TK: You say hi? Podcast Cat: Me-purr-yow. TK: Say hi! Podcast Cat: Me-neow! TK: Say hi! [kissies] Podcast Cat: Noooew! TK: She's big mad, big mad. VO: Hello and welcome to Transformative Taskmaster, the podcast by fans, and about fans. This week, TK is talking cast wardrobe with Apricot. They’ll be going through series 16 through 18, discussing what everyone chose to wear. For the video viewers, no, I don’t know why TK slowly escapes out of the frame throughout the episode, you’ll have to ask them about it. Welcome, Apricot, to the Transformative Taskmaster podcast! Apricot: Hello! TK: Hi! I'm so excited to have you here today, because today we are going to be talking about studio outfits specifically worn by the contestants, and specifically in series 16 through 18. Apricot: Yes. TK: So tell me about how you came about this topic and what it was that you were like, ‘this is the thing that I want to talk about.’ Apricot: Well, I've kind of been fascinated by the studio costumes in particular, because I know someone already did Alex and Greg's suits, and I don't know shit about menswear, basically. And I feel like the studio costumes are kind of looked over. Because all the task costumes, they get a lot of love, like the vampire suit. There's a lot of iconic task costumes, but the studio costumes can also be very fun. And I like to look at them. TK: Yes. Apricot: And I like to put them in a spreadsheet and compare them. TK: Don't we all? We all just love spreadsheets so much. Yes. All right, so tell me, do you want to just go through, starting with series 16 and just kind of go in order? Apricot: I feel like that's the way we have to do, because we have to end with Andy Zaltzman! TK: That's true, that is very, very true. Apricot: Just there's a lot to go over there! There's a lot to talk about with Andy Zaltzman! TK: Yeah, and I'm glad that you're here today so that we can specifically talk about him, because I feel like when his series came out, not a lot of people were bringing it up in the show itself. Sometimes they do, sometimes Greg is like, why are you dressed like this? But then it kind of is never mentioned again. And I'm like, but we're all seeing this, right? Apricot: He’s dressed like a wizard, we're all seeing this, right? TK: Yeah, just normal Andy Zaltzman things. Just a casual Tuesday for Andy Zaltzman. Wizarding Wednesday. Anyway, let's just jump right in, and we'll start with series 16. Apricot: Series 16. Well, I think we're going to go through each contestant by order of where they're sitting. And not by order of insanity, because if we did, that would be Sam Campbell first, because he is insane. So, Julian Clary. He's fashionable, not just because he's gay. Which is kind of a part of it because I don't know about you, but, I don't know shit about Julian Clary, but, the moment I saw him, I was like, homosexual. TK: Yeah, I had not known about Julian until his series came out. And then it was like, how have I not known about Julian this whole time? It was just wild, but I guess as an American I don't really know a lot of British comedians, so there you go. I remember when they first got him on, and there were people like, “Oh my gosh, they got Julian Clary?!” And I was like, why is this a big deal? And then I started following him on stuff and I was like, “Oh! Okay. Yeah, big deal.” Apricot: Oh shit. He's a big deal. And I mean, even if you don't know him, he kind of has the aura of a big deal. But anyway, he starts off with this almost kind of absurd, for me, army core camouflage? And it gets gayer from there. And by like episode, I'm trying to find the exact one, episode six, he's got this velvet button-up shirt? And honestly, I think that's where he peaks. Although, Julian Clary, he's got style. TK: Yeah, definitely. Apricot: We’ll move onto Lucy Beaumont. Looking at all the pictures side by side, it's very clear that she wears the same shoes six episodes in a row. Which, it, works. But she very much has a style which is a short 60s mod dress with tights and black boot heels, which is very cute. And also shout out to the crochet granny square hexagon cardigan in episode two. TK: I love then, it's so cute. Apricot: Yes, audio listeners won't be able to see it, but I am wearing my own hexagon cardigan for the occasion. I don't know if she made it herself, she probably bought it, but it's a very specific kind of cardigan. And, you can tell what it is just by looking at it. Or at least I can tell because I do crochet. Normal people probably can't tell. But I looked and I was like, that's a hexagon cardigan. It's called that because you crochet a hexagon and it turns into a cardigan. TK: It's simple. Apricot: Basically. Now, Sam Campbell. TK: The elephant in the room. Apricot: The elephant, literally, he's wearing gray. Did you notice this on your first time watching? Because I didn't for some reason, that he was wearing all gray. TK: Yeah. I don't think that I specifically clocked it, but definitely by the time he shows up in episode ten, I'm like, what is happening? And then he makes that