Outsiders: David Mitchell’s desperate bid to outdo the genius of Taskmaster

From wielding axes to rescuing parachutists, Mitchell’s new show gives comics wacky missions to complete. It’s great fun – but it would be far better if a certain other series didn’t exist

When Taskmaster defected to Channel 4 last year, it blew a gigantic hole into the side of Dave. Not only was it the channel’s highest-rated (and arguably signature) show, but its ingenious format had won awards, inspired international remakes and boosted the profile of dozens of comedians.

But now the hole has to be filled. Enter Outsiders, Dave’s new comedy entertainment format, which feels a little like the result of a long consultation about how close a television programme can legally be to Taskmaster without actually being Taskmaster.

In Outsiders, David Mitchell challenges six comedians to live in a tent for a week, competing in pairs to accomplish a number of missions, or activities, or any other synonym for “task” you wish to pick. Seeing as everyone’s camping, the missions are all vaguely survival-themed. Can they chop down a tree? Can they rescue a parachutist from a tree? Can they hide near a tree?

You can already see the problem. The glory of Taskmaster is that the tasks doled out to comedians are knotty and open-ended. Write a song about a stranger. Eat as much watermelon as you can. Make a cocktail in complete silence. Any task on Taskmaster can be beaten in an almost infinite number of ways, and is chosen specifically to get the best out of a comedian. Asking a comedian to chop down a tree just means that we’ll watch a comedian wrestle with an axe, the same way as a vet or an accountant would. If you like watching famous people hit bits of wood with an axe upward of 100 times, Outsiders is the show for you.

Perhaps I am being unnecessarily mean. If I am going to criticise Outsiders for not being as dazzlingly inventive as Taskmaster, then logic dictates that I have to criticise all shows for not being as dazzlingly inventive as Taskmaster. In fact, in a universe where Taskmaster didn’t exist, Outsiders would be an awful lot of fun.

And, when a mission allows for more creativity – when they have to invent a motto or make a flag – Outsiders can be actively entertaining. There isn’t a dud among the comedians, either, although from the first three episodes the breakout star is clearly Lou Sanders, an unexploded bomb of a woman who manages to introduce an element of violent jeopardy into everything she does. This is a difficult format on which to imprint your personality, yet Sanders does it spectacularly.

The show is helped a little by the inclusion of fireside chats, where contestants shoot the breeze around a campfire. These are lovely, warm and relaxed, and loose enough to let each comedian come to the fore. But once they are over, it’s back to the grindstone where the contestants are faced with a galling choice: do they acquit themselves competently and risk making a boring show, or do they do a bad job and let the world know that they would almost certainly die first come the apocalypse?

It’s a hard line to walk, but overall looks like a success for Dave. In Outsiders, it has created a show entertaining enough to replace Taskmaster, but not quite good enough for Channel 4 to poach. Result.

Outsiders is on Dave on Wednesdays at 10pm and is available on UKTV Play

Contributor

Stuart Heritage

The GuardianTramp

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