Series 20 will be on YouTube just as soon as it's aired on C4

The next series of Taskmaster will drop on YouTube as soon as it’s aired on Channel 4 – so worldwide fans can watch it on the same day as Britons.

The programme, which returns on September 11, has already racked up more than a billion views and 1.94 million subscribers, making it the biggest British comedy show on the platform.

Producers Avalon have been pushing the show in the US especially, with series 17 and 19 having had launch events in New York, and Alex Horne and Greg Davies appearing on US talk shows. Their appearance on Late Night With Seth Meyers became the show’s second most-streamed interview online, second only to one  with Barack Obama.

Last season’s casting of Jason Mantzoukas, the UK show’s first American contestant, was also seen as a move to increase Taskmaster’s popularity in the US. That season, the 19th, has attracted 19 million YouTube views from North America so far this year, three times as many as the previous season.

The UK show has not aired on an American TV network since 2020. 

A remake for the US market, with Reggie Watts as the Taskmaster and Horne reprising his role as the sidekick ran for just one season in 2018. Speaking to The Peer Project podcast in November, series creator Horne said: ‘With a bit of luck we're going to try again. But ideally with Greg and me… I just think we would have more control over it.’

Earlier this month, accounts filed at Companies House showed how Taskmaster had swelled Horne’s worth by more than £4.6million in a year, the equivalent of just under £90,000 a week. His company, Shakey Productions, saw its funds avaliable to shareholders – Horne and his wife – rise from £7.6million to £12.2million in the year to November.

A new image has also just been released for series 20 showing contestants Ania Magliano, Maisie Adam, Phil Ellis, Reece Shearsmith and Sanjeev Bhaskar – above. 

• Taskmaster Season 20 will premiere on Channel 4 at 9pm on Thursday September 11 then worldwide on the Taskmaster YouTube Channel at 10pm BST – or 5pm EST / 2pm PST in the States. But not in the UK, where it will be available to stream on Channel 4.

Published: 27 Aug 2025