A tarolo on top of a boat

Episode synopsis

A two-and-a-half-hour long New Year's special of Taskmaster PT aired on the 31st of December 2024, featuring a cast comprised entirely of contestants who had appeared as fixed contestants in previous seasons: Cândido Costa, Gilmário Vemba, Inês Aires Pereira, Madalena Abecasis, and Toy.

The contestants must bring in the best thing for a New Year’s party, put beer into a freezer, make piles of raisins while greeting historical figures, count the number of ‘A’s in a song, fill a champagne flute from the furthest distance, draw a woman while blindfolded, demonstrate the most memorable 10 second countdown, change their appearance during a lift ride, find a small present amongst bowls of cake batter, and celebrate New Year’s Eve as quickly as possible.

Episode notes

On the 10th of October 2024, it was reported that a New Year's Eve special would be airing in 2024.

On the 25th of December 2024, it was announced that the cast would consist of Cândido Costa, Gilmário Vemba, Inês Aires Pereira, Madalena Abecasis, and Toy.

Title context

Madalena Abecasis describes Markl as “a tarolo on a boat” during studio discussion of her attempt at the ‘Fill the champagne flute from the furthest distance’ task. This initiates a debate, with as everyone questioning what she means by “tarolo” – Markl is just confused, Vasco jokes that it has something to do with tarot card readers, and Madalena insists that she’s talking about a long-burning fire log. The term is actually a slang word for 'penis'.

Taskmaster Intro

Thank you! Good evening! You can sit down! Holy crap! How is this possible?! What went through the mind of whoever’s in charge of RTP?! I- I don’t know. All I know is that it’s New Year’s Eve, and we’re the ones who – in a wild ride, in a mind-blowing vertigo of agility, chaos, joy, and deep humiliation and decadence – we’re the ones who will hold your hand, dear viewer, we’ll hold your hand– [Markl interjects: “We’ll hold your hand and walk together, side by side, on the golden street that will lead us to the new magical kingdom called 2025.”] It’s New Year’s Eve, and we’re the ones who’ll hold your hand and throw you forcefully into the air, with no shame, against some of the most irredeemably wacky TV moments that have ever been shown on the réveillon! [Markl interjects again: “Yes, yes, at the heart of it, it’s like a New Year’s special of ‘Strictly Come Dancing on Ice’, but where people don’t actually dance, and there’s no ice.”] But everyone still falls flat on their face. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Taskmaster New Year’s Special!

Note: In Portugal, ‘réveillon’ is a name used to refer to New Year's Eve celebrations.

Assistant Intro

Next to me, a man who recently confessed to me that, looking back on his life, there’s only one thing that he’s genuinely proud of, and he’s not even responsible for it: the fact that his feet, after adolescence, stopped smelling so bad. A round of applause for Nuno Markl!

Taskmaster's Sign-off

We saw each other again,
and we've had our share of laughter.
Markl carried so many people,
that he'll be hired as a bus driver.
Flutes were filled, raisins were sorted,
and homages were paid here.
Camões, P-Diddy, and
Aurora Cunha — Happy New Year!
Strip down, eat chili peppers,
have a kickass new year!
Pour a bucket of cake
batter over all of your gear.
Our wish for you,
no matter your social sphere,
is that you don't
find any fava beans.
And Happy New Year!

Note: Carris is a public transportation company in Lisbon. Luís de Camões is one of Portugal’s greatest poets. Aurora Cunha is a retired Portuguese Olympic runner.