The Cambridge-educated son of a Nigerian father and Swedish mother, Richard Ayoade first came to prominence starring in and co-writing the 2000 Edinburgh Fringe show Garth Merenghi's Fright Knight with Matthew Holness, winning the Perrier Award for its sequel, Garth Merenghi's Netherhead, the following year. The show transferred to Channel Four in 2004 as Garth Merenghi's Darkplace, before spawning the spin-off 80s chat show spoof, Man to Man with Dean Learner, fronted by Ayoade's 'smut-peddler' character.
Appearances in The Mighty Boosh and Nathan Barley were followed by his highest profile role to date in Graham Linehan's sitcom The IT Crowd, playing socially inept tech support worker Moss, a role he reprised for an unaired US adaptation in 2009.
Establishing a parallel career as a music video director for the likes of The Arctic Monkeys, Kasabian and The Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs, he directed his first film, the coming-of-age comedy-drama Submarine in 2010, and his second, The Double, a nightmarish, dystopian comedy-drama, loosely based on Fyodor Dostoevsky's novella, in 2014.
Next line-up revealed as a new champion is crowned
The line-up has been revealed for the next run of Taskmaster, after series 21 ended on Channel 4 tonight.
Taking part in season 22 will be:
Chloe Petts
The Edinburgh Fringe favourite is already a familiar presence in the Taskmaster universe as a regular guest on the spin-off podcast hosted by her friend Ed Gamble, for whom she regularly provides tour support. Her other TV credits include Have I Got News For You, the new Dave escape room series The Way Out and the Netflix comedy special, Hannah Gadsby's Gender Agenda.
Isy Suttie
Best known for playing Dobby in the Channel 4 sitcom Peep Show, Suttie appeared in series 3 and 4 of Greg Davies’s comedy Man Down, playing Ally, the teacher who took over his job. Married to fellow comic Elis James, she has had a relatively low profile since that show ended in 2017. In July 2021, her first novel, Jane Is Trying, was published.
Matt Lucas
Best known for his work with David Walliams on Little Britain and Come Fly With Me, Lucas also presented Channel 4’s Great British Bake Off alongside Taskmaster alumnus Noel Fielding from 2020 to 2023. His many other credits include Doctor Who, Bridesmaids, Paddington, Wonka and Gladiator II. He was made an OBE in the New Year Honours this year.
Nina Conti
The comic ventriloquist known for her Monkey sidekick as well as having acting role in the likes of Black Books, Holby City and the Radio 4 comedy Clare in the Community. Her debut feature film Sunlight – co-written by and co-starring her partner Shenoah Allen – just dropped on Prime Video following its cinema release last year.
Richard Ayoade
Taskmaster fans have long called for Ayoade to be a Taskmaster contestant – and even the show’s creator Alex Horne said in a 2024 interview that Ayoade had long been on his own wishlist. Like Horne, Ayoade started in comedy with the Cambridge Footlights (he was president in 1997 with John Oliver his vice-president). He came to TV on Garth Marenghi's Darkplace followed by The Mighty Boosh and most notably The IT Crowd before becoming a panel show regular and host of Gadget Man, Travel Man and The Crystal Maze, while enjoying a parallel career as a writer and director.
Channel 4 has committed to airing Taskmaster until at least series 27. In a session at the SXSW London festival earlier this week Horne said: ‘We've got the 25th series coming up in a couple of years, and we have plans to do something to celebrate that.’
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