Let’s talk about this year’s contestants. Shall we start with Richard Ayoade: fans have wanted him to do it for years, so how did you eventually get him to agree?

Alex: We found out a secret about him that he didn’t want made public. And it wasn’t even that interesting, was it?

Greg: Well, it depends if you think killing someone is interesting, I suppose.

Alex: Yeah, but the victim was very old. Richard was everything I hoped for and more. He just suddenly decided to do it. He’s quite a peculiar character, obviously. His choices are odd, and he just said he fancied it. So I got to spend a few days with him in the house, and then we all got to spend time with him in the studio. 

Greg: He entered into the spirit of the arguments more than I thought he would. I’ve spent a bit of time with Richard previously, and he is very much his own man. His comedic sensibilities are well-defined, and the thing I slightly worried about was that he would just be brilliantly dismissive of everything he did, but he wasn’t. He had a go at some of the tasks, and he also had a go at defending them in a more full-throated manner than I thought. I loved having him on the show. He’s endlessly funny and he really brought a new dynamic to the room.

I enjoyed his physicality; we often see him behind a desk and he has a stillness about him, but he does a commando roll at one point in the series.

Alex: Yeah. He also does a lot of maths. He was just endlessly funny. He was so funny, which is what we want.

He also might be the coolest man you’ve had on.

Greg: He is. His clothes were great.

Alex: He does have a certain style, doesn’t he?

Greg: But he is also the least cool person we’ve ever had as well.

Alex: He walks the line.

Greg, you went to Moscow with him for his show, Travel Man. What was that trip like?

Greg: It was intense for all sorts of reasons because I’d never really spent time with Richard before, and I’m a huge fan of his, so I was quite frightened for that reason. He’s quite shy, in a way, and I don’t know whether it’s his way of dealing with that or if it’s because I’m boring, but he would often take himself off into a corner and read a book when we were off camera. But I really had a lovely time with him. 

I always admire people who know exactly what they will and won’t do in life, and I think that came across in Taskmaster. When we were in Russia, there was a request for us both to be topless in the gym at one point and he went, “I will not be doing that.” And I went, “Well, I guess I’m the topless guy, then.” So I got beaten by a Russian masseuse with some leaves while Richard sat and read a book, and then I went under a horrible ice bucket while Richard sat and read a book.

That is quite typical of him. As Alex says, his comedic persona is very well defined.

Alex: It is, absolutely. Even just when you go down the line at the start of the show and everyone’s waving to the camera, he’s consistently doing something slightly off-kilter.

You mentioned that most of the time he was dismissive of the tasks, but sometimes he got really into them. Can you expand on that?

Greg: He got quite competitive from about the midway point. He suddenly started arguing his case a bit more often, which I enjoyed. I don’t think for a second that he really cared, which I almost enjoy more. If someone’s quibbling with me over points but they don’t actually care, it’s a bit of a sweet spot for me.

He became the first ever contestant to try to walk off mid-way through a task.

Alex: Yeah, he was tempted just not to do it at all, but I made him give it a go. And even when he did do it, he left it halfway through. He said, “No, that’s enough for me.” 

Greg: I think it has happened before, once … Katherine Ryan refused to eat a raw egg. But that was many, many years ago.

Let’s talk about Matt Lucas next.

Alex: He was so interesting. I think we had glimpses of Shooting Stars Matt, or even Come Fly With Me Matt, where he was leaning into big characters and doing voices, but you saw quite an introspective Matt as well. I think he was learning about himself.

Greg: He claimed at the beginning of the show that he’d never watched it before — I think that was during the first task. And now we’ve been through a whole series together and I still don’t know whether he had ever watched it or not. I don’t know whether it was a gag and whether he was pretending, but I suspect he hadn’t.

Alex: Yeah, I think he hadn’t. I quite liked that as well. You don’t want five super-fans. I thought it was refreshing.

