Maisie Adam - Series 20 Ep.6

Speaker 1 It's 2025, a new year, and the perfect time to turn your business dreams into reality. Maybe you've been tossing around a great idea, but haven't acted yet.

Speaker 1 Well, Shopify is how you're going to make it happen. Shopify makes it simple to create your brand, open for business, and make your first sale.

Speaker 1 With thousands of customizable templates, you don't need coding or design skills. Just drag, drop, and go.

Speaker 1 Plus, Shopify's social media tools help you connect all your channels and create shoppable posts so you can can sell everywhere your customers scroll. Managing your business is easy too.

Speaker 1 From shipping to taxes to payments, Shopify handles the details on a single dashboard, letting you focus on what really matters. Growing your business.

Speaker 1 Established in 2025, it has a nice ring to it, doesn't it? Sign up for your $1 per month trial period at shopify.com slash DAX. All lowercase.

Speaker 1 Go to shopify.com slash DAX to start selling with Shopify today. Shopify.com/slash DAX.

Speaker 2 Hello and welcome to the Taskmaster podcast. It's me, Ed Gamble, host of that podcast that you're listening to.
We're, of course, still talking about Taskmaster Series 20.

Speaker 2 Delighted today to be talking about Taskmaster Series 20 episode 6. If you've not seen it, go and watch it, channel4.com.

Speaker 2 But I'd imagine most of you watched it at 9pm on Thursday when it was out on channel 4. We're talking about episode 6.
We are joined by a special guest, the fantastic Maisie Adam.

Speaker 2 Maisie Adam is, of course, a contestant on Series 20 of Taskmaster. She is absolutely brilliant.
Can't wait to talk to Maisie.

Speaker 2 A lot of people looking forward to this one because of the previous work that myself and Maisie have done together. I think it's fair to say we have a fun relationship.

Speaker 2 We enjoy getting on each other's nerves. So I'm looking forward to seeing what happens on this episode of the Taskmaster podcast.

Speaker 2 So this is Taskmaster Series 20, episode 6, as discussed by Maisie Adam.

Speaker 2 Welcome, Maisie, to the Taskmaster podcast.

Speaker 3 Well, well, well.

Speaker 3 Here we are. Here we are.
Yep.

Speaker 2 Mm-hmm. Quite a bit.

Speaker 3 I need to stop my.

Speaker 3 Why are you starting your watch? I'm trying to see how long it'll be before you do your impression of me.

Speaker 2 I was going to ease into it.

Speaker 3 Just get it out of the way, mate.

Speaker 2 Just get it out of the way.

Speaker 2 No, I'm going to ease into it. I'm going to see.
I see this now as a task.

Speaker 2 Oh, yeah. And I have to take the longest amount of time possible before I do the impression of you.
Yeah. But there's a lot of people very excited about

Speaker 2 this episode because, you know, obviously we have comedy history. Yeah.

Speaker 2 The dip, of course. Oh, God.

Speaker 3 Do you know people still shout that at me? Like from across the street.

Speaker 2 Amazing, it's your legacy. Yeah.

Speaker 3 If I ever do a gig in another country, like I got booked for Australia, which I was so excited to finally get. And people are like, oh, she's a long way from the dip.

Speaker 3 That's all the comments were full of.

Speaker 2 For anyone who doesn't know, you can probably find it on YouTube. It was on an episode of Mot the Week, now dead, British panel show.
R.I.P.

Speaker 2 R.I.P., where Maisie revealed that she grew up in a dip, and then I did, what, 15 minutes of impressions of you saying you grew up in a dip?

Speaker 3 Yeah, I was trying to talk about how difficult it is to walk in my village because you go down into it and up back out. And I just said, yeah, it's a dip.

Speaker 3 And you took that to mean all northern people

Speaker 3 live in some sort of pit.

Speaker 2 It's a dip, yes. Yes.
Yeah, well, thanks for that. And I did your voice, didn't I? Which I'm not going to do now.

Speaker 3 No, but it'll rear its ugly head at some point, I'm sure.

Speaker 2 Look, Maisie, you're brilliant on the show. Thank you.
Well done. Thank you.

Speaker 3 Do you know what?

Speaker 3 It's very eye-opening to watch, isn't it? Like to watch yourself back like that.

Speaker 3 Because the one thing I've learnt is I'm angrier than I knew. Yeah.
Yeah. I know I'm competitive, and I think that's something we've often bonded over, we're both quite competitive people, but

Speaker 3 all the all the comments I've ever read, it only gets compared to the level of anger I have in it to one person, which is you.

Speaker 2 Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 3 Yeah, so I'm quite concerned for how this podcast is going to go.

Speaker 2 I was surprised by quite how much your competitiveness is also anger. Yeah.
Because when you look at the lineup before you watch it,

Speaker 2 Rhys is the angry one. Yeah.
And look, he is. No matter what he said to me on this podcast and before the podcast and after the podcast.

Speaker 3 Oh, I've listened to it. It's so funny.
He starts going, but yeah, people thought I'd be the angry one. And then you cut to, and he's back going, her.

Speaker 2 Yeah.

Speaker 2 He was also the angry one, but his is bubbling. His is a bubbling sort of.

Speaker 3 It's like a really sinister. I'd love to be his style of anger, of simmering.
And it is controlled at some element. I mean, really, what I'd love to be is Sanjeev, but that is objectively impossible.

Speaker 3 I think the most I could hope for would to be more like Reese, which is

Speaker 3 brewing, and it's scary.

Speaker 2 It is genuinely.

Speaker 3 No, I don't brew.

Speaker 3 I'm ready-made.

Speaker 2 Your catchphrase in this show is fuck off.

Speaker 3 That's terrible. My mum's so angry about that.
She's had real, like, WhatsApp exchanges about I'm swearing too much and quite a large show.

Speaker 2 Yeah. Yeah.

Speaker 2 But everything, Maisie. I mean, the outfit makes me laugh.
Oh,

Speaker 3 like, it was so bad. The first episode when it went out and I slipped over there.

Speaker 2 Yeah.

Speaker 3 And me, as Anya called them, I didn't know Anya called them panties, but I listened to her episode Pants. My pants were on full show.

Speaker 3 And I forgot, I'd not worn because

Speaker 3 I was anticipating quite big physical tasks, so I wore big physical knickers.

Speaker 2 Big physical knickers, yeah.

Speaker 2 That's going to be the title of this podcast. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
We're changing it, we're changing the whole name of the podcast. Big physical knickers.
Big physical knickers podcast.

Speaker 3 You know, when people get their own clothing lines yeah that'll be that'll be the deal i'll get yeah you're gonna outsell boohoo with your big physical knickers big physical knickers

Speaker 2 it was bad but i remember watching it in the studio and and when i slipped and hit that gargoyle i thought i could have worn better pants than them no but i think big big physical knickers is the way to go yeah because you don't you're not you've got to dress for yourself you need your bpks you need your bpks for taskmaster yeah

Speaker 2 yeah because if you get a vpl you want the bp bp you want you want a vpl of a bpk Yeah.

Speaker 2 Can we talk briefly about your team?

Speaker 2 Oh, yeah. You and Reese.

Speaker 3 Well, I think I totally forgot, which is, as we'll probably discuss,

Speaker 3 a recurring theme, me forgetting

Speaker 2 throughout the series.

Speaker 3 You know, I've had genuinely worried.

Speaker 2 I'm surprised you've remembered it.

Speaker 3 I've had so many people, like, get in contact genuinely worried about my memory.

Speaker 2 The snakes and ladders thing is sorry, the snakes and steps is wild. Yeah.
That you did that. And then, first of all, that none of you thought, well, that'll be something later.
I'll stop again, yeah.

Speaker 2 Because that's obviously how the show works.

Speaker 2 But the fact that you were the one who did not remember doing it, you don't, you... No.
Even there's one moment where you say, opponents, who are my opponents?

Speaker 2 And Alex has to say four other comedians. Did you forget you were doing Taskmaster? I just...

Speaker 3 Yeah, and then they were like, I think somebody said, like, oh, it's Phil's course and I thought well that's favoritism if Phil's been allowed to design yeah you thought he'd done the whole course yeah yeah but and then even watching it I watched it with my husband the other night and I couldn't remember that I'd forgotten yeah

Speaker 3 so people have been getting in touch going I really think you should go and get your memory looked at and then also because of your bloody uh podcast yes where you said always Maisie pissed for the whole thing yeah people are people are either trying to get me memory checked out or trying to stage an intervention either way you do I'm being sent to a clinic.

Speaker 2 You do have a very pissed energy.

Speaker 3 It's the outfit.

Speaker 2 The outfit as well really looks like you've gone on a hen though.

Speaker 3 This Magaluff Northern lady. Yeah.

Speaker 3 Yeah, it's not. In my head, I thought I'd look like Sandy from Greece, but then I had to keep

Speaker 3 adapting the outfit. I couldn't wear the red high heels.
Yeah. Because I knew I'd have to be running round.
Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2 Big practical shoes.

Speaker 3 Wore big practical shoes with my big practical knickers and my synthetic flammable trousers that were too short in the leg, but not high up enough in the bum.

Speaker 2 No, yeah, yeah. They were more just

Speaker 3 maybe the most ill-fitting item of clothing.