comment that's like, it was all kind of a little bit gray or whatever it is that he says, and then going back and rewatching all of it, it's pretty obvious that that’s what it is. Apricot: Yes. And shout out to the Taskmaster team for finding nine distinct gray outfits. TK: Yeah, seriously. Apricot: That must have been difficult. TK: Do you know, in the series finale, with the bright orange shirt and the jeans and the bleached hair, early 2000s, bleached hair, do you know, is that a reference to something? Apricot: I'm not sure. If it is, it's not a reference I got. TK: He looks like a cartoon character. But I don't know what kind of cartoon he's from. Apricot: What kind of cartoon would Sam Campbell be from? TK: It's like Johnny Bravo. Lewis: He looks like Bart Simpson. TK: He does look like Bart Simpson. Apricot: That's true, that's true. I feel like he'd be one of those cartoons that are extreme gross-out humour? I'm trying to think of one off the top of my head. The weird style ones, I don't know, early 2000s. I don't know where I'm going with this. And moving on, Sue Perkins wears exclusively suit [audio breaks up] So, it’s stylish, I love her style. Especially next to Susan Wokoma, who's very fem, she wears a lot of dresses. But Susan Wokoma also has the most varied, she wears some shirt dresses, one of them has a Studio Ghibli movie on it. One of them is a button-up shirt dress. It looks like she's wearing pyjamas, which is very funny to me. And also a few empire waists, a few kind of Regency-esque, which is very fun. TK: What episode was it where she did the visual gag on the inside of her jacket? Apricot: Oh, Sue Perkins? Oh I can't remember. TK: Because that was funny, whatever episode that was! Lewis: It was a prize task for the most surprising thing / outfit / something like that. That's all I can remember. Apricot: Yeah, well, I think it was Julian Clary brought in, something that had the words, I think it was fuck off, written on it. And so yeah. TK: And then just during a break, Sue is like, alright, real quick crew, I need you to do this for me. I need you to duct tape, or I guess gaffer tape? I'm not really sure. Apricot: Gaffer? TK: Gaffa? Lewis: Gaffer. TK: Gaffer. I don't know, is it a brand? The gaffer brand. I'm an American, I don't know anything about. Apricot: I'm also a dirty American. Lewis: Would you like an explanation? TK: Yeah. Apricot: Sure. Lewis: Duct tape and gaffer tape are two distinct things. In the US they're all called duct tape, in the UK, they're all called gaffer tape. Apricot: Oh, that tracks. TK: Well, anyway. Apricot: You want to move on? TK: Yeah! Apricot: Series... I'm trying, I'm so bad with the numbers, I keep thinking series 18 is series 19, which isn’t out yet. Sadly. So series 17, we get a lot of fun outfits. In particular the iconic vampire Nick Mohammed vampire, which is amazing. Probably one of my favorite task outfits. TK: And never talked about. Apricot: Never mentioned. TK: It's like, okay, this is just a thing we do now, I guess. It's fine. Apricot: It's fine. Although for some reason, when I first watched series 17, Nick's vampire makeup looked more real to me than his actual face? I don't know why that was. It's so weird. Anyway, John Robins also - you can tell he likes Queen. TK: ‘Likes’ is the understatement of the century here! I did feel so bad for him when he- Because he did talk a little bit about Nick's outfit, because he was like, “Yeah, you know, I went in, I was like, I'm going to be the coolest dressed person in the whole cast… And then Nick came out.” Apricot: And then… TK: Awwww, because John's look is amazing and he wears it good. Apricot: It is good, yes. TK: Poor guy. Apricot: Although, I blanked on her name real quick, Sophie's, she doesn't wear it all the time, but she has this giant pink, fuzzy, ankle-length jacket that she wears sometimes during tasks. TK: Yeah. She put it on Alex for one of the tasks, I think. Apricot: They did? Oh, I can't remember. TK: I feel like she did, very briefly. Apricot: I mean, that is a very iconic look for Alex. TK: Yeah, pretty good. Apricot: He should wear pink more often. TK: He should, he looks great in it. Apricot: He should. TK: He needs to wear the pink suit and the pink long fuzzy coat. Apricot: Someone needs to make fanart of that! TK: Yeah, definitely. All right, so do you want to start with Joanne? Apricot: Yes, Joanne. One thing you know about her, she loves a chunky shoe. So many chunky shoes. TK: Oh my gosh, I could not stand - I have no fashion sense at all, but I hate a chunky shoe! So anytime she came on with like the biggest shoes I've ever seen in my life, I'm just like, what? I don't understand what the appeal is with these. Now if the shoe is a black goth platform shoe? Sure, I can go with that. Apricot: It's a look. TK: But the white sneaker type of thing? I don't understand the fashion at all, I do not understand this look. Apricot: I think, it’s kind of giving Sonic..? You know how in Sonic they had these gigantic sneakers? TK: Yeah, I guess you're right. Apricot: That’s