Trio of local adaptations means show has now been remade in 13 countries
Broadcasters in the Netherlands, Iceland and Estonia have become the latest to order local versions of Avalon format Taskmaster.
RTL Nederland has ordered two 8 x 60-minute seasons, produced by The Human Factor, with TV host and comic Arjen Lubach starring as the Taskmaster.
Estonia’s TV3 is working with Thor Films on a 12 x 90-minute season, while Iceland’s Sýn has ordered a 10 x 60-minute show that is to be produced by Sagafilms.
The deals mean the format has now been remade in 13 countries, having debuted on the UK’s Dave before moving to Channel 4.
More than 920 episodes have now been commissioned outside the UK, with local versions now in Australia (Network Ten), Canada (Bell), New Zealand (TVNZ), Croatia, Sweden (SVT), Norway (Discovery), Finland (MTV3), Denmark (TV2), and Portugal where it ranked first for most watched entertainment programs on RTP 1.
The show has also become a hit on YouTube, reaching more than 1.2bn views and over 1.9 million subscribers. Avalon said the channel has had 253 million hours’ worth of content viewed with 57% of those hours from North America.
Carly Hardman, Avalon’s senior vice-president of global formats and programmes, said: “We’re thrilled to announce Taskmaster will be arriving in these new territories with RTL Nederlands, TV3, and Sýn, continuing its meteoric rise and making it one of the world’s foremost comedy entertainment formats”.
Kristjana Thors Brynjólfsdóttir, director of media at Sýn, said: “Producing a local version of Taskmaster is a fantastic milestone for Sýn. The show’s unique mix of humour, competition, and creativity has captivated audiences around the world, and we’re excited to give it an Icelandic flavour.”
The format is among an Avalon slate here at Mipcom that also includes Julia Roberts-narrated comedy drama Leonard and Hungry Paul.
The feel-good series follows two board-gaming friends in their thirties who meander through leafy suburban life finding solace in their quiet routines.
The six-parter stars Alex Lawther (The End Of The F***ing World) as Leonard, Laurie Kynaston (Fool Me Once) as Hungry Paul and Jamie-Lee O’Donnell (Derry Girls) as Shelley, with Andrew Chaplin (Alma’s Not Normal) directing.
It is produced by Subotica for BBC Northern Ireland in association with BBC Comedy, Fís Éireann / Screen Ireland and RTÉ, with Avalon coproducing, with the show based on the novel by Rónán Hession. Writers Richie Conroy and Mark Hodkinson adapted for TV.
No comments yet