Speaker 2 They were mid-leg coverings.

Speaker 3 It was so bad.

Speaker 3 Yeah, it didn't really have the desired look that

Speaker 2 I was going for. No, I thought it was absolutely perfect.
Well, and don't worry about the memory because when you grow up in the dip, you don't need

Speaker 2 much memory because it's a simple life, isn't it?

Speaker 3 Do you know what? I went so F off and I'm not going to do that. I'm not going to do that because my mum will be listening to this.

Speaker 2 We don't need, we don't need to. There we go.
Stop the clock. Six minutes, 35.

Speaker 3 Six minutes.

Speaker 2 Oh,

Speaker 2 we don't need to remember much, Indip.

Speaker 3 Of an hour-long podcast. Six minutes, Gamble.

Speaker 3 You swine.

Speaker 2 I know everyone down the road.

Speaker 3 We don't wear fancy knickers, just big physical ones.

Speaker 2 We need big practical knickers.

Speaker 2 You take them off at night and your kiddie can go to sleep in them.

Speaker 3 Wash them in use, bathwater.

Speaker 2 You don't need to do a voice. No, that's not a voice.
Because that is your voice.

Speaker 2 Let's talk about this episode. Okay.
The prize task is the thing Greg would most like to see Alex wearing, a brilliant prize task category. Yeah.

Speaker 2 And I think you all absolutely understood that what you had to put Alex in was humiliating.

Speaker 2 Yeah. Because that's what Greg wants Alex to wear.

Speaker 3 I was chuffed to bits with this task.

Speaker 2 This is a high point for your prize tasks, I think. Yeah.
But even though just the way you introduce it, and you can tell you cannot wait to introduce.

Speaker 3 I was on the edge of my seat ready to say that.

Speaker 2 The fact that you call her the late lady, Diana, makes it.

Speaker 3 Some people might not know. Yeah, it's a huge shock for some people.

Speaker 2 News just in. Yeah.

Speaker 2 How does your mum feel about this happening? Stop swearing. And now you've brought in the late Lady Diana's revenge dress.
Yeah.

Speaker 3 It's actually not the first time she's been brought up on this podcast, is it? I'm sure. You brought her up with Phil.

Speaker 2 Yeah.

Speaker 2 I can't remember that. Did you not? No.
Oh, gosh. Yeah, you were.
Even though I grew up in London, I can't remember that.

Speaker 3 See, it's easy to forget, yeah.

Speaker 2 Yeah, it is, yeah.

Speaker 3 Thank you. Yeah.
Yeah, I was chuffed to bits to do the revenge dress.

Speaker 2 Yeah, it's perfect.

Speaker 3 I think I just knew with Alex's frame as well. Yeah.
It's not, he won't wear it well.

Speaker 2 Do you not think? No, I don't think. I think he'd make it pop.
I'd love to see Alex in full drag as the late Lady Diana. I think that'd be lovely.

Speaker 3 Yeah,

Speaker 3 I do.

Speaker 3 I do think there's an... I did think as well, there's an element of this chat here that feels very...

Speaker 3 You know, that interview she did with Martin Bashir.

Speaker 2 You're Martin Bashir. I'm very much the Martin Bashir of Taskmaster.
UK Panel Show Review podcast.

Speaker 3 Well, in that, I have to say this early on in this podcast, we very much got on all of us lot. And then they come into this caravan for a little sit-down with Ed Gamble.

Speaker 3 And it is like the Martin Bashir interview. It's very exposing, isn't it?

Speaker 2 Well, you say you all got on, but I think this cast has a particular energy where I think 19, they all seem to get on and bonded. And I think you're all out for each other's blood.

Speaker 3 I think it's a bit like a dysfunctional boy band. That's what I think we're like.

Speaker 2 Like

Speaker 3 we do all get on, but then

Speaker 3 these interviews have been a bit sort of like, you know, when you watch that boy band one with Westlife and they're all talking about, oh, no, he always wanted the solos, and da-da-da-da.

Speaker 3 I think that might have been us a bit, yeah.

Speaker 2 Or it's sort of sibling energy amongst all of you.

Speaker 3 It's favouritism, scrapping sibling energy.

Speaker 2 Yeah. And then it's like I've decided as your father or uncle to take you all away individually on holiday as a little treat when you're all turned 18 or something.
Yeah. Yeah.

Speaker 2 And then once you're alone, you can be like, I hate all of them.

Speaker 2 No, I loved them all.

Speaker 3 I did love the ball. I just didn't take it.

Speaker 2 Blackpool, I'd take you to Blackpool.

Speaker 3 You take me to Blackpool.

Speaker 2 Oh, big city.

Speaker 2 Bright life. The bright lights of Blackpool.
Pepsi Max, big one.

Speaker 2 Oh, I like being on roller coasters because it reminds me of being at home when I'm at the bottom of a dip.

Speaker 3 Can we move on? We were back at the dress.

Speaker 2 Don't like it at top. I like it when I'm going down.

Speaker 3 Do you know? I had a day off on tour between Carlisle and Lancaster. I just went to the pleasure beach on my own.
Of course you did. Loved it.
It was so good.

Speaker 2 Of course you did.

Speaker 3 It was great.

Speaker 2 Yeah. Yeah.
It's not great, though, is it? It's an absolute. No, it was.

Speaker 3 Excuse me, Ed Gamble. It is an absolute treasure.
I went on the Big Dipper, and the bloke at the front of the queue recognised me. The what?

Speaker 3 I've walked into that.

Speaker 3 I'm really determined not to get angry on this episode because I'm aware that that's the rep I've built. So I'm going to be really calm on here.

Speaker 2 You're doing a great job. Much like Reese, he really kept calm as well.

Speaker 2 It was an outstanding prize task. Yes.

Speaker 2 It was was brilliant and it very much deserved the five points everyone had great uh well they did but i don't phil got five points with a homemade suit that'll attract predators yeah which is funny but i don't think it deserved five points along alongside the late lady diana's revenge dress okay okay i liked his backstory with it though i liked i liked the intention of it this is your opportunity to really put the boot into Phil here.

Speaker 2 I'm not rising to it, mate. I'm not rising to it.

Speaker 2 I enjoyed it. I just think we've seen that particular suit with things stuck on it before.

Speaker 3 Yeah.

Speaker 2 you know it just reminded me of other things that have been on in the past okay okay is what i'd say yeah but it was still very good um

Speaker 2 for example sanjeev got four points i thought if anything deserved another five points i think it was sanjeev sari yeah because of the way he built it up the way he explained it and i really would like to see alex in a sari but he's like i'll walk five steps ahead yeah not for cultural reasons

Speaker 2 safety

Speaker 2 i yeah i think alex would make that work yeah i'd love to see yeah yeah yeah and i think it properly played into what Greg wanted as well.

Speaker 2 Anya brings in a versatile hat. Yeah.
Well, she calls it a versatile hat.

Speaker 3 A curtained hat.

Speaker 2 It was a curtained hat. It was a stringy curtained hat.
It was pretty stunning. Yeah.
Yeah.

Speaker 2 I definitely love to see Alex in that. It's almost not humiliating enough.

Speaker 3 No, I think Alex would have quite enjoyed it.

Speaker 2 Yeah.

Speaker 3 He'd have liked the rasmataz of it.

Speaker 2 Also, you're sort of hiding within the hat. I think he would have liked to have it.

Speaker 3 Yeah, that's so true. You want to

Speaker 3 really humiliate, he needs to be exposed.

Speaker 2 Yeah, exactly. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah.

Speaker 2 I would have brought in something really horrible. I wouldn't have been allowed on the show.

Speaker 3 You'd have brought in like a bikini, wouldn't you?

Speaker 3 Big physical knickers.

Speaker 2 Big physical knickers.

Speaker 3 That would have been good to see Alex wearing big physical knickers.

Speaker 2 Just your full outfit from the show, I think.

Speaker 2 Would have really loved that.

Speaker 2 And Rhys, this is, look, this is one of Reese's weaker prize tasks. I'm sure he would agree.
Yeah. And definitely not get angry with me.
Oh, God. If I said that to his face.

Speaker 2 Because Rhys either does the best prize task in the history of the show.

Speaker 3 With like incredible craftsmanship,

Speaker 3 patience. Yeah, I mean the house.

Speaker 3 Yeah, incredible.

Speaker 2 The doll's house, the haunted dolls house is one of the best things I've ever seen anywhere. But this one feels like he spent so long doing that house.

Speaker 2 On the way out, he's like, what am I going to do? Quick, grab that. Yeah, propeller hat.

Speaker 2 Yeah. He's got so much weird stuff in his actual house.

Speaker 3 Honestly, I think he told us that he's got like some...

Speaker 3 Was it a bookcase, but like a bookcase that you can go behind?

Speaker 2 Yeah.

Speaker 3 Which is so unsurprising about

Speaker 2 Lease. And he's got a creepy little room with creepy things in it.

Speaker 3 Yeah, yeah. He'd have like a whole like museum room of curiosities.
Yeah.

Speaker 2 Yeah. That's what I want in my house.

Speaker 3 Yeah. He's like a Bond villain.
Yeah. Into.
Yeah. Like he's very, very charismatic, really sort of gentlemanly.
Like,

Speaker 3 but there is an un there's an unnerving thing about it.