what I think, I see chunky shoe, and I’m like, oh, Sonic outfit now, that’s what we’re doing. TK: That’s what it is, yeah. Apricot: I don't know if there's a Sonic character that she dresses like, because she wears very bright neon colors, but someone could probably find one there. TK: Yeah, I'm sure it's not going to be me, though, because I grew up with a PlayStation and not a - what was Sonic on? Not Nintendo. Apricot: Sega. Yes. Sega? Yes. I mean, to be fair, I didn't either, but he’s out there. TK: He sure is, running around. Apricot: Running around at the speed of sound. He's got places to go! He’s got to follow his rainbow. TK: Clearly. I will say I was obsessed with her pants in episode two. Or her trousers, whatever you wanna call it. This is just two Americans- Apricot: The shiny silver- TK: -butchering whatever we call clothes, we’re like, “Her pants are great! Her sneakers are so cool!” Like - what are you talking about?! They’re called trainers! They’re not sneakers, they’re trainers! Apricot: I duly apologise to all British and Europeans watching. We salute you! TK: I'm so sorry. The deepest apologies from the United States. I'm obsessed with anything that's shiny, sparkly gold or silver, any kind of metallic thing, I'm always so on top of it. Apricot: Yes, yes. TK: So I really liked her outfit for the second episode, for sure. Apricot: Yeah, and in episode six she wears, I think, the exact same pair of pants, but in gold. TK: We love to see it. Apricot: We love to see it. I mean, it’s garish, but it works for her. TK: Oh yeah, she definitely has the confidence to pull it off. Apricot: Definitely, definitely. And there's a lot of good outfits for Episode 10. But, I think it's a zebra print, it's not a cheetah print. Some kind of animal print. TK: I'd say zebra, because it's not… If it was orange, it would be tiger, but I think it’s trending more towards zebra. Apricot: Zebra, zebra print. It's a pantsuit, I think that's the word for it. TK: Yeah. Apricot: With no shirt on underneath it, either. I mean, it's a look. TK: Bold. Apricot: It's a bold look, but she makes it work, and good for her. We already covered John Robins. He, God bless him, he is giving T-shirt and jeans. TK: He sure is! I love John Robins, and he is one of my all-time favourite contestants. But his dress code in the studio recordings is so boring. Apricot: Yeah. TK: Even the last episode, he's wearing sneakers, and I'm like, bro, look what Nick Mohammed is wearing?! Apricot: Nick's in a suit, Steve's in a suit. TK: A proper suit. Apricot: A proper suit. Sophie's in a giant prom dress, and he's like, ooh, T-shirt, button-up… TK: Nice-looking jacket, and I'm like, I mean, I guess, but… Apricot: With a nice little jacket! TK: What’s that Queer Eye meme from Tan that's like, make some effort or something like that? Apricot: It's giving, make some effort, sweetie. TK: We love you, John, we're so sorry. Apricot: We love you, John. We'll get on to some other people who made a little bit less effort, but at least he's got the Queen T-shirts going for him. Tk: That's true. He's on brand for sure. Apricot: On brand, yes. And Nick, also, very on brand with that brand Cozy Grandpa. TK: Yeah, I was thinking like very, very sweet dad at the PTA. The dad that bakes everybody cookies. Apricot: Yes. TK: He's just so adorable. Apricot: He's soft. TK: He is, yeah. Apricot: He's soft. It's sweaters, sweaters all the way down. Or jumpers! He's just cozy. He's gone cozy mode, I love that for him. TK: Yeah, I think they do make the studio really cold because I think Greg gets hot easily. So, honestly, I cannot blame him for wanting to be warm. He's just a little guy. Apricot: Yeah, he's just a little guy. He's got to be cozy. TK: He's comfy, warm and cozy. Apricot: He's comfy and a little cozy. TK: Give this man a heating lamp. Apricot: I mean, if that's true about the studio, then poor, poor Sophie, because she’s… TK: I hope she runs warm. Apricot: I hope she runs warm because she's coming in a lot of times with some very short skirts. Which she rocked! TK: Yeah. Her suits that she comes in with are just immaculate. Apricot: Yes, she is. TK: She can pull off a suit, she can pull off a dress, she can pull off a skirt. It's incredible. Apricot: Yeah. The green-checked suit especially. It's so cute. I love it so much. Honestly, all of Sophie's outfits, I adore. TK: And I love how, whenever she had a short skirt or whatever, and she'd always be trying to stand up and she's like, oh, my gosh, you can see everything! You chose to wear this! Apricot: You chose this! TK: And even in the finale, when she wears that floor-length dress, she hiked it up to over her hips to do the twerking thing. And I'm like, Sophie, what are you doing? Apricot: What are you doing? She has a compulsion to show leg. TK: I love her. Also, my favourite of her looks was from Episode 9. She had that gorgeous, starry jacket… Apricot: Yes, yes! TK: Or whatever it was, and then the metallic leggings or pants or whatever. Uh, beautiful! Apricot: Yeah, what we're discovering is you're