Taskmaster

“Tasks” might be overstating the challenges Greg Davies doles out to comedians Katherine Ryan, Doc Brown, Richard Osman, Joe Wilkinson and Jon Richardson in this series. “Dares” – sublimely silly, pointless ones at that – would be more accurate, but it is most diverting to watch their attempts to invent new nursery rhymes, order pizzas without cheese without using the word “cheese”, and grapple with giant pairs of chopsticks. The group gel naturally, and their mix of styles – deadpan Wilkinson, razor-sharp Brown, incisive Ryan – is refreshing. As ever in British comedy, though, the show’s gender imbalance is hard to ignore.