TaskMaster.Info

Obsessively documenting the international Taskmaster franchise. Warning: This site is lousy with spoilers!

Episode 5: Chip Biffington

Image of five sweets arranged in a star shape on a wooden surface (a reference to John Kearns' attempt at the 'Get the most pleasure from these rubber chutes' task), with the episode title, 'Chip Biffington', superimposed on it.

Air date:

27/10/2022

Title coined by:

Dara Ó Briain

Episode synopsis

In this episode, the contestants must bring in the most useless thing that cost them over £20, derive the most pleasure from some rubber chutes, perform the best routine to some music, play luggage trolley bowling, and communicate animals by saying letters while doing impressions of them.

Title context

According to Dara Ó Briain, 'Chip Biffington' was the name of the character played by the actor Biff Chippington, in the 1980s American sitcom, 'Scalpel Please!', created by his team during the 'Perform the best routine to this music' task.

Alternate Titles

On Finland's MTV Katsomo streaming platform, this episode is titled 'Ranskis Turpasauna', which translates as 'Chip Beating'. What they've apparently done here is literally translate the name 'Chip' into 'chip' (as in 'fried potato chip'), and then converted the onomatopoeiac 'Biff' at the start of the name 'Biffington' into the word for 'beating' (as in 'beating up'). Weird that they didn't leave the episode title as it was, since it's a character's name. [Translator credit: zador]
On Sweden's SVT Play streaming platform, this episode is titled 'Skalpell, tack', which translates as 'Scalpel, please'. This is a reference to Dara, John and Fern's attempt at the 'Perform the best routine to this music' task.

Assistant Intro

And next to me, a man who confided in me recently that he thinks all primary school teachers are the scum of the earth. It's little Alex Horne!

Taskmaster's Sign-off

So, what have we learnt today? We've learnt that some people are born with natural athletic ability: Dara has his hurling skills; Munya can target a cow through a rubbish chute; John can hit a trolley from 19 Noel Edmonds away; Fern can accurately throw a banana into the mouth of an idiot; and Sarah can punch a floating baguette. But if you've got children at home who are not naturally sporty, just leave them to develop, and they'll find their own skills and interests. Don't be such a compatative dad! Well done again to today's winner, John Kearns.