drawn to sparkles. TK: I mean, it's not a surprise. It's not a surprise. [cough] I'm dying! Apricot: Oh no, don't die. TK: I can't die, because we need to talk about Steve. And this is something that I have been wanting to talk about for quite a while, actually. Because, during the task recordings, Steve shows up in a T-shirt that is a printed-on tuxedo. So, what we would call a tuxedo shirt, but not a full-on tuxedo shirt. And then in the last episode, he shows up with a full-on tuxedo with the huge red flower, and it makes me so happy. Because I think and hope that he did this on purpose. That he specifically wore that T-shirt for the whole thing, and then pulled out all of the stops for the last episode to be like, and now it's me actually in a tux. Properly! Apricot: Now it's the real deal, yes. TK: Yes, I loved that. Apricot: You have to believe that he did it on purpose. TK: He's a smart guy. Apricot: He's a smart guy. And also, whenever someone wears a full-on tux, you have to appreciate it. TK: Yeah, yeah. Apricot: If someone's showing up dressed that much, they're going places. TK: Yep, you notice that person. Apricot: You notice them. I say having a full-on tux to have a post-show party thing. It was very fun. TK: Nice. So for the rest of the studio records, Steve is not necessarily dressed in as extravagant an outfit as the tuxedo. Apricot: No, it is primarily button-ups, which is marginally more of an effort than T-shirt and jeans, so I'll give him points for that. He's putting in some effort. More than John is, God bless him. TK: Yeah, it's a pretty casual look, for the most part. Apricot: Yes, yes. TK: Although Steve always has really nice shoes. And I don't know what that's called, I don't know anything about shoes, but it's like nice types of shoes that you wear with something that's more casual, but it's not a sneaker. Apricot: An Oxford, is that what it's called? TK: I don't know, it's something. Apricot: I'm not a shoe expert. TK: I'm not a shoe expert either. All I know is that they look really nice. Lewis: Brogues. Apricot: They're not trainers. TK: Brogues. Apricot: Brogues. Apricot: Bro, bro? TK: Brogues. Apricot: Brogues, oh, yes. I have heard of those, and that's it. TK: Yep. good. Okay, before we get to series 18, which is our exciting Andy Zaltzman time, we are going to play a game. And this game is called Fact or Fanfic. Apricot: Oh, boy! TK: You know how this game works. Apricot: Yes. TK: I will tell you three different things. The three things are either Fact or Fanfic, and you will tell me which one you think it is. So we are going to start with Number 1: “And sitting next to me, my own little champion. A man who confided in me, following our Christmas drinks, that the first time he achieved an erection was whilst watching Ross Kemp play Grant Mitchell, in a particularly tense scene with his on-screen brother, Phil. Little Alex Horne!” Apricot: Hmm, this is tough, because I have not seen all of the seasons of Taskmaster, so it could be real. In fact, actually, I think I'm going to say fact. TK: Yes, you are correct, it is a fact. It’s from Champion of Champions 3, Episode 3, Champion of Champions series? I don't know. Apricot: Champion of Champions, I have seen that. TK: Champion of Champions 3. That's the one that I watched that made me realise that I had not watched any of series 14? I think that's the one with Dara? Apricot: Yeah. TK: Because I was like, who the fuck is this guy? I started watching Champion of Champions. I was like, yeah, I don't know who this dude is. And I just realised I had skipped an entire series somehow. I don't know, it was weird. Anyway, good job, you got that one right. Apricot: Yay! TK: Next one, number 2: “Am I a sugar daddy? Is that what that is? No, I don't like that. No, I really don't like it.” Apricot: Hmm, this is difficult because it does sound like something Greg would say, but I think it's fanfic. TK: That is correct, it is fanfic. That one is by Knop_e, First Choice. Okay, last one for the day: “If you're going to be so fucking embarrassing, you're going to be punished for it. You should be ashamed. Say it again.” Apricot: Oh, that's difficult. I'm going to say fanfic. TK: That's correct, ding ding ding! Apricot: Yay! TK: That one is by Things With Wings, and it's from a fic called Love Games. Apricot: Nice, nice. TK: Yay, you get a trophy on the website. Apricot: Yay! TK: Pause for me typing into the spreadsheet. Lewis: When you're done, I have a couple of things I want to go back to. TK: Okay. Trophy? Yes. Okay, go ahead. Lewis: Okay, so you were talking about how neither of you knew Julian Clary. And there's a very good reason for this. I’ve put a video in the chat. TK: I have watched that video. Lewis: Yeah, that's why, so I want to splice this back in, but bring that up because it's amazing. Apricot: Okay, I have not watched. Should I watch it now? Lewis: Yes, and TK, you can go ahead and say that your editor brought this to your attention. TK: Right, I’m going to watch it again, too. Jonathan Ross: You found the king or queen