Speaker 2 Oh, yeah.

Speaker 3 If there was a movie of Reese Smith, obviously he'd play himself.

Speaker 2 But if he wasn't available to play himself,

Speaker 3 Christoph Waltz. Oh, that's a good shot.
You know what I mean? He's that vibe.

Speaker 2 Yeah. Like when they did the League of of Gentlemen movie.
Yeah. And Jeremy Dyson wasn't in playing himself.
Yeah, yeah. So they got Michael Sheen to wear it.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like that.
Yeah.

Speaker 2 But it was a good, it was a good price-thas lineup. It was two points for Rhys with his propeller hat, three points for Anya, four points for Sanjeev, and five points for you and Phil.

Speaker 2 Sanjeev, what would they? You said constrictive

Speaker 2 causes embarrassment or pain. Okay, so if you imagine him wearing this in India,

Speaker 2 all those things are covered. Satanjee's brought this in.
It's a sari!

Speaker 2 Oh my god, our next night out, that, you.

Speaker 2 So full.

Speaker 2 Yeah.

Speaker 2 I would walk 10 paces ahead. Not for cultural reasons.

Speaker 2 Just for personal safety.

Speaker 2 This is wonderful. You'll look silly in a sari and you'll be in danger.
I mean, I'm excited. We'll have you another night out.

Speaker 2 Task one, cut a single string to cause the greatest effect. You have 20 minutes.
Your time starts now.

Speaker 2 You're sort of breathing out in quite an exasperated way though, Maisie. This was only two points for you, sadly.

Speaker 2 Talk us through

Speaker 2 the booby trap.

Speaker 3 Well, I just, I thought,

Speaker 3 I thought I'd go for like a home alone-inspired

Speaker 3 kind of

Speaker 3 domino effect.

Speaker 2 Or sort of mousetrap-style thing. Yeah, yeah.
Yeah, that kind of thing. I saw what you were going for, definitely.

Speaker 3 Yeah, it just didn't necessarily get executed the way I'd envisioned, and instead, it was just sort of a couple of chickens falling over, quite sadly.

Speaker 2 And you had to push one of them over as well, didn't you? Yeah, which doesn't help when you're trying to make out that the string's done all the effects. Yeah, I know.

Speaker 3 I know.

Speaker 2 Pushing something over and then shouting bonnet at the top of your voice.

Speaker 3 I know. And I hadn't had a good run with my French anyway.

Speaker 3 Back to that episode where I just had a breakdown and stood in a bag on a donkey for a bit.

Speaker 2 The Magaloof episode.

Speaker 3 Yeah, that was a low point watching that.

Speaker 3 I watched that with my parents, and you could just sort of see the disappointment in their eyes.

Speaker 3 But this one,

Speaker 3 this one hurt because the vision in my head was so far away from the reality of what happened.

Speaker 3 And the frustrating thing as well, which I'm sure you found as well, but like, and it's not massively surprising, but you...

Speaker 3 are infuriated at the time as well because you have no idea what the others have done and you can't comprehend what other options there might be.

Speaker 2 That's the only thing in your head. You've just got to stick on that track.

Speaker 3 Yeah, like what I did seemed to be the most

Speaker 3 like logical thing to do.

Speaker 2 Yeah, and that's mad to think that. Yeah.
Because yours was.

Speaker 3 String up some chickens.

Speaker 2 String up some chickens and then push one over and then shout bon appetite. Yeah, yeah.
Surely everyone's going to do that. That's really root watch.

Speaker 2 I did write down you're like a Yorkshire Macaulay Colkin.

Speaker 2 Okay, I'll take that. Yeah, it's nice.

Speaker 2 Yeah, I don't mind that. I'd love to see a remake of Home Alone with you, innit? Yeah, it'd be great.
Oh, bloody Elwhere's Maisie.

Speaker 2 Oh, you little tourag, you've...

Speaker 2 We've left Maisie and Dick.

Speaker 3 And I set up all these big traps to catch the robbers. None of them work.

Speaker 2 No, none of them work.

Speaker 3 None of them work. They take everything in the house.

Speaker 2 Yeah, and then kill you.

Speaker 3 Yeah, yeah. Mum and dad come home.
It's just my body in the floor, everything else off the walls.

Speaker 2 Oh, this couldn't have gone worse.

Speaker 2 You bloody tour rag.

Speaker 2 It was two points for you, Maisie. Yeah.
Let's talk through what the others did.

Speaker 2 Phil takes Alex's watch and puts it under an anvil.

Speaker 3 Yeah, this got quite dark for Phil.

Speaker 2 Do you think? Yeah.

Speaker 3 I wouldn't have thought Phil would be the kind of person to take the watch and try smash it. Do you know what I mean?

Speaker 2 Yeah, he's mischievous, isn't he? But he's not malicious.

Speaker 3 No. I would have expected Phil to do some big, extravagant obstacle course that would have included really bonkers stuff.

Speaker 3 And actually, the sinisterness of just, can I take your watch? And then make him sit and watch it. Yeah.
You know,

Speaker 3 that felt quite out of character for Phil. But it worked.

Speaker 2 It did work. But the watch also worked.

Speaker 3 Yeah, it's a very strong watch. It's so Alex Horn, innit, to have a strong, robust watch.

Speaker 2 It's a wonderful advert for the Casio F91W. Very good.

Speaker 3 Very good. Yeah.
Well, it's worked a treat with me, timing you today as well.

Speaker 2 Yeah, there you go. You've got the metal.
I've got the metal. The metal one.
Yeah. Yeah, yeah, but they are great.

Speaker 3 I'd love to sponsor it, but I've got that deal with big physical knickers.

Speaker 2 You can do a collab at some point, I'm sure. Crossover.
Yeah, well, like a pair of big physical knickers with a Casio F91W built into the crossover. With a watch built into the gasette.

Speaker 2 Yeah, into the gusset.

Speaker 2 Just reach down inside your trousers, beep.

Speaker 2 Just timing, yep.

Speaker 3 I don't know what's worse to wear a knot a watch on your knickers or knickers on your watch.

Speaker 2 Good point. Do you know what I mean? I mean, I guess the knickers are still doing their job if

Speaker 2 even if there's a watch on them.

Speaker 3 Yeah, whereas if you're around at someone's house going, well, we best be going, glancing at your big knickers on your wrist, you're not going to get asked back.

Speaker 2 No, but I think you'd get asked back more in that situation than what time is it pulling your trousers down a little bit.

Speaker 2 Look at your own gusset.

Speaker 2 You're damned if you do, damned if you don't these days.

Speaker 2 That's what I say.

Speaker 2 Anya, bad stuff from Anya, uses a winch system. She calls it a winch system, she just drapes.

Speaker 3 Was it a winch system?

Speaker 3 Chug in a string at a what do we call that?

Speaker 2 The weather vane. The weather vane.

Speaker 3 Yeah.

Speaker 2 And then puts I mean this is so Anya this. Yeah.
Because Anya out of all of you is the person who imagines things in her head that are completely impossible to pull off. Yeah.

Speaker 2 And it's like that in her life as well quite a lot.

Speaker 2 Just putting the paint powder inside. I mean it was good for what it was, like I got the idea.

Speaker 3 You could see the vision. You could see the vision.
It was going to look great.

Speaker 2 But it was never going to cover the whole house. No.
Which is what she thought. No.
Two glasses of powder.

Speaker 3 I i thought it was going to cover the whole house you mad when she said it there wasn't an air of like no no no she means she absolutely thought she was gonna yeah she thought it was gonna look like you know that festival in india where everyone throws the paint and they're all exactly what she thought she thought it was gonna be like that yeah forgetting the colour run they throw that yeah they don't put it in wine glasses and then over a weather vane over a weather vane with some gaffer tape

Speaker 3 um and just two colours yeah

Speaker 2 no she needed a bit more ambition and also to completely change what she was doing

Speaker 2 but apart apart from that, apart from that, you're really good. Yeah.

Speaker 2 This is such a Reese task. Yes.
Yeah. To be able to make a parody of The Pit and the Pendulum by Edgar Allan Poe.
And

Speaker 2 they shot it beautifully. They edited it amazingly.
It's so funny.

Speaker 3 It's Reese to a T. Yeah.
Like that mind is incredible.

Speaker 2 Torturing Alex for stealing cream eggs from Asda,

Speaker 2 doing the weird voice. It's just like so league, the whole thing.

Speaker 3 It's incredible. Yeah.

Speaker 3 And that's what makes me feel even more stupid for sitting there at the time thinking everyone else has probably done something like this.

Speaker 3 No way. Not Rishiersmith.
That mind works totally different.

Speaker 2 I wonder whether, because, yeah, there's also a possibility that you could do a thing where you cut a string and then it could have an effect, but it doesn't actually need to have the effect on the thing because you just shoot it like a little film, if you see what I mean.

Speaker 2 What? So you could cut the string and then cut to something else happening and it doesn't have to have actually happened practically.

Speaker 3 This is the thing. This has caught me out a few times now

Speaker 3 on Taskmaster:

Speaker 3 realizing that you can actually just sort of use

Speaker 3 exterior effects.

Speaker 2 Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 3 And you're not just left with the chickens in the room. Yeah.
Do you know what I mean?