Greg: Absolutely. And he had this sort of obsession with his mum as well, which was bordering on quite weird but also quite amusing. He brought her into the studio. I spoke to her backstage and said, “Are you having a nice time?” and she said, “I don’t know what’s going on.” Bless. Mother like son. They were both truly baffled by what was being asked of them. He got more and more into it as it went on, though. He was very funny, and engaged.

Alex: In the first episode you see him sing a song, and it’s so nice to have Matt Lucas singing a song on your show. It’s so special. I love his musical stuff.

Greg:  He also popped off to get an OBE in the middle of it all, so that was quite a distraction, and then Arsenal were about to win the league while we were recording a studio show. It was actually quite sweet because he was doing his job on set, but it was hell for him that that was happening, so every time we broke off for the adverts, he would sprint off stage and try and find out what the Arsenal score was.

He has quite an odd career. The day after we finished, he immediately flew to join the cast of Les Misérables to go on tour around the world, which is a whole different drama. He said he really loved doing this because there was no script and it was mad, but he also loved going to that world of the theatre. And I really liked that every now and again he would just jump into a character. Obviously I’ve been watching Matt Lucas doing characters since way before I started comedy, so I’m always a little bit starstruck when those character voices come out.

Alex: I would say there’s one episode where he has to shout, and Matt Lucas shouting is a joy. He’s a good shouter.

Let’s talk about Chloe Petts.

Alex: Chloe’s definitely a confident character. They knew the show, knew themselves. Chloe’s clearly a big fan of the show and laid out their agenda early doors: they wanted to win at all costs.

Greg: Yes, that was very clear. Sometimes terrifying.

Alex: Had a go at everybody.

Greg: There was a moment where they called Matt a ‘little b***h’, I think.

Alex: They talk about that in their normal life — being sort of two people at once, being a butch football fan at the same time as being sweet and gentle. We definitely had that in the house. To be fair, I’m not surprised they got angry sometimes because the weather for them was so awful. You’ll see in the tasks that they had rain and mud and snow as well at one point, but it didn’t stop them at all.

Greg: That was weird actually. They were the only person who had to put up with the adverse weather conditions. It always seemed to be chucking it down in there. But it was quite fitting, I think. It was like Vietnam, some of it, with them crawling along with blood on their face. It went quite well with the aggressive side of their personality.

Alex: Yeah. And there’s no point denying there’s a hint of Ed Gamble. They tour with Ed Gamble and there’s definitely that competitive streak in Chloe, which we blame solely on Ed.

One of my favourite prize tasks was the life size Greg Davies that Chloe made to spoon in bed. Did you enjoy that, Greg?

Greg: Listen, I like to be spooned whether I’m there or not. I’m happy to have that put on record. It did look amazing. It’s one of the great prizes of this series, it really is. I want to be spooned more often. I’ve been a spoon for decades but I’d like to be spooned for a change.

Well, it’s on account of your height. You’re the de facto spoon. 

Greg: I don’t think that’s why. I just think people are lazy and I demand change.

Isy Suttie?

Alex: She kept calling me ‘Al’, which really wound me up. Other than that, I really enjoyed Isy. 

Greg: My thing with Isy is that when I’m quizzing some of her decisions, particularly with the prize tasks, she always tries to explain by illustrating it with a bizarre story about her life, often her childhood. As the host, I’m supposed to keep things rattling along, but I sort of want to dig into all of Isy’s past every time she does a task and what inspires her to respond in that way. Or when she talks about being in the Brownies or Girl Guides — I want to delve into that, and frequently did. It won’t make the edit, but I could do a whole different show called Greg Quizzes Isy About Her Childhood.

How did she get on with the tasks generally?

Alex: She’s pretty mad. But I like it when, similar to Richard, people are on their own agenda. They have to bend to our will to a degree, but it’s nice when there’s something else bubbling away in the background. I enjoy it.

Another Peep Show alumni, David Mitchell, is adamant he won’t do it. Is there any persuading him, do you think? 

