Taskmaster

This is probably the only panel show on television where a large commode, a Curly Wurly and grown men hugging in the boot of a saloon car would ever feature. It’s also, on its day, as pingingly good fun as an hour of television gets.

This is series five and the comics being given the runaround by Greg Davies (on a golden throne) and sidekick Alex Horne (on a smaller one) include Bob Mortimer, Mark Watson and Aisling Bea. In the first task (“give Alex a special cuddle”) Bea’s improvised turn as a Sexy Cuddlebot 5000 is one highpoint, as is Sally Phillips’s approach, which involves, for some reason, ramming wedges of chocolate cake in Alex’s armpits.

The closing titles, which for complicated reasons feature a soprano singing the winner’s name to the theme music, are worth the price of admission alone.