Taskmaster season 18 spoilers follow.
Taskmaster had a couple of Easter eggs in store for diehard fans in tonight's (October 3) episode.
One of the brand-new tasks saw comedian Jack Dee drawing inspiration from two classic moments in the show's previous seasons.
Jack and co-stars Andy Zaltzman, Rosie Jones, Emma Sidi and Babatunde Aléshé were called to "push the envelope the furthest" in a first task that was open to interpretation.
While Rosie, who admittedly ignored the meaning of the phrase, opted for an envelope smoothie and Babatunde fashioned it into a bowl for his cereal, Jack took the task quite literally.
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Dressed in a suit, he grabbed a wheelbarrow from the shed and placed the envelope in it, proceeding to push it for three miles. Scored to a melancholic music, the moment proved to be emotional for Greg Davies, who awarded Jack five points.
"Well, that will save the BAFTAs some money for your in memoriam," Greg joked, to which Jack replied, not missing a beat: "The sooner, the better."
Meanwhile, fans watching at home spotted not one, but two references to past tasks.
On Twitter/X, one Taskmaster viewer noticed a similarity with an Al Murray task from season 3.
Back in 2016, the contestants were asked to bring a pea the furthest distance, with Al hiding his in a red carpet and driving with it in a taxi for 18 miles.
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But Taskmaster didn't stop there. The show gifted its loyal following a nod within a nod when some balloons in the tree branches along Jack's walk brought to mind a season 1 task.
The location was a callback to the show's very first series, which included a task seeing Romesh Ranganathan becoming a "Tree Wizard" with the ability to create balloons with his hands in reverse.
The reference wasn't lost on fans, with some pointing out the throwback on social media.
While he may not have won the episode, which saw Babatunde come out on top, Jack was praised by Greg and Alex Horne, with the Taskmaster admitting that even a "silly, old show" could get quite emotional.
Taskmaster season 18 airs Thursdays and streams on Channel 4. A Junior Taskmaster spinoff has been confirmed.
Reporter, Digital Spy
Stefania is a freelance writer specialising in TV and movies. After graduating from City University, London, she covered LGBTQ+ news and pursued a career in entertainment journalism, with her work appearing in outlets including Little White Lies, The Skinny, Radio Times and Digital Spy.
Her beats are horror films and period dramas, especially if fronted by queer women. She can argue why Scream is the best slasher in four languages (and a half).
