Taskmaster's Alex Horne previews new Live Experience: "It's a really faithful reflection of our stupid show"

A perfectly proportioned version of the iconic Taskmaster house – matched window pane for window pane with the real one in Chiswick, at least on the outside – is installed within a massive warehouse, surrounded by the beginnings of a ‘Taskmaster museum’, a bar area and a scattering of official props.

But workers are still hard at it, sawing and painting and drilling to finish the experience in time for its first previews. Rolls of “grass” – actually patterned flooring – remain stacked in the corner.

“We're tantalisingly close to it being finished,” Taskmaster’s assistant, series creator and today’s tour guide Alex Horne tells us as we look over his creation. “We’re modelling it on the Scottish Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Wonka Experience. It’s that, but not quite as full.”

He’s not serious – the cartoon Golden Girls sweater he’s wearing might give that away, even if you weren’t familiar with Horne’s comic style. In fact, as seen in his work on the multi-award-winning, 18-series TV Taskmaster (which sees five comedians complete daft tasks for the whims of Horne and co-star Greg Davies over 10 episodes, as if you didn’t already know), Horne is detail-orientated.

This live version of the Taskmaster house – which will allow members of the public to follow their own series of tasks in the style of the show – had to be closely aligned with the real one, right down to the nuts and bolts.

“When I came along I was blown away by the level of detail,” Horne says now. “I'm hoping that you'll enjoy it if you're not a Taskmaster fan, but if you are a Taskmaster fan... well, it's a really faithful reflection of our stupid show.”

He points at one free-hanging lamp in a corridor. “These are the actual light fittings we have in the house. It's weirdly faithful.”

Props from the series – including the submarine decal used on the caravan in the current series, and the model cow that stands in the garden – are scattered throughout, and some even play key roles in the tasks themselves.

And when contestants enter the game, they’ll find each room is a faithful (albeit proportionally larger) version of the rooms they’re familiar with from the main show (the hallway, living room, lab and so on).

It's a huge, and expensive, undertaking to bring to life in Taskmaster’s official 10th anniversary year. It’s also, no bones about it, a financial risk. Even shows as popular as Doctor Who have tried and failed to make immersive experiences profitable. So why do it – and why now?

“We’ve been thinking about it for years and years,” Horne tells RadioTimes.com. “We were thinking about it before the pandemic, and then that obviously put a stop to it. We thought, ‘Well, we can never do that, because you’re never going to be within one metre of another person again.’

“So it’s been in the pipeline for five years. To me, it felt very natural, because you kind of want to do the tasks. I think when you’re watching the show, hopefully you’re thinking, ‘Well, I would do that better than that.’”

Inspiration also came, Horne admits, from another Channel 4 puzzle game that successfully transitioned from cult student watch to hit live experience.

“I’m a big fan of The Crystal Maze live experience, and hopefully we’re not stepping on each other’s toes,” he says. “I think this is a different feel. I’m amazed how physical that one is. You have to go down that slide. I mean, not to say this isn’t good here.”

Horne takes us on a whistlestop run through the experience, which – once contestants enter the house – consists of four “lanes”, currently offering two different sets of tasks between them (titled “Melon Buffet” and “Absolute Casserole” respectively).

“The initial idea was to have four different lanes, which would be 16 different tasks – or 20 different tasks, whatever it is. Very quickly, we thought, ‘That’s too much. There’s a lot to get your head around,’” Horne recalls now.

“So doubling the lanes, to start off with, rather than having four different ones, was a sensible option. But it means we have got two different lanes ready to go in our minds, for the future.”

Each lane can accommodate up to 14 people, who progress together through four normal tasks with everyone playing, until a final “live task” where the top five players are creamed off and invited to play a “live task” (the other nine still compete in their own related competition, for a “best of the worst” runner-up prize). Winners receive a “money can’t buy” prize.

Horne and Davies, while not physically present – “we’re really keen people understand that me and Greg aren’t here. Please do mention that,” Horne tells us four or five times during the tour – have a role throughout, while scores and gentle hints are supplied by a Taskmaster’s assistant’s assistant, played by an actor.

When we speak, Horne has just come from a Q&A session with 70 “Little Little Alex Hornes”, who will all be donning his signature suit and bright socks to guide contestants through the experience. “Their first question was, 'Well, how awkward do you want us to be?' I wasn't sure whether to take offence at that.”

With state-of-the-art viewing screens, computer timings and a dedicated behind-the-scenes team watching through cameras, it’s set to run like clockwork. But fans still have a lot of questions about the experience. For example, why are the games set for 14 people? Why not five, as in the show – or if they were to expand, 10?

“That’s a really good question,” Horne muses when we put this to him later, seated in a nautical-themed living room. “I don’t know. It’s a weird number, isn’t it?

“I think it was sort of instinct. I think it was probably a combination of space – how many people are allowed in a room – and money – what works financially for it. We’ve done it with 14 people in the room, and actually it feels quite good. It doesn’t feel overcrowded.”

Still, Horne says that people could do the course in smaller groups if they wanted (and were willing or able to pay for it in that way). All the courses are also accessible for wheelchairs, have subtitles and audio support, and they’re trialling “relaxed games” for people with other accessibility needs, we’re told – basically, any group is welcome.

“You can definitely do this with five people,” Horne asserts. “You could do it with fewer than five. I think fewer than five would not be satisfying. But you could do it with five, and the timings are adjusted to it, cleverly, with the computers.”

