A NEW series of TV comedy panel gameshow Taskmaster starts tonight (Thursday, October 15)  - and will feature St Helens’ Johnny Vegas.

The actor and comedian will be among those vying to be the new Taskmaster in the series on Channel 4, which airs at 9pm.

Taskmaster is a British comedy panel game show, which was originally created by British comedian Alex Horne during the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2010.

It was then later adapted for television in 2015.

It was commissioned for Dave where it has aired for nine series, before Channel 4 bought it last year.

The show stars comedian and actor Greg Davies in the title role of the 'Taskmaster', issuing simple comedic and bizarre tasks to five regular contestants – usually comedians – with Alex comic Horne acting as Davies's assistant and as umpire during the challenges.

The game consists of simple bizarre challenges, ostensibly set by Davies as the Taskmaster, with assistance provided by Horne.

Each of the tasks which contestants undertake are designed to encourage the players to think laterally and creatively to complete the task.

Among those who will also be appearing alongside Johnny are Richard Herring, Daisy May Cooper, IT Crowd star Katherine Parkinson and Mawaan Rizwan.

Asked about the highlights from the upcoming series, Horne told RadioTimes.com: “A lot of people are looking forward to seeing Johnny on the show because he’s a loose cannon, he’s sort of simmering throughout,” Horne said.

“Johnny’s responses to his failures or successes are often poetic,” Greg joked. “I think the emotion he brings is really deep-rooted poetic emotion.”