Matt Lucas and Richard Ayoade are both coming to Taskmaster

There s always a bit of a learning curve when it comes to a new season of long-running British panel series/game show/escape room/performance art/madness simulator Taskmaster . Because the series uses the same cast of five well-known comedians throughout the entirety of a ten-episode season, the first few episodes usually function as a bit of a getting-to-know you period, even with people (like recent American contestants Jason Mantzoukas and Kumail Nanjiani ) you might be professionally familiar with. It s a function of the series nature as a very silly sort of crucible: Public personas inevitably burn away in the face of the utter ridiculousness that cast members are asked to perform.