May 2023 news round-up

It’s been another busy month in the Taskiverse, so here’s your round-up of the latest news from the international Taskmaster franchise:

Hosts revealed for Junior Taskmaster

On 16 May 2023, as studio filming for what is now understood to have been a test run of Junior Taskmaster began at Pinewood Studios, it was officially announced that the hosts of the show would be the Taskmaster alumni Rose Matafeo (playing the titular role) and Mike Wozniak (in the role of assistant). This news was pretty much unanimously received with a positive response from Taskmaster fans, with many describing it as a case of "perfect casting". It also seems to have significantly increased the interest level of fans in watching the show, when many had previously expressed ambivalence towards the idea of watching children attempting to complete tasks. It is not yet known when filming of the debut series proper will take place, or when the show might start airing.

Air date revealed for Stormester season 7

On 19 May 2023, it was revealed on the official Stormester Instagram that season 7 of the Danish version of the show would begin airing on 23 June 2023. It now appears that the long-anticipated mini-season specials – ‘Vindernes Vinder’ (Champion of Champions) and ‘En Chance Til’ (Another Chance), both of which will see the return of former contestants – will now be broadcast later in the year, perhaps between the end of season 7, and the airing of the 2023 Christmas special episode featuring the season 7 cast.

Studio filming scheduled for Kongen Befaler season 8

In late April 2023, tickets to attend the live studio filming sessions of Kongen Befaler’s eighth season at Drammen’s theatre went on sale, with the sessions scheduled to take place between 6 September and 19 September 2023. The turnaround on Norway’s version of the show always seems to be particularly fast, so we could see episodes of this season starting to air as early as mid-September, in line with previous years, even though the filming is happening later than normal. The cast for the season has not yet been revealed, but we do know that Atle Antonsen will be reprising his role as ‘The King’, which suggests that it’s also possible that last year’s unaired two-part Christmas special could also end up being released later this year.

Le Maître du Jeu season 2 in production

On 9 May 2023, it was reported that a second season of Le Maître du Jeu had already begun production. It was also suggested that we won’t have to wait too much longer to find out who the new cast of the Quebecois adaptation of the show will be, as Véronique Cloutier (the wife of host Louis Morissette) would be revealing this information before the end of the current season of her radio show.

Taskmaster PT: season 3 cast confirmed, and season 4 announced

In early May, there was a leak of the identities of the fixed cast members for the third season of Taskmaster Portugal. On 11 May 2023, just two days after production of the live studio sessions for the season began, the fixed cast members’ identities were officially confirmed, with the release of a promotional group photo of them in the studio together. Based on how the identities of the guest contestants were revealed for season 2, it is anticipated that we will not find those out for season 3 until a few days before each episode goes out.

This wasn’t all of the news for Taskmaster PT, though, as a report on 12 May 2023 revealed that RTP, overjoyed with the success of the first two seasons, had already gone ahead and commissioned a fourth season of the show. With production of the studio sessions for season 3 expected to be completed in May, and that season anticipated to start airing in late 2023, it seems likely that Taskmaster PT has now moved to a two-seasons-per-year schedule, so we might see the release of season 4 in early 2024.