Speaker 2 But it's always important that there is someone like you who always thinks chickens in the room.

Speaker 3 Who thinks that chickens in the room is the height of

Speaker 3 imagination? Yeah, yeah. Yeah.

Speaker 2 It's important, Macy. Yeah.

Speaker 3 Yeah. That's why Reese's work looks good.
Yeah, yeah. It's because it's compared to chickens in the room.

Speaker 2 You did a really good job here of supporting everyone else.

Speaker 2 Sanjeev, finally, sometimes I think when it started the series,

Speaker 2 I was like, Sanjeev can't be asked, and it's very funny, and he's very funny with it. Yep.

Speaker 2 But then sometimes you get an insight and you think, you're the weirdest. You're the weirdest.
I'm the weirdest dude here.

Speaker 3 Who brings we twice?

Speaker 2 Twice. Twice.
So much more.

Speaker 3 Once is too many times to bring your we in. Twice.
Yeah.

Speaker 3 Yeah. He's amazing.
You're so right. Like,

Speaker 3 one minute, you're like, are you even bothered?

Speaker 3 He's so laid back, he's horizontal. Yeah.
And then the next one, he's coming up with all these like whimsical, creative,

Speaker 3 left-field ideas.

Speaker 2 And this is incredible. Cutting the string, and then the table falls just short of the egg.
I mean, which is really funny because obviously in the studio, everyone's going, he's messed that up. Yeah.

Speaker 2 What a great. That's brilliant.
We love those.

Speaker 3 We thought that was it. Yeah.

Speaker 2 And then he comes out and all of the stuff rolls towards the egg.

Speaker 2 The barrels roll towards the egg and this must have been an accident yeah that they all missed the egg yeah surely he wanted them to hit the egg but i think he brings it back by just going one word yeah existentially yeah he really does it's it was wonderful i think and sanjeev is one of those people who whatever he touches could be performance art yes do you know what i mean yeah yeah yeah everything he does seems intentional even though i'm not sure it is yeah no i don't think i think he just he's very good at working around yeah working around the issues because i think something should have hit that egg but it's so much better that it didn't.

Speaker 2 And at no point does he flicker. He's never going like, I would be like, fuck

Speaker 2 the egg. He just rolls with it, doesn't it? He's like, well, that's it.

Speaker 2 Existentialism.

Speaker 2 Lovely work from Sanjeev. One point from Anya, two points for you, Maisie.

Speaker 2 Phil gets three points, Rhys gets four, and Sanjeev with the big five. Yeah.

Speaker 3 Upon invitation, Alex is going to walk in, pull off that hook, and it's going to tug this horse, which will bring the chicken down. He'll think, right, that's the chicken out the way.

Speaker 3 Surprise, another chicken. That chicken, still not over.

Speaker 3 Third pule of the day is going to land ready to eat. And I'll be waiting, saying, Cheers, there's your seat.
Alex, please enter the restaurant.

Speaker 2 The restaurant?

Speaker 3 The room.

Speaker 2 Okay, here I go.

Speaker 2 Hooray!

Speaker 3 Bonaparte!

Speaker 3 Hooray!

Speaker 2 Bonaparte!

Speaker 3 That's an absolute cockfest. Look at that.

Speaker 2 Screw chicken fell over. Yeah.
And you just cut one bit of string.

Speaker 3 That's really good, isn't it?

Speaker 2 Absolute cockfest.

Speaker 1 It's 2025, a new year, and the perfect time to turn your business dreams into reality. Maybe you've been tossing around a great idea, but haven't acted yet.

Speaker 1 Well, Shopify is how you're going to make it happen. Shopify makes it simple to create your brand, open for business, and make your first sale.

Speaker 1 With thousands of customizable templates, you don't need coding or design skills. Just drag, drop, and go.

Speaker 1 Plus, Shopify's social media tools help you connect all your channels and create shoppable posts so you can sell everywhere your customers scroll. Managing your business is easy too.

Speaker 1 From shipping to taxes to payments, Shopify handles the details on a single dashboard, letting you focus on what really matters, growing your business.

Speaker 1 Established in 2025, it has a nice ring to it, doesn't it? Sign up for your $1 per month trial period at shopify.com slash Dax. All lowercase.

Speaker 1 Go to shopify.com slash Dax to start selling with Shopify today. Shopify.com slash Dax.

Speaker 2 Task two, part one, write an autobiographical 10-word story. You have two minutes.
Your time starts now. I'd imagine at that point you thought that was the end of the task.
part two

Speaker 2 communicate your story to the taskmaster you may not leave the bridge the most accurately communicated story wins you have 10 minutes to prepare your performance then 30 seconds to communicate your story your time starts now maisie what happened here mate i just didn't get it i didn't get it okay ed i didn't get the task what did did you have any idea of what i think if it had said communicate your life story i'd have got it but it doesn't have to be that it's just a story some people chose to do

Speaker 2 chose to do a story. Yeah.
It was weird. So it's autobiographical 10-word story, which, you know, so it's something from your life that happened to you.
Yeah.

Speaker 3 Well,

Speaker 3 I still think I maybe kept to the brief then and trying to just sort of say,

Speaker 3 this Brit keeps telling me the format of the show I'm on.

Speaker 2 So if you were writing your autobiography and you were going through your anecdotes from your long and illustrious career in Showbiz,

Speaker 2 what chapter is this man keeps trying to explain to me the concept of the show?

Speaker 3 Yeah, that probably

Speaker 3 wouldn't feature.

Speaker 3 But

Speaker 3 is it autobiographical? Yes, because it's happening to you.

Speaker 2 No, no, I agree with that. Yeah.
But do you think you could have picked something better?

Speaker 3 Yes. Yes, is the yes.

Speaker 2 You grew up in a dip, Maisie. You could have done.

Speaker 2 Maisie Adam Bourne grew up in a dip.

Speaker 3 No, because I don't want to encourage those people that shout, hey, up from dip across the road at me.

Speaker 2 Dead to do.

Speaker 3 I just didn't get it. And it was one of those, again, where I came out of it thinking, there's got...

Speaker 3 Well, I knew I'd messed that one up because it was so.

Speaker 2 You went in angry as well.

Speaker 3 I went in angry. I went in angry, which didn't help.
But then I came out of it thinking, there's got to have been more to that.

Speaker 3 It can't have been what I've just done. And it wasn't.

Speaker 2 No. It wasn't.
Well, there also sort of wasn't more to it, really. You just did it

Speaker 2 in a mad way. Yeah.
Badly. Yeah.

Speaker 3 That's been a bit of a theme, hasn't it? But again.

Speaker 2 We need people to do that to make the others look good.

Speaker 3 This is so patronising.

Speaker 2 I'm just telling you.

Speaker 3 This is so patronising.

Speaker 2 Someone's got to be.

Speaker 3 Yeah, someone's got to be tree number three.

Speaker 3 Otherwise, how would the prince and princess look so good in centre stage?

Speaker 2 Were you tree number three? I was tree number three. Why are you really tree number three?

Speaker 3 Yeah, didn't have any lines. No, I didn't have a really good movement piece in the wind.

Speaker 2 Yeah, oh, lovely. That's really good.
Yeah, yeah, that's lovely.

Speaker 2 Yeah,

Speaker 2 he keeps trying to explain the plot of the show I'm in.

Speaker 2 And yes, yes, and you tried to do that and it didn't really come up. It didn't work.
It didn't work.

Speaker 3 I was quite surprised how frustrated I got at Alex's presence.

Speaker 2 In every single day, that's interesting, isn't it? Because I don't think I was frustrated with Alex.

Speaker 3 I found him so irritating.

Speaker 3 And I would say that to his face.

Speaker 3 In fact, I think I did.

Speaker 2 But

Speaker 3 when you're having a bit of a nightmare in a task and he's just there with his little clipboard and making his little notes and raising his little one eyebrow, going, you know, and you think, oh, you're so so smug.

Speaker 2 Yeah, he is smug. I got annoyed with him quite a few times, actually.
I did threaten to shove a puzzle up his dick. So, up his dick, up, yeah.

Speaker 3 He'd come from down and go up.

Speaker 2 Yeah, I guess so.

Speaker 3 Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2 I guess, yeah, that's probably the more difficult way of doing it rather than

Speaker 2 stretching it and then

Speaker 2 I don't have one, but I feel pain. Piece by piece, like.
I'm not putting trying to put the whole thing down there. Okay.
Um, it's just very, very, very,

Speaker 3 it's just frustrating.

Speaker 3 And because he can't

Speaker 3 well, I thought he can't help, I've f found out in other episodes that's apparently fine.

Speaker 2 Yeah, well you can always ask him, I think.

Speaker 3 Yeah, turns out turns out you can just ask him, Oh, can you can you lift up this pig through the assault course? Can you uh shift up this baby?

Speaker 3 Or can you have your your own personal mobile out and and have your wife slash mum ring halfway through and I can answer it.

Speaker 2 That was an accident, to be fair. That was that was an accident.

Speaker 3 Yeah, but it didn't lift

Speaker 2 the scores or whatever, did it?

Speaker 3 Anyway,

Speaker 2 I said, let's be calm. No, you've not been calm for the whole thing, Maisie.
I think let go.

Speaker 2 You said you brought some notes with some grievances. This was before we started recording.

