BBC unveils Big Painting Challenge to help nation brush up its artistic skills

There will be two jolly presenters, 10 amateur contestants, one winner and lots of encouragement for the nation to get painting – just don’t call it The Great British Paint Off.

The BBC has launched a new primetime show in which contestants, including a retired optometrist and a former astrophysicist, undertake a six-week artistic boot camp to improve their painting skills before someone is crowned overall champion.

But the BBC insists that the show is not an attempt to fill the void left by the loss of The Great British Bake Off.

“I don’t know whether Bake Off was there to encourage people to bake, I think it is a different show,” said BBC Arts’ head of commissioning Mark Bell. “This is an arts programme but it is absolutely designed to go beyond the core arts audience.”

The new programme is called The Big Painting Challenge, not to be confused with the BBC’s last amateur painting competition show of the same name presented by Una Stubbs and Richard Bacon in 2015.

Bell said it was “a good title” but the new programme would feel “like a completely different show”.

The main change is the levels of instruction provided. The 10 contestants will be divided into two teams led by mentors Diana Ali and Pascal Anson, who will pass on tips and tricks that the BBC hopes will encourage viewers to think about a trip to the art supply shop.

Bell said the programme felt “fresh, exciting and different … Having this instruction element running through the series makes it a really impressive show.

“Getting actual tips on how paintings are made, ways in which you can improve your own technique, encourages engagement and participation in picking up a paintbrush. The objective of this series is to engage people, to engage them actively in the process of making art.”

The show will be presented by Mariella Frostrup and the Rev Richard Coles, former member of the Communards turned broadcaster. Each episode will take contestants to different locations, including Whipsnade zoo and the Queen’s House in Greenwich, and ask contestants to produce two pieces of work in different disciplines, whether portraiture or landscape or still life.

The programme follows in a long line of participatory painting programmes, from ITV’s Paint Along With Nancy in the 1970s to the unlikely to be repeated Rolf on Art series from 2001-07. Between 1998 and 2001 there was Hannah Gordon’s Watercolour Challenge on Channel 4, while on Sky Arts there has been portrait and landscape artist of the year programmes presented by Frank Skinner and Joan Bakewell.

The judges for the new BBC show are Lachlan Goudie and Daphne Todd – who were also on the last Big Painting Challenge – and David Dibosa.

Frostrup said the show was “a wonderful showcase for those many gifted artists who aspire to making a career of their painting, often receiving little or no recognition for their efforts along the way.

“Being the daughter of an amateur artist, I’m all too aware of the frustration and commitment required to keep going. It was fascinating to witness these 10 amateur artists work their brushes into a frenzy and see their work develop impressively.”

The show, which will air on BBC1 on Sunday evenings from mid-February, was among those announced on Thursday by BBC Arts.

Alan Yentob’s Imagine series continues and will include programmes on Marlon Brando, Maya Angelou and Havana. There will also be BBC Arts documentaries profiling Terry Pratchett, Phyllida Barlow, Paula Rego, Chrissie Hynde, Vera Lynn, Francis Bacon and the photographer Dougie Wallace.

The art of photography will be celebrated with a season of programmes on BBC Four, including a documentary telling the story of Howard Carter, who captured images during the excavation of the tomb of Tutankhamun.