Greg: I think we’ll break his spirits eventually. I don’t know why I think that, but I just feel we will.

Alex: Quite often we get people like Lee Mack if their kids like the show, and I think David’s daughter is about five now, so he might do it for that reason. Or maybe Victoria might persuade him.

Greg: Yeah, I think Victoria will be an ally in this. I think before we wind this project up, Mitchell will be there. And I hope this doesn’t come across in the wrong way, but I’m pretty sure I could physically force him into the studio. I’m not an arrogant man, but I think I could bring him against his will.

And last but not least, Nina Conti.

Alex: She brings ventriloquism into the show with almost every prize task. She’s so comfortable in that world, so that’s where you get to see ‘normal Nina’. But then in the rest of the show we see the other side of Nina, where she’s all over the place, which is great.

Greg: She’s bonkers. I enjoyed her. And Alex is right, I think Nina almost makes more sense when her voice is coming through someone else.

Alex: She was very pleasingly nervous and wanting to do well.

Greg: And I am a big fan of that, from my point of view. I like it when people really want to do well but trip themselves up as a consequence.

Alex: She said she only works instinctively, so she just did things in the moment, which I really like. She’s such a dynamic actor. There was an unhinged song where I think she was allowed ten minutes or possibly more to write it and plan it, and she went, “No, I don’t want any planning time, I’m just going to ad lib,” and it was unhinged but in a really good way. I love that. She says that’s how she always performs. Obviously there’s a structure, but she loves being in the moment, improv-style. Sometimes it worked for her in the tasks, sometimes it didn’t.

She had a complete inability to stand up for herself, and would just collapse whenever you critiqued her, Greg.

Greg: She didn’t really put up much resistance, which I don’t mind at all, because I find it quite tiring arguing with people.

At one point she had Alex sitting on Greg’s knee being a ventriloquist’s dummy. Did you both enjoy that?

Alex: I looked so weird in that mask. Obviously I couldn’t see what it looked like at the time. It was a really out-of-body experience, because I’ve seen her do that many times. I’ve been in the audience of shows where she’s done it. So to be the person was a real privilege. And then sitting on Greg’s lap for it – that was all my dreams coming true.

Greg: It’s not the first time he’s sat on my lap, I don’t think. And that experience is characterised by — and I don’t know if you can use this quote — the warmest gooch I’ve ever experienced. It radiates heat in a way that is almost certainly a medical problem.

She spoke very warmly about her father, Tom Conti.

Greg: Yeah, I was a huge fan of Shirley Valentine in the ’80s and I really enjoyed quizzing her about that. Her humiliation as a teenager, having her dad saying, “I want to make f**k with you,” in one of the biggest films of the decade— that was a great bit of insight.

Alex: But Nina is a bit of a national treasure herself, isn’t she? She’s on a different plain to most of our other comics because she does her own thing. I love having her in the show without Monkey. She sent me a message afterwards thanking us for ‘all the adventures’. She saw the whole thing as an adventure, which is quite a good way to approach life, I think.

Josh Widdicombe, one of the original Taskmaster contestants, has landed a job presenting Strictly. What do you think of that?

Greg: Fair play to the young lad. As a young 45-year-old, I imagine he’s very excited about it. I’m thrilled for him. If he’s happy, I’m happy.

Alex: And you know what? I think he really is happy. He’s such a little puppy. I’ve had a couple of messages from him and he can’t believe it. He’ll do a really good job. And it’s good to confound public expectation, isn’t it? It’s quite fun.

Would you guys do Strictly?

Greg: No, thank you.

Alex: I’d do it with Greg if Greg was my partner, because that’s something we could swing. Otherwise, no.

Greg: I think it would be too rigorous for my knees, for a start. But I wish everyone involved in Strictly all the best.

Taskmaster is on C4 on Thursdays at 9pm and 10pm BST / 5pm EST / 2pm PST on the Taskmaster YouTube Channel across the rest of the world.

Read more Taskmaster interviews here.

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