Speaker 2 This is what I mean about this cast, because I think all of you have turned up with a list of things that

Speaker 2 you want to get off your chest.

Speaker 3 Yeah, so

Speaker 3 episode one with Anya,

Speaker 2 she started it.

Speaker 3 Look how small I sound. She started it.
Said, I have beef with that about my object.

Speaker 3 My object, I was meant to say the interior of the womb, but I said being in the womb. But the interior of a womb, you've seen it, but you can't describe it.

Speaker 3 That's objective.

Speaker 2 But you brought...

Speaker 3 That's an object.

Speaker 2 But it's still not something you can really bring in, though, is it?

Speaker 2 It's still conceptual because you're...

Speaker 2 You could bring in a model. You brought in a model.

Speaker 3 I could bring in a lady.

Speaker 2 You could bring in a lady.

Speaker 2 And then give away her womb or the whole lady.

Speaker 2 It's difficult, isn't it?

Speaker 3 It's difficult. I don't think you can say, can I have your womb for a prize?

Speaker 2 I think you... I don't know.
It depends where you look. I think you can find those things on offer.

Speaker 3 Oh, I don't want to search your history.

Speaker 3 Also, got a bone to pick with you. You said to Anya on episode one, Maisie loves an argument.
She loves being on the back foot.

Speaker 2 You do. Pardon me.
I mean, that's where you.

Speaker 3 I don't like being on the back foot.

Speaker 2 No, but that is where you operate best comedically.

Speaker 3 I'm not a conflicting, conflictuous, argumentative person.

Speaker 2 Quite on the back foot in that sentence, weren't you? Okay.

Speaker 3 Right, on to Rhys, who he reckoned he clocked the twins.

Speaker 2 Oh, I agree with you here. I didn't say much to Rhys about this at the time.
Yeah, because I'm sorry. He coward in the corner.

Speaker 3 I saw. I'm scared of him.

Speaker 2 As a you. Right.
But yeah, I did cower. But he, yeah, he said,

Speaker 2 but all he said was that maybe it's not.

Speaker 3 But first of all, he did a terrible impression of me as well, which has haunted me. Yeah.

Speaker 2 Can you do one of Reese quickly to balance the odds?

Speaker 3 No, no.

Speaker 3 I'm determined to do this episode in a calm and collected manner. Well, it's too late for that.

Speaker 2 Why don't you do an impression of Rhys? I'm not. No, no, no, it's fine.

Speaker 3 Um, but if we may return to this task, the twins one, uh,

Speaker 3 he did say,

Speaker 3 could it not, could it be somebody else?

Speaker 3 And he meant the crew. And I was like, I went back in and was like, is it the crew? Yeah.
And the crew were obviously like, they can't get him.

Speaker 2 He didn't say it was twins.

Speaker 3 He didn't say it was twins or that there could be another person in the room. Yeah.
I was the person that said that. I agree.
It doesn't matter. And I'm very relaxed about it.
It's totally fine.

Speaker 2 I agree with you.

Speaker 2 and i think everyone else agrees with you you saw that saw that clip from the podcast so you could have bloody said that on the podcast couldn't you i couldn't have done i'm scared of him um

Speaker 3 oh ed call me harsh but i don't think they should have got any points on the mascot task no i don't think you should got any points hey

Speaker 2 i made a mascot you still don't have point you stuck a sign on a pre-existing mascot okay

Speaker 3 all right i just think it's interesting that it's absolutely fine when uh anya gets that really good look in her thing where she picked up the phone. Do you know that task?

Speaker 3 I went to bed that night going, I know the number. I know the number because Lil Wayne rang on the phone.
Right. And I thought it's 54592963 because that's how you type out Lil Wayne on old numbers.

Speaker 2 Can we please use that as a clip? And I don't want to put any context out. I just want the clip of you doing those numbers

Speaker 2 with your eyes shut,

Speaker 2 imagining imagining a phone passing. A phone T-phone booth.
Yeah. So that's it's awful how these things play on your mind though when you leave the house.

Speaker 3 I went back to my hotel room that night being like, I've got it.

Speaker 2 Yeah. I've got it.
It's Lil Wayne.

Speaker 3 It's Lil Wayne spelt out in numbers.

Speaker 2 I think Lil Wayne was just a red herring though, wasn't he?

Speaker 3 That's so stupid. That's so stupid.

Speaker 3 And you guessed A40, it was the M40.

Speaker 3 That was fine, apparently.

Speaker 2 That was all fine. That's a huge thing.
And that clip has now gone out online of that being replayed.

Speaker 3 Yes, no, I saw that.

Speaker 2 And then deciding to use the photo because that's such a huge thing because they never normally do that. They would never replay a game if it had gone slightly wrong.
Yeah.

Speaker 3 I was with Anya when it went out. Yeah.

Speaker 3 And

Speaker 3 Anya was like, oh, they've put out the original one. And we were like, oh, right, that's interesting.

Speaker 3 And it was interesting because neither of us really felt aggrieved by either or.

Speaker 3 champion for either of them.

Speaker 3 We did just agree, me and Anya, that was a shit task.

Speaker 3 It was. It was.
And I'll be honest, Ed, and I'll say this to the Taskmaster team. If you go on Reddit,

Speaker 3 the vast majority agree.

Speaker 3 Up your game.

Speaker 2 It's going to be fun, but Greg is now at the point where if the mechanic of the task in the studio is Greg guesses whether you're lying or not, he is right almost all the time.

Speaker 3 He's worked everyone out too much.

Speaker 2 He is incredible at this.

Speaker 2 So I think we just need to retire that because Greg's basically psychic. Yeah.

Speaker 3 Yeah. You need to get Greg on the traitors.
Yeah, I should.

Speaker 3 He'd just get, he would be amazing.

Speaker 2 Straight away.

Speaker 3 Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah. No, he just figured us all out.
Yeah.

Speaker 3 Like, immediately.

Speaker 3 But yeah, that was my list of grievances. Just

Speaker 2 a few things that you've said

Speaker 3 and

Speaker 3 a few dodgy points being given. You know, a few, few.

Speaker 2 Yeah, that's fair enough. It often happens.

Speaker 3 I did agree. I think it was you or Rhys said, come on, Greg, that's your one job, like, award.

Speaker 2 Yeah.

Speaker 3 You know, when he gives, like, everybody else gets three points.

Speaker 2 Yes,

Speaker 2 he is kinder these days, I think.

Speaker 3 Yes, yeah, there's been quite a few of the Taskmaster fans saying that. Yeah, he's got softer over the years.

Speaker 2 Yeah, softer in his old age. Oh, dear.

Speaker 3 You said that, like, a sort of heir to the throne. Like, you can't wait for him to.

Speaker 3 Oh, dear. Not long left for old Greg.

Speaker 2 No, I don't think so.

Speaker 3 How will I deal with the pressure?

Speaker 2 I don't think I'm in line to the throne, sadly. I think I take it far too seriously.

Speaker 3 He says, hosting the Taskmaster podcast,

Speaker 3 buttering up the boys.

Speaker 2 I can't do both. No? No.
No. I'm busy enough as is.

Speaker 2 The amount of after-show podcasts I do, Maisie.

Speaker 3 Yeah, that's true. That's true.
Oh, my God.

Speaker 2 Yeah, it was one point for you, Maisie. Rhys thinks he's found a clever way around.
Yeah, as you can't remember.

Speaker 2 It's the communicate the story. Oh, yeah, yeah.
Yeah.

Speaker 2 You did really well.

Speaker 3 Do you feel like you've gone to visit your grand?

Speaker 2 Well, we are in a a caravan.

Speaker 2 Reese thinks he's found a clever way around it and uses the spray to write on the window, but you really can't see what.

Speaker 3 I know, I know. I watched that back and thought, that's really, really clever.
I'd have been angry if that hadn't worked.

Speaker 2 If that had worked.

Speaker 3 No,

Speaker 3 I'd have been angry if I was him. But if you were him and it couldn't be, you do that, thinking that's brilliant.
Yeah.

Speaker 2 Yeah. Yeah.
But the story was when I was little, I joked on Monster Munch Crisps. Yeah.
Yeah. Yeah.

Speaker 3 Listen, I'd read that book.

Speaker 2 I'd read that book. That's got to to be in the book.
Yeah. Yeah.

Speaker 2 Because I think that is like, that could be the start of his autobiography: being like, I choked on Monster Munch, a Monster Nilly Killed Me. I became obsessed with Monsters.
Yeah.

Speaker 3 Yeah. Yeah.
It's the origin story of how you end up with a museum of curiosities in your living room. Exactly.

Speaker 2 It's either that or you become obsessed with crisps, and I'm glad it was Monster Munch.

Speaker 3 Imagine how bad inside number nine would have been if it was just this one's about a different flavour of crisps.

Speaker 2 Cheese and onion seasoned.

Speaker 3 If it was the League of Prawn cocktail.

Speaker 2 oh,

Speaker 2 I just think it's vinegar Phil.

Speaker 2 See, Phil, I thought Phil did this very well.

Speaker 3 Yes, Phil came into his own

Speaker 3 this episode, I think.

Speaker 2 Preston born, Preston raised, left Preston, failed, returned to Preston. Yeah.
Lovely. Yeah.