of comedy, who better than the man never known to go for a single entendre when a good solid double would do. Please welcome, Julian Clary. [applause] Hello Julian, good to see you. How’s it hanging? Julian Clary: Oh, very well, thank you. Very nice of you to recreat for me here. [laughter] TK: He looks so young here. Apricot: He’s so baby. Julian Clary: As a matter of fact, I’ve just been fisting Norman Lamont. Jonathan Ross: Let me ask you, Julian- Julian Clary: Talk about the red box. [laughter] Apricot: I love it. Jonathan Ross: So, how did you jump to the front of the queue, then? Julian Clary: Just clawed my way through. Jonathan Ross: Yeah! Are we still on? Are you gonna read the nominations for us, Julian? Julian Clary: Certainly, yes. Jonathan Ross: God bless you. Julian Clary: Okay, the nominations for the Top Television Comedy Personality are: Paul Merton (he’s good in bed), Joanna Lumley, (nice big hair), Clive Anderson (nice big neck). Jonathan Ross: Julian, please, as only you can, open the envelope. Julian Clary: And the winner is Joanna Lumley. [applause] TK: Insane. Apricot: He talks exactly the same, too. TK: I know. Isn't that wild? So now Norman Lamont, was he a senator or something? Lewis: He was a conservative MP and kind of an OG Brexiteer. TK: Interesting. So our editor has brought to our attention that the reason that we did not know who Julian was because he basically got himself blacklisted from television with the Norman Lamont British Comedy Awards thing. Which, if you haven't watched that, it is legendary. Apricot: It is very good. TK: Maybe we'll link it in this episode or something. Okay, so… Lewis: I have a couple more. TK: Okay, go ahead. Apricot: Yes? Lewis: Okay. So you were talking about John's love of Queen back there. Did either of you realise that the Queen clock that Sara Pascoe brought in for her prize task was one that she gave him while they were dating? Apricot: Yes, I had heard of that. I think from YouTube comments. Lewis: So, John's love of Queen has been on the show for longer than he has. I don't know if we want to bring that up, but it is another good point. TK: Oh, my gosh, it is so on brand for John Robins to have already been on the show in a prize task in which Sara Pascoe brings in a Queen clock that he had gifted her. Apricot: Yeah. TK: Incredibly on brand. Apricot: But that he gifted her? TK: Is that what was, right? Apricot: Is that what it was? Lewis: Yeah, so she she gave him the clock. And in her prize task, she said that she had fallen out with her boyfriend. And in her family, gifts that you give, you get to take back. Apricot: Interesting. Lewis: And after Al Murray won the clock, he apparently was willing to give it back to John, but he said keep it. TK: Oh! John's like I already got another clock. I don't need another. I don't need two of the same one. Apricot: He probably already has so much Queen stuff. TK: Yeah, I bet. Lewis: Okay, and last one for Sophie Willan. This is the last one and then we can go forward. You guys, everything about her was phenomenal. Have either of you seen Alma's Not Normal? TK: Mm-nm. Lewis: Oh, my God! So this one explains so much about her. This is a largely autobiographical sitcom, the same way Man Down was. She used to be a sex worker. TK: Yeah, I knew that. Lewis: She has so many just spectacular outfits in there, and every single bit of it looks like it just came straight out of her own wardrobe at home that she wore into set. TK: We love to see it. Lewis: So yeah, again, don't know if you want to use that, good context if you do. TK: Yeah, I haven't watched a single episode of it, so I feel like I can’t really say anything about it. Lewis: Womp womp. TK: Yeah, womp womp. Apricot: Womp womp… It is kind of interesting looking at it from an outsider's point of view, because both of us are American, and we don't really have context for most of the celebrities that are on Taskmaster. TK: Yeah, I'd say that maybe out of all of the contestants that have ever been on Taskmaster, I have maybe recognised fewer than five of them from before they went on the show. It's very rare for me to know people, even if they're a huge deal like Frank Skinner. Oh my gosh, they got Frank Skinner! I'm like, yeah, I don't know who that is. Apricot: Yeah, I think it's maybe even less for me. I don't know. Well, I didn't know pretty much anybody that was on Taskmaster before I saw it. TK: So yeah, I think I knew Sue Perkins and that was pretty much it. Apricot: Yeah, so the context might help understanding personality and where they've come from. Which you can kind of read from costumes, but unfortunately, I didn't feel like doing that much research. TK: Yeah, that's a lot of research to do when you're looking into every single person, because we're on series 19 now, so that's a lot of contestants. Apricot: Yeah. TK: All right. Well, let's move on to series 18. I think we should leave the best for last. Apricot: Obviously, yes. TK: And by best I mean most confusing. So who do you want to start with? Apricot: Let's do it in reverse