Season 3 2018

Mariella Frostrup and Rev Richard Coles present a third series of the art contest, which begins with 10 contestants getting a masterclass in still life in Glasgow. The painters must each depict an object they have brought with them from home, before visiting a distillery to produce a large scale painting of the stills and fermenters. The finished art is displayed to members of the public, who get the chance to vote for their favourite, before Judges Lachlan Goudie and Daphne Todd decide who will be the first to be eliminated.

Mariella Frostrup and Rev Richard Coles travel to the Cotswolds, where nine painters work with their professional mentors to conquer techniques to depict nature in all its glory. The first task involves dealing with two subjects that won't stay still - dogs Herbert and Nutmeg - and the final challenge sees them attempting to capture the majesty of the Acer glades.

Mariella Frostrup and Reverend Richard Coles present the semi-final. Housed in Glasgow's world-famous Kelvin Hall, the six remaining artists face the toughest theme of all - movement. In the first task, they must try to capture the action of an endurance runner and world record-breaking cyclist. This is followed up with two masterclasses designed to find solutions to the problem of capturing a moving object in paint. The final challenge takes place in the gymnasium. The two groups have to depict the dynamic movement of a floor gymnast or the graceful elegance of an athlete on the beam. The pressure builds as there are only four places in the final, so winning the public vote is even more important, as the formidable judges, Lachlan Goudie and Daphne Todd OBE, send two painters home. Who will fall at the final hurdle?

It's the final, and the four remaining artists travel to the Historic Dockyard in Chatham, Kent, to battle it out for the title. The first task requires them to take a good, hard look at themselves as they take on self-portraits. As always, Diana Ali and Pascal Anson are on hand with moral support, they want their artists' paintings to really take on personality and character, not just to create a likeness. Following the task the painters are given individual masterclasses to help them work on areas the mentors think could make a difference in the final challenge. They involve painting with decorator rollers, eating and then painting cake, painting blindfolded and painting with dance movements. The final day dawns and the artists face the ultimate challenge. For the first time they are allowed to choose any subject they want. They have three hours to use everything they have been taught over the last six weeks to create a painting that will decide the winner of the Big Painting Challenge 2018.