Speaker 3 Really nice. That's perfect Phil Ellis there.

Speaker 2 Yeah, and we already know he's from Preston from earlier in the show because he brought in a photo of him with the mayor. With the mayor.

Speaker 2 So I thought it was great. It's, you know, self-deprecating, really funny,

Speaker 2 but three points. Yep.
Anya's,

Speaker 2 when Alex says, Anya, are you ready? And it cuts back to Anya and she's on the floor with her legs on the window. Yes.

Speaker 3 Yeah. That was.

Speaker 3 But that is so Anya. Like her brain is so incredible.
Like she thinks of things in such an abstract

Speaker 2 way.

Speaker 3 She is like perfect for Taskmaster because you've got to go in and read that task and immediately think left field and not go

Speaker 3 what I do, which is just sort of do a really bad attempt at it and then storm off.

Speaker 2 No, but I think we're close. I think we are very similar.
I think we're too eager. Yeah.

Speaker 3 It's desperate watching it back.

Speaker 2 The first thing that comes into our heads, we're like, I'm going to do this right now. There's no,

Speaker 2 maybe I shouldn't do that, or maybe I should think of another idea. What's the most creative way of doing this? We're like, fuck, give me the thing now, and I'm going to do the thing.

Speaker 3 Do you think if you and I did an escape room,

Speaker 2 never going to happen.

Speaker 3 Really? Can't happen. It's off the table.

Speaker 2 Can't happen. Really?

Speaker 3 I think it could either be like we'd get world record times. Yeah.

Speaker 2 Or

Speaker 2 they'd have to close it. They'd have to close it.
Yeah.

Speaker 2 Because of all the blood. Yeah.
Yeah. Yeah.

Speaker 3 I think so. I think it would be absolutely horrific.

Speaker 2 Yeah.

Speaker 2 Good.

Speaker 2 We should do it one day and film it.

Speaker 3 Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah. Yeah.
I mean, it sounds absolutely horrific for both of our mental health, but content is content.

Speaker 2 But Anya's was

Speaker 2 Anya born. Cats are music.
That's true. She is obsessed with cats.

Speaker 3 She loves a cat, doesn't Anya?

Speaker 2 School, university, trampolining.

Speaker 2 If you can dig back in Anya's social media for the video of her trampolining and then falling over somehow, like almost between the gap, between the edge of the trampoline and the actual trampoline, it's very funny.

Speaker 2 And you die, was the last bit.

Speaker 2 But very good. And Greg pretty much guessed all of it, apart from Cat's the Musical.

Speaker 2 Sanjeev.

Speaker 2 Again, this is...

Speaker 2 I was born Sanjeev, which I remain to this day.

Speaker 3 I actually think if Sanjeev did have an autobiography, that would be the first line.

Speaker 2 Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 3 Yeah, totally.

Speaker 2 Really funny.

Speaker 3 And it would probably, his autobiography would start with that line and end with, and at the end of this, I've got one word for you.

Speaker 2 Existentialism.

Speaker 3 Was this even a book?

Speaker 2 Can I just check with the existentialism thing?

Speaker 2 Because when the notes that Daisy the producer made just said the word existentialism as you would write it. Yeah.
And it's a difficult pun to pick up on because they do sound the same.

Speaker 2 Was he saying existentialism or was he saying existentialism?

Speaker 2 Because it was an egg.

Speaker 2 I hadn't thought of that.

Speaker 3 I hadn't thought of that. That is the magic of Sanjeev Bascar, though.

Speaker 3 He could have said either, and they'd both be, you'd both stand back going, oh,

Speaker 2 because eggs and eggs do sound really too similar, almost to be pun about it.

Speaker 3 I think he's just saying existentialism personally.

Speaker 2 Surely saying existentialism. Do you reckon?

Speaker 2 I'm going to have to watch this back now.

Speaker 3 I really am.

Speaker 3 I think Sanjeev is so whimsical, though, like philosophical. He could just be saying existentialism.

Speaker 2 It's a helicopter.

Speaker 3 And thought it was a comment. Oh, yeah.

Speaker 2 That's Reese coming back.

Speaker 3 Oh, no.

Speaker 2 What are you saying about me?

Speaker 2 Oh, I hadn't thought of that.

Speaker 3 Oh, God. Yeah.

Speaker 2 He'll be getting in contact. Sorry, Reese.

Speaker 3 I listened to the podcast of Reese's on a train and I felt like I was getting told off there and then. I sort of like shriveled up like yeah so oh sorry sorry sorry when he went

Speaker 3 when she told me to be calm why would that make me calm I was like why would that have made him calm that's a stupid thing to say oh no he's gonna be really angry

Speaker 3 I just it is such a he's got such a good uh

Speaker 3 like he goes from zero to a hundred oh yeah and yeah he can turn it on and off it's so good he's like that swan analogy of everything's just nice and gracious on top and then underneath there's this bubbling boy well it's it's the swan analogy if the swan occasionally

Speaker 2 flips fully in the water and just kicks its legs in the sky. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 3 If the swan's doing a synchronized swimming routine,

Speaker 2 yeah.

Speaker 2 One point for you, Maisie, two points for Rhys, three points for Phil, four points for Anya, and five points for Sanjeev. He kept the story simple, which I think was the goal here.

Speaker 3 That's it.

Speaker 2 The tale of eldest time.

Speaker 2 I'll tell you what's thrown it and what I think is going to damage it is I couldn't decide what this was.

Speaker 2 And in the end, I decided it was a circus tent. Do you think you've got it? This is what I've written, really.
Okay, yep. Child born to circus

Speaker 2 runs away, but returns when skint.

Speaker 2 I thought that's pretty. Yeah.

Speaker 2 He actually wrote. Preston born, Preston raised, left Preston, failed, returned to Preston.

Speaker 2 The journey's down

Speaker 2 task three. This task would have absolutely sent me round the loop.
Yep. Wear the flippers correctly, slowest wins.
Your time started when you entered the room.

Speaker 2 And the hidden message at the back of the lab: every time you say flipper, flippers, or flower, your time is halved. Every time one of your feet leaves the circle, your time is halved.

Speaker 2 Every time you laugh, your time is halved. You must put the flippers on within 10 actual minutes of entering this room, or you will be disqualified.

Speaker 2 After reading this, you must immediately return to the circle, and the flippers must be where they were when you entered the room. I bloody hate tasks like that.
But, Maisie,

Speaker 2 what I loved about this is you didn't go in the circle straight away. No.

Speaker 3 So, and I thought, brilliant, you've smashed this, Maze, already.

Speaker 2 But picking up on, I can't return to the circle. Yeah.
Because I've not been in the circle, I thought that was great. Yeah.

Speaker 2 That was really smart. You've been serious? Yeah.
Okay, good. It was obviously good.
Yeah. Yeah.
I mean, you've got other points here, though.

Speaker 3 I thought you were brewing up then to something. No.

Speaker 2 Great.

Speaker 2 And that's worse, isn't isn't it? Yeah. Yeah, you feel more uncomfortable.
Yeah. No, I mean it.
Okay, great. I thought it was good stuff.

Speaker 3 I just.

Speaker 3 Those ones where it's all wordy and,

Speaker 3 oh, then it halves and then it doubles. And then you can't say this, you can't say that.
Because you were... You can't say anything anymore.

Speaker 2 Oh, flippers, is it now?

Speaker 3 It's walk nonsense, is what it is.

Speaker 2 Back in my day.

Speaker 3 You could say flippers whenever.

Speaker 3 It was a term of endearment.

Speaker 2 In the dip, we said flippers all day long and people understood. We didn't.
people knew what you meant by it. Yeah.

Speaker 3 Because they weren't snowflakes, that's why.

Speaker 3 Probably can't say that anymore, can I? Snowflakes.

Speaker 2 Oh, flowers.

Speaker 2 But it is, there's something truly just funny in a very simple way of

Speaker 2 an instruction saying you can't say flipper, flippers, or flowers. And people

Speaker 2 reading it out in front of you. Because your brain just does it.

Speaker 3 Well, and also, I think, can I just say...

Speaker 2 well, I think also. Also, yes, can I just say?

Speaker 3 There's, you know, you're walking in and there's a camera crew. So you think, well, I need to read it out for the viewers.

Speaker 2 Because you're a pro. For the viewers at home.
Yeah, yeah. For the viewers at home.
Yeah.

Speaker 3 You know, if I read it in my head. Yeah.
Yeah, I might have got five points.

Speaker 2 I mean, Anya does, Anya says F-word, F-word, or other F-word, I think. But then two rules later reads out

Speaker 2 flippers again. So it's really difficult to not do it.
Oh.

Speaker 2 At least you find the message you find the message i was shuffled to bits with that yeah i thought brilliant smashed it but then you say flippers so many times

Speaker 2 yeah it is it is halved but yeah and you put them on in three minutes 52 seconds which is obviously way too short to be getting good points yeah can we talk about anya's clock brain

Speaker 2 insane nine minutes 25 seconds with no i think i had a task where we didn't i had to do something within 10 minutes it was popping inflating and popping balloons

Speaker 3 and i think i did like 850 and i was very proud of that but nine minutes nine minutes 25 is insane yeah yeah but that's what i mean anya's got this sort of like she's so she's so intelligent but also very creative yeah and it like i don't know how you have both of them i'm still working on either but um

Speaker 3 yeah nine nine minutes 25 is good i feel like anya would be incredible at an escape room yeah i've done escape rooms with anya but yeah she's good and she keeps very calm as well yeah perfect i've i've not done an escape.

