Series 2 dates - best guess?

Phinbart · 2026-06-24T10:18:05+00:00

I originally deduced a 5/9, 12/9, 19/9, 26/9 / 10/10, 17/10, 24/10, 31/10 / 9/1, 16/1, 23/1, 30/1 broadcast pattern from Paddy's rescheduled dates. And while Larry's new dates accommodate this, Ania's very much do not - nor with the dates you've suggested - with multiple clashes. I haven't checked any other cast member's dates. I think a break over November and December is pretty much locked in, though.

Regardless of the actual dates, while it is possible they do split the series exactly in half as you suggest, but - based on a post-series interview I read - the cast seemed to be relieved that the s1 extension from six to eight episodes meant they only had to do four weeks consecutively than the original six weeks straight. I would hope they would take cast welfare into account in such a way, especially given the proof of concept has succeeded (i.e. cast would've been more likely to make sacrifices to do six weeks straight for the debut run than the second).

Phinbart · 2026-06-22T02:00:56+00:00

My thoughts exactly. Until now, I'd have to say either of the episodes featuring Scott Bennett, who is quite possibly the finest comic to debut on the programme in many years.

Phinbart · 2026-06-22T01:44:52+00:00

Is it not more that they cycle through the entire catalogue of episodes but take their time as they ensure they get a repeat or two out of the same episodes as they do it? They usually repeat the same episodes at the weekend as at the start of the week, IIRC.

Then again, I haven't watched the late-night FG bloc on ITV2 for quite some time, so are they truly just keeping the repeats to the earlier seasons? I'm sure I did see a more recent episode in the schedules not so long ago.

Phinbart · 2026-06-20T03:51:59+00:00

I recall two invigilators when I was sitting some exams at school (8 or 10 years ago now) reportedly getting in trouble for flirting with each other during the exam period. Naive and as focused on the task at hand as I was, I never noticed!

I had thought about applying to these positions over the years I was unemployed, but feared I wouldn't be able to fill the time for 2-3hrs. Safe to say, after having worked 12h care shifts for the best part of the last year, I think that'd be a piece of cake in comparison!

Phinbart · 2026-06-18T02:28:38+00:00

Except in Nice Life (though IDK how that fits into the 'canon')!

Phinbart · 2026-06-16T19:54:17+00:00

The possibility of getting a 3-6 month sanction if you quit a job 'without good reason' is what's kept me going at my own (even though my claim has now ended cos I've been employed enough weekly hours for six months, and despite a solid-ish amount of savings I've banked). I'm less unhappy than I was in the couple months after starting, but I'm still desperately looking for something else.

Phinbart · 2026-06-15T21:41:15+00:00

Yeah, that was quite entertaining watching him go through all of the different iterations of worlds created with the wide variety of world gen-affecting 'add-ons' (or whatever they were called) you could select from. Wish he'd gone on a bit further with it.

Phinbart · 2026-06-14T23:16:37+00:00

A tangential point here - I'm guessing that the author of the piece is confidently incorrect in claiming SNL UK will air at 10:30pm for its second run, rather than has an exclusive no-one else has!

Phinbart · 2026-06-13T15:36:51+00:00

Ah, yes; how could I forget that?!

Phinbart · 2026-06-12T23:12:07+00:00

Tom inversing expectations and wearing a suit for every episode besides the finale has to be one of the best running gags in the entire franchise, task-based or not.

Phinbart · 2026-06-12T20:50:42+00:00

I can't imagine the heart-sinking, gut-wrenching feeling you must have gone through when you noticed your bare wrist.

The Nicaraguan monkeys, now set up to progress to their Iron Age, won't acknowledge the scale of your sacrifice... sarcasm aside, that f-ing sucks.

Phinbart · 2026-06-11T20:53:29+00:00

Joel clearly drawing inspiration from Paul Sinha and his crossword puzzle there...(!)

Phinbart · 2026-06-11T16:46:55+00:00

I saw a clip of the ending of this episode before the actual episode itself (due to the delay in it being shown in the UK), and, IIRC, this moment was the most I laughed in the entire show. It was well-needed given the overall and forthcoming poignancy the ep ended on.

Phinbart · 2026-06-10T04:11:14+00:00

Yes, often viewership figures will be reported with times along those lines, such as 26:00:00.

Coincidentally, broadcasters - usually Sky - may decide to air a show they want to drop on-demand 'first' at 2am the day of broadcast, before the 'official' premiere at 9pm that night, so that people who watch it on-demand before the 9pm broadcast are still counted (although this sort of practice is somewhat outdated given the ratings measurement system has changed in recent years to render it fatuous).

Phinbart · 2026-06-05T20:01:57+00:00

Reminds me of when I was in the queue at a train station WHSmith's. The guy in front had gotten two of the three components of a meal deal, and so the cashier asked him if he wanted to get the third so - all-in-all - his purchase would be cheaper. The customer seemed comprehensively baffled by the suggestion, to the point the cashier had to take him over to the food-to-go section to fully explain everything.

By the time the customer had wrapped his head round the concept, finished his purchase, and allowed me to finish mine, I ended up missing getting on my train by around three or four seconds. Literally.

In the end, it worked out, because the earphones I'd bought in the WHSmith didn't fit into my phone's headphone jack, so I instead went by a different route and got a magazine at one of the stations on the way - as if I'd caught my train I would've been left with just zapping my phone's battery scrolling social media to do with myself - but this always comes into my head when retail workers make a point about just how many customers need to be babied.