order. Let's start with Rosie. TK: Okay. Apricot: I mean, by all accounts, hers is the simplest because it's just jumpsuits. She wears jumpsuits. I think in two episodes she's wearing overalls- TK: Dungarees, I think they’re called. Apricot: And that's about it. Yeah, dungarees. Someone's attacked her hair with a curling iron. That's about it. TK: Yeah. I mean, Rosie is so gorgeous, she really pulls off the jumpsuits, and I feel like technically anybody could pull off a jumpsuit, but it's one of those articles of clothing that I have never had enough self-confidence to be. I could wear a jumpsuit, no, there's no way. And Rosie does it so flawlessly, and she looks so good at them, and she just looks so comfy. And it's just, it's so great. And also her hair task outfit? Amazing. Apricot: It was so good, I loved it. I loved all the little embroidered patches. I can't remember what they all say, but they were all so funny. TK: So gay, mostly so many gay patches, it was great. Apricot: So many gay patches. TK: Yes, we love Rosie. Apricot: Which, from an icon, can you expect anything less? TK: That's true. Apricot: And Jack Dee, another person that is apparently a big deal. Jack Dee, I don't know shit about. TK: Talk about well-dressed though, holy cow. Apricot: Yeah, literally every single episode, he's wearing a suit and a tie. And a bow tie at the final episode. Which, I mean he's looking good. TK: Yeah. He's very well put together. My favorite outfit that he wore was in episode three where it was red on red on red. I was, I was obsessed with that look. It's so gorgeous. the Burgundy suit with the bright red socks and then the red tie? Gorgeous. Apricot: Yeah. It's so good. I feel like he's really good at colour matching. Which is something that some other people, [ahem] Andy Zaltzman, are not great at. But also I don't think he repeats a suit in all ten episodes. TK: He doesn't repeat a suit? Apricot: I don't think so, I'm looking now and it doesn't look like it. I mean there's a few that are like oh it's a black suit. Maybe. Maybe in three. He wears a black suit that could possibly be the same suit, but most of them that's a different suit. TK: He’s very well put together. Apricot: He is. And he looks fabulous. You know who also looks fabulous? TK: Emma Sidi! Apricot: Emma Sidi! Oh my God she looks so good. Every single episode, she's put together, I can't even think of adjectives. TK: It looks like she's stepped off of a runway to come to the Taskmaster recording. Apricot: Exactly, well, she wears a suit in one episode. Fabulous. She wears a trench coat dress in one episode. Which I'm not sure many people could pull off, but she does. She wears a sweater vest that says howdy? TK: I love that one. It's so funny. It's like, what is this? It's so cute. Apricot: It's so cute. I love that for her. And it also has the most bizarre, I think it's a cowboy boot? TK: Yeak, or at least it looks like a cowboy boot. Apricot: It's an abstract of a cowboy boot. I'm not usually a fan of a sweater vest, but she pulls it off, she makes it work. And of course, episode ten, the off-shoulder top. Lovely. Iconic. Beautiful. Yes. Now, Baba. And I don't say this lightly. This is the most t-shirt and jeans energy ever brought to Taskmaster. Every episode he is wearing a white t-shirt, some sort of pants/trousers/jean-esque trousers. They're not all jeans, he's got different colours. But in nearly every episode he is wearing a white t-shirt. I'm just going to go through it with you. It's so funny. So we started the first one, white t-shirt, white t-shirt, white t-shirt, white t-shirt, white t-shirt, white t-shirt, white t-shirt. Black t-shirt! White t-shirt, white t-shirt. TK: Yeah, I always look forward to the series finale of a series, because I always want to know what they're going to wear and whether they're going to coordinate, because coordinated outfits, which we have not had in these last three series, are some of my favorite things ever. Series nine when they all showed up wearing tuxes, incredible. Apricot: The tuxes, the Beatles. TK: The Beatles one from Ivo’s series. Apricot: Yeah, I think that was 15? TK: That was amazing, I think that was probably my favorite one. Apricot: Honestly. TK: The 10th episode of series 18, Baba was like, yep, white T-shirt, black pants, sneakers, I'm here. It’s like, okay. Apricot: I’m here! T-shirt and jeans! With all the love in my heart, wear something else than a white t-shirt! TK: Baba’s just here to be cozy. He's just here to be comfy. Apricot: I mean, I respect that for him. TK: And now, the man of the moment. Apricot: And now, Andy Zaltzman. We have to go episode by episode because it's just insane. It doesn't even build in insane-ness, it just kind of goes back and forth. Because in the first episode, he's wearing a normal suit, a crazy shirt, but Andy Zaltzman-normal. In the second episode, he still has a crazy shirt on, but that's still normal. In the third episode, he's wearing a fucking wizard robe?! Why is he doing this? TK: Why do this? Apricot: Why have you done