Speaker 3 I've done, I think she mentioned it, karaoke, where that was, I'm so glad she remembered it. It was the first time I met Anya.
It was up at the Edinburgh Fringe. Olga Koch had a birthday party in a

Speaker 3 karaoke booth and there was about 20 people in there.

Speaker 2 But

Speaker 3 just one person kept using the microphone and singing every song and then the song would finish. And she'd just queue up

Speaker 3 another song, this person, and

Speaker 3 we'd just burst into another ballad. I'd never met Anya before, so we were just sort of looking at each other.

Speaker 3 We just had to sit, sit, whilst this woman did a one-woman concert. Is she a comedian? No, I think she's a producer.

Speaker 2 Fantastic. Yeah.

Speaker 2 Well, sometimes you've got to shine.

Speaker 3 I've not seen her since. She's probably still in that booth doing her own encore.

Speaker 2 Sometimes you've got to shine the light on the behind-camera talent.

Speaker 3 It was so funny.

Speaker 3 And she weren't doing like karaoke bangers either. Do you know what I mean? Daisy, was it you? She wasn't doing like Mr.
Bright sign. She was doing just sort of

Speaker 3 Anya. Yeah.
You know.

Speaker 2 Oh, can't see. I just got, oh my God.
It's terrible. But Anya does, yeah, incredibly here.
It's very, very good. Nine minutes, 25.

Speaker 2 And it's only halved seven times, whereas you're halved 10 times.

Speaker 3 What was it, 0? 0.2 seconds?

Speaker 2 0.02 seconds.

Speaker 3 0.02.

Speaker 2 Yeah, yeah, yeah. And Anya's was 4.5 seconds, which wins.
But all the others were disqualified.

Speaker 3 Yes, that was a saving grace for me. You know,

Speaker 2 Rhys doesn't see the rules, but makes up the rules. Yeah.
He creates a ladder of chopsticks. At what point does he think, well, I can leave the circle.

Speaker 2 Yeah, of course i'm sure the rules are if i make a ladder of chopsticks yeah yeah yeah yeah but i think that again is is reese's brilliant creativity brain kicking in yeah and that just overrides everything yeah because if i if you if you did have them levels of creativity in you you you would think they'll excuse yeah they'll excuse it if i'm if i'm thinking outside the box like this they'll love it if i make a chopstick ladder yeah yeah um and he takes 16 minutes 47 seconds because he doesn't know about the 10 minutes rule yeah sanjeev i think has good instincts here though because all he thinks is it's take the longest.

Speaker 2 If you don't see those rules, he goes, he pushes it as far as possible.

Speaker 3 He went full Sanjeev with this.

Speaker 2 He went full Sanjeev, he went for lunch.

Speaker 3 I mean, is there anything more on brand than Sanjeev just knock off incorporating his lunch into a task?

Speaker 2 Just going, I think I'll just go off and have my dinner. I think he was considering leaving for the day and then just doing it next time,

Speaker 2 which would have been amazing as well. But six hours, he left it.

Speaker 2 Six hours.

Speaker 2 I love it.

Speaker 3 He's so good. Yeah.
He's so good.

Speaker 2 He's so brilliant. I mean, this whole cast.
And again, he'll evolve out of that going,

Speaker 2 that's a good idea.

Speaker 3 Yeah, smash that.

Speaker 2 That's a good idea. But it is a good idea if you don't know about the 10-minute rule, I think.

Speaker 3 But isn't that such an insight into all of our brains? Reese going, if I really go down the creative route, I've smashed it. Yeah.

Speaker 2 Sanjeev, if I go and have my lunch, I've smashed it. I've had my lunch really small.

Speaker 3 I remember doing the task thinking,

Speaker 3 the best bit here is that I know how to walk in flippers. And people will be impressed by that.

Speaker 2 What are you talking about?

Speaker 3 So, when you wear flippers, you have to walk backwards to the pool.

Speaker 2 The pool?

Speaker 3 The pool. When you wear them to the pool.

Speaker 2 Why are you wearing them in the pool?

Speaker 3 Well, where else are you wearing flippers?

Speaker 2 Have you heard of the sea?

Speaker 3 Well, would you wear flippers in the sea?

Speaker 2 No, but if you're doing like scuba diving, that's why flip.

Speaker 2 Why are you wearing them in a pool?

Speaker 3 We just used to sometimes swim with flippers.

Speaker 2 You go top speed in a pool.

Speaker 3 I don't know.

Speaker 2 That's the only time I've worn flippers is in swimming lessons. Never go to the same all-inclusive hotel as Maisie.
You're trying to relax. She was on holiday.
It was swimming class.

Speaker 2 You just relax in the pool and she's shooting up and down next to you.

Speaker 2 Wearing a big practical swimming shoe.

Speaker 3 Just trying to get some laps in before breakfast buffet. No, just.

Speaker 3 But I remember you had to collect them from this big bin, like

Speaker 3 inside the pool, not around the back of the bottom.

Speaker 2 This is the Tasmania. In my life.
Yeah, in your life.

Speaker 3 This would be in the outer bio. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2 The day I learnt to flip. This is chapter two.

Speaker 3 You have to walk, and then you have have to, you wear, you put them on by the bin, and then you walk backwards to the pool with them because you can't walk forwards in flippers.

Speaker 3 So the whole time I'm doing that task, I'm just thinking, I can't wait to show people that I know how to walk in flippers.

Speaker 2 Did you flip in the dip?

Speaker 2 Hmm.

Speaker 2 Play a jingle.

Speaker 2 Play a jingle now. No.

Speaker 3 Well, at least we have the name of my autobiography.

Speaker 2 Flipping the dip. Flipping the dip.

Speaker 3 Flipping the dip. It's better than no holding back.

Speaker 3 Isn't it?

Speaker 2 That was a revelation to me. No holding back.

Speaker 2 That is mad.

Speaker 3 Just sat on that.

Speaker 2 I bet she finds out about that through this show as well. Yeah.
So I could have. Oh, God.
Of course,

Speaker 2 ring the editor. Yeah.

Speaker 3 Give a call back on.

Speaker 2 Yeah. Do no holding back because my name's Amanda Holden.

Speaker 3 So anyway, yeah, I was just focused

Speaker 3 on being able to show that I could walk in flippers, and I don't even think that made the edit.

Speaker 2 I don't think it did, no?

Speaker 3 No, because I imagine everybody watched it and thought, it's not really relevant, though, is it?

Speaker 2 I'd imagine they cut the bit where you gave a cheat along how to

Speaker 3 smugly reversed out of the lab. Yeah.
Yeah.

Speaker 2 Phil loses his mind. Lasso's the flippers.
I think Greg refers to him as the Joker. Yeah.

Speaker 2 I think that the lab especially does something to Phil. Yeah.
Yeah. You know, we've already seen him dress up as a baby and try and suckle from Alex.

Speaker 3 I watched that episode and then had a dream about it that night and it was yeah, and it was just his his head was floating just going baby hungry, baby hungry just a floating head going baby hungry.

Speaker 2 So do your dreams often exactly represent something you've done in that in the day?

Speaker 3 And do you know when I was filming Taskmaster in the house, I would sometimes go back and dream about the tasks.

Speaker 2 That's mad. Yeah.

Speaker 3 Just living rent-free in there.

Speaker 2 I think a lot of my dreams are like go through a filtration process where they're not the exact thing that I've done that day. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2 But you do something and then you go to sleep and you do the thing in your sleep.

Speaker 3 Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah. I fall over in my big pants in my dreams.

Speaker 2 You've got to process what's happened on the day when you're filming Taskmaster.

Speaker 3 I love Phil's approach to everything though. Yes.
I mean, I absolutely love it.

Speaker 2 Gutting for Phil that he did it in 10 minutes and five seconds.

Speaker 3 It's so typical that it happened to Phil. Yes, I think it was.

Speaker 3 Something that close and cruel

Speaker 3 can only happen to somebody with Phil Ellis's

Speaker 3 whole vibe.

Speaker 2 Yeah, he's just always downtrodden. Yeah.
Like, oh, yeah. Oh, failed again.

Speaker 3 The world just laughs at him.

Speaker 2 But he laughs back, and that's what I like about it.

Speaker 3 Yeah, thinking he's in on the joke with the world.

Speaker 2 But he's not. The world hates you, Phil.

Speaker 3 I love him.

Speaker 2 Rhys, Andrew, and Phil, all disqualified. You get four points, Maisie, for 0.02 seconds.
Yeah. And you're going to be able to do that.
Unbelievable.

Speaker 2 Yeah, that's pretty. Unbelievable.

Speaker 3 In a task where slowest wins and I walk away with four points for 0.02 seconds, I couldn't believe my luck that day.

Speaker 2 After reading this, you must immediately return to the circle. The flippers must be where they were when you entered this room.
Yeah. Do you want to give me the flippers? We've got to put them back.

Speaker 2 What? So I'm going to start again. Yep.
Oh, come on. I did the lasso thing!

Speaker 3 Okay, I have all my supplies.