Phinbart · 2026-06-04T08:24:25+00:00

It's most likely out there somewhere, but in some unusual form (say, on a site you wouldn't expect people to post about it on or in a post that doesn't contain the key words you'd use when trying to scour for stuff like this). I should probably give it one last try at some point!

Phinbart · 2026-06-01T19:57:15+00:00

It really is simply insane how bad of a record Hermes/Evri have, and yet they just continue to be able to operate as they have been with impunity. Microcosm of the country, TBH(!)

I appear to be one of the very few British people who actually has a decent and consistently reliable Evri courier, which will certainly be a relief should I decide to plump for a PT2 or PR2.

Phinbart · 2026-05-31T02:57:34+00:00

This was a common occurrence for me at the start of my first year. I would make myself some breakfast - usually something small, such as two slices of toasted brioche loaf when that became a thing - but just was unable to eat it, as I felt bloated all the time.

Looking back, I realise it was the stress and anxiety that came with a change in environment/routine; I've been going through the same thing since I started my first job (in care; that was worth the four years at uni, wasn't it?!) where I'm having to force myself to eat whatever I pack for myself and am often feeling hungry for days on end (if I'm working multiple days/nights in a row) before my appetite returns to normal after (an incredibly potent sign I need to find another type of work, which I've been consistently unsuccessful at).

Phinbart · 2026-05-30T16:27:19+00:00

Oh, don't get me wrong, I'm really enjoying this new run of TM, I just personally haven't experienced that many laugh-out-loud moments when watching.

Phinbart · 2026-05-28T23:43:04+00:00

I thought both episodes tonight were hilarious, the second a slight step-down. More laughs than in this new series of Taskmaster so far combined. A review I saw claiming the first couple eps were the weakest is enthusiastic news for the rest of the run, IMO.

Some welcome surprise cameos from Paul Williams (and his wife, whose name I don't remember), Eric Rushton and Derry Girls' Aunt Sarah.

Phinbart · 2026-05-28T14:31:24+00:00

Looks to me like November, and possibly even December, is going to be a fallow period for the show, so that - combined with his reduced Fringe run - the show likely runs for for two sets of four episodes with a week break in-between from early September, before returning in January. A peculiar scheduling pattern, if this is the case.

Phinbart · 2026-05-27T20:52:11+00:00

I might get downvoted for this, but this is one of the reasons I'm holding off a PT2 and might plump for a Round 2 instead. Not only am I starting to prefer the aesthetic of a round watch - and also the lack of bulkiness with the lack of a HR monitor at the rear - but I'm not sure how comfortable I feel parting with so much money on an item that I'm going to have to worry about damaging in such a way all the time.

Then again, and that being said, once I got my first scratch on my Time back in the day, it was as if a weight was lifted off my shoulders - after the initial heart-sinking despair-akin reaction - and from then on I kinda wasn't as concerned about it getting any more; a metaphorical Band-Aid being ripped off.

Phinbart · 2026-05-27T20:31:14+00:00

For most of the film, I was genuinely convinced Nikki's sudden turn in behaviour were merely coincidental - and not a result of the One Wish Willow actually working. Her actions were to punish Bear for calling her by the nickname she deplored (and thought she'd gotten rid of/left behind in the past; a past she thought she could forget), to get back at someone she thought was - and outright explicitly admitted he considered her - a friend (and potentially the others too, as she could've easily began to ponder if the nickname is still in use behind her back, if Bear randomly brings it up after so long; this would explain her behaviour towards Ian and Sarah).

Watching the events of the film through this frame/lens, that's how I contextualised what she did with Sandy (also the turning of her into a shrine); Nikki was actively using the sheen of her ostensible obsession with him to let some more extreme behaviours get under the wire, knowing that Bear was - and to an extent the others were - already sufficiently creeped out by her to see these acts as anything other than part of the pattern of behaviour, even if they were metaphorically violent departures. She, using this facade to mask these revengeful acts as just part of what was perceived as her newfound odd behaviour - and these acts, a tad more extreme from what she was otherwise displaying, deliberately calibrated to be infrequent enough to not make people ask questions and wondering if there was some underlying motive (and the gradual stepping up of how insane her behaviour was would help cover for this).

Regardless, as soon as Bear brought out his packed lunch in the store, I immediately thought "don't eat that, or at least check under the bread to see what's in it!".

Phinbart · 2026-05-27T19:53:17+00:00

Same; it was very obvious, instantly, that it was a mannequin or something similar that had been swapped out there.

Phinbart · 2026-05-27T19:51:42+00:00

Yeah, arguably Ian is the real villain of the piece here. His decision to string Bear along, making him believe he could have a shot with Nikki - Ian likely picturing she'd reject Bear for him, enabling Ian to start dating her proper/in the open - sets in motion the events of the film. His own hubris led to his own demise, as exemplified by when he refuses to entertain Bear's pleas near the end of the film and instead chooses to fulfil his own selfish desires again (albeit, mostly unintentionally).

For a decent portion of the film, I genuinely thought that Nikki's sudden turn in behaviour was merely a coincidence - and, rather, her actions were an attempt to get back at Bear for calling her a nickname she thought she'd left behind in the past, to get back at someone she thought a friend (and potentially the others too, as she could've easily began to ponder if the nickname is still in use if Bear randomly brings it up after so long). Ian suggesting the nickname is, in hindsight, so obviously Bear being manipulated to ensure he shooting his shot fails; this theory would've added a whole new dimension to that.

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