NEED TO KNOW
- Taskmaster Australia is back for season 5 with Tom Cashman returning as assistant to host Tom Gleeson.
- Tom Cashman plays a dual role – appearing on screen and contributing to the writers’ room that develops the challenges.
- Tasks are split into two categories: objective and creative, with the team testing and refining each one.
- After five seasons, Tom says the biggest lesson he’s learned is that you can never predict what contestants will do.
Thanks for reading All Access Scoop with Celia, a behind-the-scenes focused column aimed to pull back the curtain on some of the most loved television series, movies and theatre productions.
New Idea‘s Entertainment Writer Celia Whitley dives into the creative processes, meeting some of the most talented – and passionate – people in the entertainment industry, and discovers what it really takes to turn ideas into reality.
Read on for the latest scoop.
Taskmaster Australia is back for season 5, and as New Idea’s Entertainment Writer I couldn’t be more excited.
This season, Rove McManus, Celia Pacquola, Anisa Nandaula, Brett Blake and Joel Creasey are going up against each other in a series of challenging (or not!) tasks.
Tom Gleeson remains on the throne, with his trusty assistant Tom Cashman sitting next to him.
Now, I’m sure we can all agree that Taskmaster would be the one of the most fun shows to be on, because of all the fun challenges (my hand would be going right up!).
The challenges are a huge part of what makes the show stand out – aside from the cast, of course.
One person we see on the screen that you probably didn’t expect had such a large part in the task creation is Tom Cashman.
Not only is he Tom Gleeson’s trusty assistant, but he also plays a pivotal part on the writing team.
Speaking with the comedian, he tells me he “just got a call”.
“I was in London doing a stand up show there and I went to the Taskmaster house to meet Alex Horne, the equivalent of my role, who started the show in England.
“I had a chat with him and he was giving me his thoughts on the role and a bit of a tour of the house… and then it dawned on me that, if this is happening, then I’ve got the job,” he says.
The 36-year-old tells me when it comes to the tasks, there are “two broad categories” – objective and creative.
“Some have an objective outcome that you need, such as flicking an egg into a hat from the furthest distance,” Tom explains.
He adds that they work with the art department to create props and see if the task is doable, and workshop them by “trying them out”.
Brainstorming the creative tasks is a bit different.
“You’ll spitball in the writer’s room, asking ‘what are some different approaches to this, what would we do?’ But you’re not actually playing out the whole thing, if that makes sense,” Tom explains.
“Usually someone will come up with the base of an idea and then someone else will add a different element to it and then we’ll test it and then we’ll change a little bit more.”
So, how do they make the challenges bigger (and better) each season?
Tom points out that creating more exciting challenges “naturally happens”, as a lot of the same people write the tasks for each season.
“We’ve got an index in our heads. You don’t want to do ones that are too similar to ones that you’ve done previously. You want something that you’re going to be excited by that you’ve never seen before,” he says.
Tom adds they generally know who the cast is when they’re writing the tasks – but assures me they are “not tailored specifically” for them.
“In a broad sense we are thinking about the contestants and their personalities and what we know about them,” he says.
Tom explains that they have to take their skills into consideration.
“An example would be musical tasks – they’re more fun if some of the contestants are musical people. If none of them are, it can be a bit rough!” he says with a laugh.
The variety of contestant approaches
Tom says from a writer’s perspective, it’s interesting to see how each task is approached.
“If I’ve learnt one thing doing the show for five seasons, it’s that you can never predict what people are going do,” he says. “It feels like a psychological experiment”.
“It just so happens people’s minds work so differently that often people do different things, but you’re also hoping that’s the case because if everyone does the same thing, then it’s a bit boring.
“Some fall into the trap of overthinking.” Side note: I think this would most likely be me, if I were to ever to go on the show!
Tom reveals that while he’s writing a task, he “does a little stock take” in his head of how he thinks people may approach it.
“The best moments are when the contestants do something that you could never have predicted, often out of stupidity, but sometimes out of ingenuity as well!” he says.
What channel is Taskmaster on in Aus?
Catch Taskmaster Season 5 on 10.
