New series of Taskmaster is as fun and frantic as ever before

The premise is simple: Gather five comedians and get them to complete novelty challenges while under the pressure of a ticking stopwatch and the watchful eye of long-suffering Taskmaster assistant Alex Horne. The result is comedy gold.

- Jennifer Cartwright on Taskmaster

Every UK comedian knows that sitting on one of Taskmaster's five red chairs is a sign that you've made it in the industry. There's a great prestige in saying you've been picked for Taskmaster, even if participating in the show itself means making a fool of yourself is an inevitability. As a long-term fan of the show, I find myself often contemplating who would be my dream line-up; the latest showing may just be it.

You would think the latest batch of contestants - Matthew Baynton, Fatiha El-Ghorri, Jason Mantzoukas, Stevie Martin and Rosie Ramsey - would enter the show prepared; after all, they have multiple previous seasons to revise from.

However, though Jason Mantzoukas arrives to the Taskmaster house with a lockpicking kit just in case he would need it, all five find themselves falling victim to the traps. Within the first few minutes, there's been swearing, panic, and not being able to see a fish tank that is right in front of you.

But the best Taskmaster trap of Series 19's opening episode is in the second task. Here, the contestants are initially challenged to "do something cool".