Portrait Artist of The Year

Stephen Mangan and Joan Bakewell present a brand new series of Portrait Artist of the Year from The Grand Hall of Battersea Arts Centre in London, which once again is transformed into an art studio in a quest to find the best creative talent. In this first heat, 9 artists are challenged to create a portrait of one of three celebrities: Nick Grimshaw, and Elizabeth Day and Kadijah Mellah.

Stephen Mangan and Joan Bakewell present a brand new series of Portrait Artist of the Year from The Grand Hall of Battersea Arts Centre in London, which once again is transformed into an art studio in a quest to find the best creative talent. In this second heat, 9 artists are challenged to create a portrait of one of three celebrities: Lulu, Alex Brooker, and Phil Manzanera.

Stephen Mangan and Joan Bakewell present a brand new series of Portrait Artist of the Year from The Grand Hall of Battersea Arts Centre in London, which once again is transformed into an art studio in a quest to find the best creative talent. In this third heat, 9 artists are challenged to create a portrait of one of three celebrities: Suggs, Miquita Oliver, and Eve Muirhead.

Stephen Mangan and Joan Bakewell present a brand new series of Portrait Artist of the Year from The Grand Hall of Battersea Arts Centre in London, which once again is transformed into an art studio in a quest to find the best creative talent. In this fourth heat, 9 artists are challenged to create a portrait of one of three celebrities: Bruno Tonioli, Yolan Da Brown, and Helen Sharman.

Stephen Mangan and Joan Bakewell present a brand new series of Portrait Artist of the Year from The Grand Hall of Battersea Arts Centre in London, which once again is transformed into an art studio in a quest to find the best creative talent. In this fifth heat, 9 artists are challenged to create a portrait of one of three celebrities: Big Zuu, Dame Stella Rimington, and Alexis Ffrench

Stephen Mangan and Joan Bakewell present a brand new series of Portrait Artist of the Year from The Grand Hall of Battersea Arts Centre in London, which once again is transformed into an art studio in a quest to find the best creative talent. In this sixth heat, 9 artists are challenged to create a portrait of one of three celebrities: Jim Carter, Benjamin Zephaniah, and Ellie Simmonds.

Stephen Mangan and Joan Bakewell present a brand new series of Portrait Artist of the Year from The Grand Hall of Battersea Arts Centre in London, which once again is transformed into an art studio in a quest to find the best creative talent. In this seventh and last heat, 9 artists are challenged to create a portrait of one of three celebrities: Lemar, Henning Wehn, and Candice Carty-Williams.

For the semi-final of this ninth series of Portrait Artist of the Year, Stephen Mangan and Joan Bakewell return to the Grand Hall at Battersea Arts Centre which has had a makeover for today's challenge. A glamorous backdrop adorned with gold provides artists with a clue to their semi-final celebrity sitter; Rebecca Ferguson.

After making it through to the semi-final, just three artists remain in the running to become Portrait Artist of the Year. Artists find the Battersea Arts Centre Grand Hall once again transformed to provide the perfect setting for their sitter - the UK's ex-Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Professor Sir Jonathan Van Tam.

From some 2000 applicants, 63 artists made it to the heats, 8 made it to the semi-final and just 3 to the final, where our worthy winner for this ninth series of Portrait Artist of the Year was selected. Stephen Mangan and Joan Bakewell present this final programme, where the winner embarks on a GBP 10,000 prize commission to create a portrait of Sir Lenny Henry.

This December six eager celebrities take on a festive challenge to paint one of 3 famous faces in this year's Christmas Special with a little help from some wise mystery guests.

In this 'best-of' episode we witness the rapport evolve between artist and sitter, we are amazed by how many ways there are to paint a portrait, experience the emotional rollercoaster as time ticks on, and enjoy the moment when the exceptional artworks are revealed once the time is up.