he was truly truly mortified because I'd sent this picture to Greg saying come to mama and um Greg was Greg was in the middle of rehearsing or or actually doing the Royal variety at the time so I don't think he took it very well well I think he took it well but I just thought yeah you know yeah maybe it got a better reaction if he was just sat at home or something and Alex seemed properly worried which made me laugh even more. Yeah, of course. But I was also quite worried about me, that I'd never met Greg before as well.

And then my first time I met him, I was worried about that, thinking, have I ruined your Royal Variety experience by sending you a picture of Alex naked? But it was a very flattering picture and he should have been proud. He should have been. But Alex is you know he gets embarrassed he gets embarrassed easily again he's another he's another not hugger he doesn't really like a hug does Alex no and a few times I asked him to help me in tasks where I'd ask him to help me down off something yeah and it felt a bit awkward doing the whole get me

down hug kind of thing maybe Maybe that's the thing. Both him and Joe went to Cambridge University. Maybe that's when you arrive at Cambridge University, you're told no hugging, no hugging. You should be learning. If you've got time to hug, you've got time to read. I can imagine that. Yeah.

This is a good question from Chris in Cheshire. If you could choose an additional teammate from any series of Taskmaster to join you and Jo, who would it be and why? Well, I'd like to have poached Lou. Yes. From the other team. I mean, you don't need to stick within your series. No, but in my series, I'd like to have poached Lou.

And I think she'd have had a nicer time with me and Jo than she did with Ian and Paul. There have been less clashes certainly I think Ian and Paul would be fine just sort of beavering along just sniping at each other I think that would have been better Lou would have had a lovely time with us because we were very relaxed about everything yeah um I'd probably go um Johnny Vegas just because he's a good friend of mine he's a really good friend of mine and um I'd probably poach him because he's very good at creative yes he is he is excellent at that sort of thing and also it's I think it's always helpful to have uh someone you know knew before on a team because you've already got that shared language.

You can chat to each other and you know exactly what's going on. Because if Johnny walked into the room, I'd hug him and he wouldn't mind. Yeah. There'd have been none of that awkwardness. But then Joe would have been even more awkward when two people went to hug him.

Oh, oh, oh no. Now, Sian, we always ask everyone who comes on the Taskmaster podcast to rate their experience on the podcast between 1 and 5 points as is the way of Taskmaster. Could you now please give me a point score for how you have enjoyed the Taskmaster

podcast? I'm going to give it a strong 5 Ed. A strong 5 not just a normal 5. I'm not messing about I'm not doing Greg's scoring here. Yeah, thank you. I'm not thinking too much about it, but I've had a lovely time. Oh, it's been so much fun.

And even without the gin, you've had a good time and it's still a five. Well, that's a lesson for us all to learn, isn't it? You don't need gin to do a Zoom call. That's what I'm going to take away from today. Me today me too although now as well as a pizza i do want a gin so i'm gonna have to deal with that situation thank you very much for coming on the taskmaster podcast and good luck with the champion of champions thank you very much there we are another episode of the taskmaster podcast done. Thank you very much, Sian, for coming on. Very much enjoyed that chat.

Always nice to speak to a fellow TM nerd. That's what we're called. Keep those emails coming in, by the way, for our future guests. We've got a lot coming up. So we've got, I mean, literally, however many episodes of Taskmaster there are, we've got all them coming up.

Could you imagine that? I'm looking at the producer now. She looks thinking about it there's a lot of episodes to come um I'm very excited the producer really needs to pull her socks up though um but I can't wait uh and we'll probably have Sian back on I'm sure by the time we get around to series eight we'll want to hear her insights uh into her own series uh do email though taskmasterpodcast at gmail.com with all your questions and queries uh email look email for a specific guest that you would like to see on the taskmaster podcast email a question for them chances are we'll probably have a chat to them and i'll get to ask them your question or send me a general taskmaster inquiry

one specific for me maybe just say say, hello, something like that. It's always nice to get emails in the inbox. And we'll be back next week to discuss Series 2, Episode 3 with our brilliant guest, Ben Bailey-Smith, a.k.a. Doc Brown. You can't send any emails for him? It's been recorded already. So sorry about that. Let me tell you him it's been recorded already so sorry about that let me tell you it's an absolute belter so watch those episodes on all four come back and listen to the Taskmaster podcast again

and we will see you sometime soon goodbye