''The Big Painting Challenge'' is a television programme first broadcast on

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, p ...

on 22 February 2015. It is a contest in the style of ''

The Great British Bake Off ''The Great British Bake Off'' (often abbreviated to ''Bake Off'' or ''GBBO'') is a British television baking competition, produced by Love Productions, in which a group of amateur bakers compete against each other in a series of rounds, att ...

'' but with the craft of

painting Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ...

rather than

baking Baking is a method of preparing food that uses dry heat, typically in an oven, but can also be done in hot ashes, or on hot stones. The most common baked item is bread but many other types of foods can be baked. Heat is gradually transferred " ...

Series 1 (2015)

Una Stubbs Una Stubbs (1 May 1937 – 12 August 2021) was an English actress, television personality and dancer who appeared on British television and in the theatre, and occasionally in films. She became known after appearing in the film '' Summer Holiday ...

and Richard Bacon hosted this aseries, in which 10 amateur painters took on three specially designed challenges each week, using a wide range of mediums. Expert judges

Daphne Todd Daphne Todd OBE (born 27 March 1947) is an English artist who was the first female President of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters from 1994–2000, and who won the BP Portrait Award 2010 with a painting of her 100-year-old mother's corpse. ...

and

Lachlan Goudie Lachlan Goudie (born 1976) is a Scottish artist and television presenter. Early life Lachlan Goudie was born in Glasgow, Scotland, in 1976, the son of Scottish figurative painter Alexander Goudie. He was educated at the Kelvinside Academy, after ...

decided who would be leaving each week.

Series 2 (2017)

Mariella Frostrup Mariella Frostrup (born 12 November 1962) is a British journalist and presenter, known in British television and radio mainly for arts programmes. Early life Frostrup was born in Oslo, Norway, to Peter and Joan Frostrup, but moved with her fam ...

and the Rev

Richard Coles Richard Keith Robert Coles (born 26 March 1962) is an English writer, radio presenter and Church of England clergyman who was the vicar of Finedon in Northamptonshire from 2011 to 2022. He first came to prominence as the multi-instrumentalis ...

took over as hosts for series 2. Goudie and Todd were joined by David Dibosa to assess their efforts of the contestants and decide who was eliminated. Diana Ali and

Pascal Anson Pascal Anson (born 1973) is a designer and artist. Born in South London, Anson attended Wilson's School in Wallington and studied three-dimensional design at Kingston University. He completed his studies at the Royal College of Art in London in 20 ...

also joined the programme as mentors to the painters.

Series 3 (2018)

Mariella Frostrup and Rev Richard Coles presented the third series, which began with 10 contestants. Each week, the finished art was displayed to members of the public, who voted for their favourite. Judges Goudie and Todd decided which contestant would be eliminated. In week 2, Fraser Scaarfe was a guest judge in Lachlan's absence. Colour key: : Painter got through to the next round. : Painter was eliminated. : Painter was the Public Choice. : Painter was a series runner-up. : Painter was the series winner.

Series 4 - Celebrity Painting Challenge (2019)

Six well known figures -

Jane Seymour Jane Seymour (c. 150824 October 1537) was List of English consorts, Queen of England as the third wife of King Henry VIII of England from their Wives of Henry VIII, marriage on 30 May 1536 until her death the next year. She became queen followi ...

Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen Laurence Roderick Llewelyn-Bowen (; born 11 March 1965) is an English interior designer and television personality best known for appearing on the BBC programme '' Changing Rooms''. Name He is sometimes credited as "Laurence Llewelyn", and th ...

Phil Tufnell Philip Clive Roderick Tufnell (born 29 April 1966) is a former English international cricketer and current television and radio personality. A slow left-arm orthodox spin bowler (cricket), bowler, he played in 42 Test cricket, Test matches and ...

, George Shelley,

Amber Le Bon Amber Rose Tamara Le Bon (born 25 August 1989) is an English fashion model. She is best known for becoming the new face of the American department store Forever 21. Biography Le Bon is the eldest of the three daughters of Duran Duran lead singer ...

and Josie d'Arby - took part in a celebrity version of the contest. Mariella Frostrup was presenter and judges Daphne Todd and Lachlan Goudie returned to critique and review the work. Diana Ali and

returned to mentor the celebrities. Josie D'Arby was crowned the winner in the third episode.

Transmissions

Series

Reception

Sam Woollaston of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' described the first series as "nothing original" to other tried and tested formats, though it did set out to prove painters weren't all "white, upper-middle-class retirees in smocks and straw hats" and worked much better than other programmes because of its visual subject matter. In April 2018 ''

The Telegraph ''The Telegraph'', ''Daily Telegraph'', ''Sunday Telegraph'' and other variant names are popular names for newspapers. Newspapers with these titles include: Australia * ''The Telegraph'' (Adelaide), a newspaper in Adelaide, South Australia, publ ...

'' reviewer gave 3 out of 5 stars for Series 3.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Big Painting Challenge, The 2015 British television series debuts 2019 British television series endings 2010s British game shows BBC television game shows BBC reality television shows English-language television shows Television series by BBC Studios