As usual, the tasks themselves are devised by Horne. As for what they consist of, we’re sworn to secrecy – and so are you. "We're telling people not to put the answers anywhere, because we know what Reddit's like,” Horne laughs.

Still, we can give a few teases. One task at the beginning – in the “hallway” – is based on a real one from the show. After that, you progress through the familiar rooms of the house (living room, garage, lab) for the usual mix of logic, mental and physical tasks on offer, all new for the experience.

As in the main show, there are “sneaky shortcuts” and ways to win hidden throughout the rooms. Though due to the limitations of the form, subjective tasks – e.g. making films, or art, or anything involving more abstract qualifications of judging – are out.

"They can't be judgemental tasks, they're objective rather than subjective,” Horne explains. “So they're measurable. We will get winners each time, losers." Such are the restrictions of remaking the show in a new form – but Horne welcomes that.

“When you’re given limits, it just means you’ve got to work within them,” he says. “We filmed the TV show during COVID, and we had to do team tasks where contestants had to be two metres apart. Actually, it was really fun. They had to do a task where they were always holding a rope that had to be taut at all points, because the rope was two metres long.

“So these sort of problems are just fun for me, to try to fit into. So, yeah, it’s a different set of problems. But it’s kind of fine.”

Certainly, the oven-ready task we tried – which initially looked simple – was as engrossing as one you’d see on screen. I recorded this tour, and had to listen back to about 10 minutes of me grunting as I obsessively tried to complete it.

(Actually, it is unnerving how grimly focused I become on this, ignoring the interview. And just how long I continued with it. What did I do with the dictaphone? Maybe I kept it in my hand while I was throwing things. Anyway.)

“We didn’t have to scrap many tasks once we tested them. I think, without trying to blow my own trumpet, I’ve got quite good instincts for what will work, and what won’t,” Horne says.

But will ‘Taskmaster Live’, itself, work? When polling fans as to whether they should trial this experience earlier in the year, over 600,000 people responded – clearly, there’s an appetite for it. But when tickets went on sale, some were dismayed at the prices (which range from £50 up to £100), while others were confused by the 14-strong contestant set-up.

“I mean, I know that the top end is expensive, in the same way that the West End is expensive,” Horne admits. “I think it’s pretty fine margins to make this work, because it’s a huge build.

“So to make the money back, it’s going to have to work. And there’s absolutely a chance that it won’t. But that’s like putting on a play.”

And of course, there are other hidden costs on the production side, including expected wear and tear as contestants tear rooms apart looking for clues. And while photos during the experience aren’t allowed – there is a “photo moment” at the end – Horne believes fans may have other souvenir plans.

“I think people will steal stuff,” he laughs. “There’s a bath full of rubber ducks in one of the labs. I think if I paid £70 for a ticket..."

“You’re nicking a rubber duck,” I suggest.

“You’re nicking a rubber duck,” Horne agrees. “And that’s not encouraged… they will keep saying, ‘Please don’t steal things.’ But they will, and you have to absorb that cost, you know?”

For what it’s worth, it seems clear that team Taskmaster aren’t trying to squeeze a cheap buck out of their fans.

Horne, in fact, seems slightly tortured over whether they should have put in the small gift shop – “hopefully it doesn't feel like... that's not the point of it. But people might want souvenirs,” he frets – and large amounts of the experience are free to the public, including the museum of famous Taskmaster props and the show-themed bar and food areas (which are, in London terms, not unreasonably priced at £6 a pint – I know, I know, we all miss the '90s).

If you do just want to wander in, get a selfie with the cow and a “bin juice” cocktail while you look at a painting by Lee Mack, you can do all that for free.

If you do choose to invite 13 of your closest friends – or just a couple, plus 11 strangers you’ll be put with on the day – to play the game, you’ll definitely be confronted by something authentically Taskmaster, full of pineapples, eggs, rubber ducks and ingenious brainteasers.

And if your dream is to play Taskmaster, booking a ticket is still probably cheaper than starting a career in stand-up and travelling to remote working men’s clubs for years in the vain hope you’ll catch the eye of a friendly Avalon casting rep.

Read more:

• Taskmaster's Alex Horne hints at "big name" from overseas for next line-up
• Alex Horne shares Taskmaster VR advice, admits he got "really frustrated" as a contestant

For now, you have until the end of January to satisfy any urges you might have to live a real Taskmaster experience. But beyond that, Horne and co are hopeful there may be more of a future for the game. If it continues there could be revamped tasks, and lanes, or even other regional versions.

“It is a blank canvas,” he says. “I mean, if it works here – the programme is huge in Sweden. I think we would definitely try to do one there if it works here. In theory, I’d love to pop this up in Manchester or something. It shouldn’t be London-centric. But it would have to be a success here first.”

Altogether, Horne and his team are waiting nervously to see how it all goes down. If it’s a hit, the series’ success train keeps on rolling. If it doesn’t – well, the consequences may be more bruising than a one-point score and a dressing-down from the Taskmaster.

“It’s slightly out of our comfort zone,” Horne concludes. “It might not work. But that’s what’s good about it.”

Taskmaster: The Live Experience is now open for previews, and launches fully on the 1st October. Tickets are on sale now and can be found at taskmasterliveexperience.com.

Taskmaster continues Thursdays at 9pm on Channel 4.

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