this, Andy? Although, according to episode 175 of the Taskmaster podcast, Andy Zaltzman is quoted as saying, “Greg Davies is scared of wizards.” TK: So that's why I did it. Sure, okay. Apricot: Sure. And it doesn't even go up from there. The next episode, he's back to a suit. In a suit that doesn't even match. It's… TK: Blue pants, brown jacket, some kind of patterned shirt. Apricot: Which, I don't necessarily think those are colors that go together. I mean, he can wear it, I'm not judging him. I'm not judging him. I'm just saying I don't think those colors go together. But that's his prerogative. And then, episode five, we get to the snooker, snookah, snooker? TK: The pool playah! For those Americans, it’s the pool playah. Yeah, he's got the snooker cue. He's got the name tag that- Apricot: Yes, that's in Chinese. TK: Foreign language and apparently translates to something about- Lewis: Taskmaster. TK: Yeah, it just translates to Taskmaster. Weirdly. Apricot: Yeah. I mean, I would personally not be confident in that it actually translates. TK: We'll have to take him at his word or something. Apricot: Yeah, we'll take him at his word. Lewis: It’s been Googled, it has been Google translated. TK: Oh wow. Impressive. I wonder if he did that himself. He's such a weird dude. But I think there's an outtake where he's holding the cue on one side of him, and I think it's, I forget if it's Greg or Alex, but one of them is like, hey, we need you to put it on the other side on your other shoulder, because it's getting in the way of the camera, it's blocking your face. So if you haven't watched that outtake, go watch it because it's so funny. Apricot: It is very funny. TK: So then we move on to episode six. Apricot: Yes. I just minimised my notes, whew, okay, we're back. Episode six, and we're back to suits. TK: Nice colour though, pretty blue, like dark turquoise. Apricot: It is pretty, it's a good suit. Yes, yes. You see us a suit and you're just like, oh yeah, that's a suit. And then the next episode he's wearing, full on Roman armour. I think, in the Taskmaster podcast and called it this Roman Centurion armour. And it's, he's got a breastplate, he's got a little side cape, he's got some braces, some shin guards, and what looks to be a skirt made out of strips of fabric and shield. TK: And then he has a tiny little cricket bat. Apricot: A tiny little bat. TK: Yeah. And this outfit is very reminiscent of what Alex wore in series 11 for a task. So that was. I don't necessarily think that Andy did it for that reason. I mean, I don't know why he's doing any of these things, it’s just some mystery. Apricot: Well, according to the Taskmaster podcast, again, and this is a direct quote, I'm not sure that there was a huge amount of thinking behind it. TK: He just opened up his closet and he was like, yeah, that's what I'll wear today. Like, yeah. Okay, Andy. You do you, Andy. And then we're back to another normal-looking outfit. Apricot: It's very tame compared to his standards. TK: Especially because as the viewer, we're kind of now in this mode of, what's he going to wear for the next episode? And then he just shows up in navy pants, blue shirt, and you're like, okay. Apricot: Is this the calm before the storm? TK: Yeah. I think a lot of us were hoping that he would show up to the final episode taping in the hot dog outfit. Apricot: Well, he does. TK: He uses it in the last episode, but he doesn't show up. You know, I guess he didn't want his prize task to be the hot dog. Which makes sense. It does make it make sense to wait until the very last live task of the show. Apricot: Yes. Well, I mean, it didn't do him much good, but it was very funny. TK: It was, yeah, good planning. So episode nine, he does show up in a suit, but… Apricot: He's got boxing gloves. TK: Why he do this? Apricot: Why has he done this? What is the reason? A) what is the reason? B) where did he get those? TK: Right? So random. Apricot: C) Why is he in a suit? I mean, the boxing gloves do really pop against the navy blue suit. So it is, it is a good look. TK: It's a fashion statement. Apricot: I also, before we get to episode ten, I also do want to mention, that Andy Zaltzman is, I think, the first person ever on Taskmaster to bring their own props both to the studio, and also to I mean, I can't think of anyone else off the top of my head who brought props to the task recordings. TK: I think I can think of some things, but those were only ever for prize tasks. You know, because I think it Emma, she brought that tickling stick or whatever it was, and she had it under her chair. But again, that was for a prize task. Apricot: I don't count those because they're for something, whereas he’s TK: He’s just doing this of his own volition for seemingly no reason. Apricot: He just felt like bringing in a pool cue or a cricket bat. TK: Or whatever. Apricot: Whatever. Honestly, now that he's broken the ice, I really hope there are more people who bring props. Yeah, because I think that would be very fun. TK: I know this would not make good television, but I really want somebody