Speaker 2 How long have you been in this room? I think probably

Speaker 3 seven minutes.

Speaker 2 Get them!

Speaker 2 Shall I stop the clock? Yeah. Stop the clock.

Speaker 2 Stop the clock? Yep.

Speaker 2 Yeah, I'm not laughing anymore either.

Speaker 2 I'll stop the clock.

Speaker 2 So we're leaving with my dignity.

Speaker 2 the live task. Find the age of the mystery person.

Speaker 2 Who is Quentin, of course, making his, I think, third appearance in Taskmaster.

Speaker 3 I have never laughed so much in a live task as that day.

Speaker 2 You must stay in your seat at all times. You may ask one question at a time, going from oldest to youngest, starting with Sandjeev, of course.
You may only say two numbers each.

Speaker 2 The person may only say yes or no. First person to say the correct age wins.

Speaker 2 How long did this take?

Speaker 3 So long. Yeah.
I think at least 40 minutes.

Speaker 2 Wow. Yeah.
Because we already know.

Speaker 3 Mainly because Quentin didn't understand the game.

Speaker 2 Oh, yeah. No idea.

Speaker 3 No idea. Well, absolutely not.

Speaker 2 There was a very confusing question

Speaker 2 about

Speaker 2 does the second letter

Speaker 2 coming after the first letter? I mean, just say S, Phil. I was just screaming at you.
Say S. Yep.

Speaker 2 We know that your age starts with S. Yep.
Does the second letter

Speaker 2 Does the second letter is let an I? It is difficult, actually, now I've tried it.

Speaker 2 But yeah, there was a lot of confusion knocking around, wasn't there?

Speaker 3 I'd just love to live in Phil Ellis' head sometimes. Yeah.
I think I'd want a red button that would immediately get me out.

Speaker 2 Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 3 But it would just be good to see.

Speaker 2 It would be an escape room in there, wouldn't it?

Speaker 3 I think Phil Ellis' mind is an escape room.

Speaker 3 And that he hasn't worked out how to escape yet. And he's just made peace.
Well, I live here now.

Speaker 2 I'd rather live in a brain than Preston. oh god

Speaker 3 so uh

Speaker 3 yeah the the I mean Phil's questioning was questionable but Quentin's answering man yeah

Speaker 3 geez he had one job he had one job

Speaker 2 I thought he was having an existential crisis yeah when it's yes or no and Alex has to go can you try that again Quentin

Speaker 3 I couldn't breathe. I had tears like streaming

Speaker 3 down my face.

Speaker 2 It was unbelievable and anya's question which also sums up anya to me is that is that number got curves is that number got curves

Speaker 2 just write that down is that number is that number got curves and that made perfect sense to her is that number got curves

Speaker 2 weird to ask about the curvy curviness of a number anyway but is that number got curves when anya said is that number got curves some of us went hmm good question

Speaker 2 that's the title of the episode as well is that is that number got curves and i saw the title of the episode and went that'll be Anya. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
There's no one else that could be.

Speaker 2 So,

Speaker 2 fun fact. Yeah.
This game is taken from the game show invented on Series 17 by John Robbins, John McNally, and Sophie Willand. So, yeah.
Since then, we need to take umbrage. It works, though, I think.

Speaker 3 Well, if you get somebody that's not Quentin answering the questions.

Speaker 2 Well, it's better than having to do the other game show that was invented on Series 17, which was Nit Mohammed and Steve Pemberton, which was going through people's poo to work out what they'd eaten.

Speaker 2 So, I think you'd just be happy with that.

Speaker 3 There's something about that game that makes me absolutely certain Phil Ellis would be really good at it.

Speaker 2 I'd love it, yeah.

Speaker 3 Stand back, I've done this before. That would be Phil, wouldn't it?

Speaker 2 Yeah, it would be.

Speaker 2 But he's got no sense of smell, so that wouldn't help.

Speaker 3 No, no. Anya would refuse.

Speaker 3 I'd be angry about it. Rhys would be saying, what's the point? Yeah.

Speaker 3 Phil would be going straight into the poo with all of the confidence and none of the skill. But Sanjeev would be on hand to go, hmm.

Speaker 2 Yeah. Yeah.

Speaker 3 Looks like rice or looks like uh that looks like it could be shreddy's yeah

Speaker 2 phil gets five points in this task somehow phil comes out with the points we know he's not good at asking questions we've seen that from guessing what the number was yeah um because he just throws away all his questions so quickly when he had a finite amount of questions to ask alex about the number he started with like you're right and there's one question gone don't honestly what was it where he was like you may want to rethink your questions and he he went, why is that?

Speaker 2 Yeah.

Speaker 2 I think there's a part of him that just wants the world to burn. So hence the Joker.

Speaker 2 But Phil gets 5.0 to everyone else.

Speaker 2 Episode scores.

Speaker 2 Phil on 16 points. He wins the episode, which is lovely to see.
Sanjeev on 14. Anyone on 13.
You on 12, Maisie. And Reese on 8 points.

Speaker 3 And it couldn't have come at a worse time because I had a bad one the last episode as well.

Speaker 3 I'm on a bad streak at this point.

Speaker 2 You're in a bad streak, but it is. Look, the whole series is so close.
It feels like it's never been close. We were so close, weren't we? Yeah.

Speaker 3 What were we all on on the series by that point then?

Speaker 2 Anya's on 90, Phil's on 89, Reese's on 85, you're on 83, and Sanjeev's on 81.

Speaker 3 I mean, that's insane. That's insane, yeah.

Speaker 2 Do you think you're all equally good or all equally bad?

Speaker 3 All equally bad. Yeah.
Yeah. We're like the opposite of the Avengers.

Speaker 2 I think it's just very up and down. Like,

Speaker 2 someone will have an amazing episode. You've all had amazing episodes and amazing tasks, but then some real lows as well.
Yeah.

Speaker 3 I remember episode one thinking, I'm blumbing nailing this. And Sanjeev, you know, basically

Speaker 3 like having a shocker from beginning to end.

Speaker 2 I thought Sanjeev's going to be like so far behind everyone after episodes.

Speaker 3 And Phil a little bit. And now they're really coming into their.

Speaker 3 We were so, so close. Like.
basically from here on, you know.

Speaker 3 We won't reveal that. Oh, yeah.
Sorry. No.
It's just,

Speaker 3 it's nice to be so close.

Speaker 2 Yes. Yeah, yeah.
It's good. It's keeping it exciting.

Speaker 3 It's very, very exciting.

Speaker 2 Maisie, thank you very much for coming on the Taskmaster podcast. I'm looking forward to this bit.
I always ask our guests to

Speaker 2 rates their

Speaker 2 answers on the podcast between one and five points. Please give me a point score for the podcast.

Speaker 3 It's one. It's one.

Speaker 3 You've had a five from

Speaker 3 you've had a five and two threes, I believe.

Speaker 2 I don't keep, I don't keep track.

Speaker 3 Right, well, I blumbing do, and you need a one to bring you down. Can I give him zero? I'll give you zero.
You can disqualify me. No, I'll give you one because

Speaker 3 you let me come on and air my

Speaker 3 notes of grievances. Yeah.
I'm just checking that there's nothing. Oh,

Speaker 3 I liked that Phil thought that he could, you know, the lame duck task. Yeah.
That he just thought he'd collect the ducks and that would earn him £25 per duck. Yeah.
Loved that. Yeah.

Speaker 3 That's Phil Ellis. That's Phil Ellis.
But no, you're on one.

Speaker 3 That was the only thing on my notes of grievances.

Speaker 2 Thank you, Maisie. Can I go?

Speaker 3 Yes. Thank you.
Bye-bye. Bye.

Speaker 2 Thank you so much to Maisie for coming on the podcast. Exactly what I'd hoped for, to be honest.
Absolutely brilliant. Fun.

Speaker 2 Maisie's incredible. The series is incredible.
Keep watching the series. Channel 4, 9 p.m.
every Thursday. We will be back next week with episode 7.
And we've got a great guest planned. So stay tuned.

Speaker 2 Listen to us straight after the episode. Be available at 10 p.m., of course.

Speaker 2 Watch it on YouTube if you're that sort of person.

Speaker 2 It's doing great guns on YouTube, and you get to see me suddenly remember that it's being filmed and thinking I should have brushed my hair and won something nicer. All right, bye!

Speaker 1 It's 2025, a new year, and the perfect time to turn your business dreams into reality. Maybe you've been tossing around a great idea but haven't acted yet.

Speaker 1 Well, Shopify is how you're going to make it happen. Shopify makes it simple to create your brand, open for business, and make your first sale.

Speaker 1 With thousands of customizable templates, you don't need coding or design skills. Just drag, drop, and go.

Speaker 1 Plus, Shopify's social media tools help you connect all your channels and create shoppable posts so you can sell everywhere your customers scroll. Managing your business is easy too.

Speaker 1 From shipping to taxes to payments, Shopify handles the details on a single dashboard, letting you focus on what really matters. Growing your business.

Speaker 1 Established in 2025, it has a nice ring to it, doesn't it? Sign up for your $1 per month trial period at shopify.com slash Dax. All lowercase.

Speaker 1 Go to shopify.com slash DAX to start selling with Shopify today. Shopify.com/slash DAX.