to come in wearing one of those inflatable dinosaur outfits. Because those are the funniest things to me, peak comedy! Apricot: Honestly, I feel that would be very funny. TK: I love those things. Apricot: I hope whoever's listening, the people who are in Taskmaster, because I know they're listening. TK: Now's your chance. Apricot: ALEX HORNE! Now is your chance. TK: Alex needs to show up in one of those inflatable dino outfits and just sit next to Greg, and just speak in, like, ‘rawr rawr rawr’ until Greg gets out the biggest pin you've ever seen and just pops him like a balloon! All right, so episode ten, we're at the episode ten, we’re at the finale, here we go. Apricot: It really is a culmination- TK: a conglomeration of everything that he's shown up in so far. Apricot: Yes. So from from innermost layer to outermost layer, he's wearing 1) the cricket cricket, cwicket whites that he was wearing during the tasks, including the shin guards. 2) huge shin guards, huge shin guards, the snooker shirt. You can kind of see a little bit of the name tag through 3), the short sort of half-cape thing from the Roman Centurion. He has also brought the pool cue. And then on top of everything is 5) the wizard robe and not two, but one boxing glove. TK: A singular boxing glove. Apricot: A singular boxing glove. What the fuck? TK: It's not even something that you would wear to a Halloween party. You would not wear it to a costume party. What it looks like to me is it looks like he went to a garage sale and bought a bunch of random stuff. Or maybe he, like a cartoon character, he, fell through a spirit Halloween and came up the other side looking like this. I don't know what it looks like for audiences in the UK, but your run of the mill, really Halloween store. But not to say that what he's wearing is cheap because actually everything that he's wearing, apart from maybe the centurion thing looks pretty legit. Apricot: It looks good. TK: That conglomeration of everything coming together in the last episode is so funny. Apricot: It’s so fucking funny. Absolute insanity. And I do love him for it. TK: What a man. Apricot: What a man. The one boxing glove is what really gets me. Because he didn't have to do that. TK: No, he just showed. And I hate, I’m sure that they talked about it in the studio, but I hate that it's never really brought up anywhere? Apricot: No, it isn’t. TK: What is happening? But also I feel bad for the people that were at the recording in the studio for that episode because you don't have any context for this. You don't have the context of, oh he wore different parts of all of these outfits in previous studio records, you don't know what's going on. So all you see is Andy Zaltzman coming onto the stage wearing a whole garage's worth of tat Halloween costumes. Yeah, what is happening? Apricot: What the fuck is up? TK: It's incredible. Oh, man. Well, anyway, so those are the outfits from series 16 to series 18. Apricot: Yay! TK: So before we wrap up, is there any other things that you want to talk about, or do you think we've pretty much covered everything? Apricot: We did pretty much cover everything. However, I do want to give a shout out to, I don’t think I mentioned this, and it's the reason I wanted to do this whole thing in the first place. Susan Wokoma’s outfit in episode ten, which is a black long-sleeved shirt and black pants with roses and vines, I don't even think they're sewn, they're tacked on to it? And she's got roses in her hair. It's so cute. I'm literally obsessed with it. I want to make it. I want to know where she got it. And I want to know why it was made and how it was made. TK: Yeah, drop the sewing pattern, Susan. Apricot: Yeah. Drop the link, Susan, if you're listening, please. TK: Yeah, that would be really cute. I mean, all of her outfits are just so unbearably cute. Apricot: Absolutely, absolutely. TK: Well, we always wrap up this podcast with asking the guests if they have any fan work recommendations. So tell me if you have any fan worth recommendations! Apicot: I was so busy, panic and getting my notes together, that I forgot about the fan work recommendations! TK: No worries. Apricot: I will recommend, go to AO3, and go to the Taskmaster RPF tag, and read the first 10 fics. TK: Oh, that’s a good one. Because depending on when you're listening to this, that's going to change. Apricot: Yeah, you'll get a nice little grab bag. TK: Yeah. Awesome. Is there anything that you want to plug anywhere we can find you online if you want people finding you online or anything like that? Apricot: No, don't find me online! TK: Fair enough! All right, Apricot, thank you so much for coming on the podcast. We've really enjoyed having you. Apricot: Yay, thank you, I enjoyed it, too. TK: All right. Bye bye! Apricot: Bye! VO: And that was TK and Apricot talking costumes. I do hope our British viewers weren’t too outraged at some of the moments there. Don’t forget to check out our Patreon to see some extended clips, and check the description for a list of fanworks mentioned in this episode. [music]