BRITTON GREAT AGAIN

relaxed. None of us were artists but we managed to get it.” After many years as a news and current affairs presenter, Britton – the daughter of actor Tony Britton – admits it was difficult to tear herself away from watching the news.

“Yes, it’s quite hard for me not to watch all the time. I used to love to watch BBC News all day on BBC Two – remember that? – because I just loved news.

“But now there’s so much news we can’t take in.we know the [coronavirus] rules that we have to abide by and we must, but we’re also trying to do our best for the ecosystem.

“I would love an electric car, love to get rid of my oil for heating, but gas isn’t available down there.there’s also the migrants coming over, and all these kids that are ill, and before you know it, it’s weighing upon you.”

Which is why getting the call about working onwatercolour Challenge, previously on

Channel 4, was so welcome.

“I did watch it back in the day when I was feeding children or something. But it was such a gift when it landed, it really was.the travel and the locations were just gorgeous. Mind you, the first camera link was pretty early – around 7.45am.” She wasn’t put off presenting 20 hours of television? “I used to do 12 hours of live television a week so I can manage an hour – that’s edited down of course.

“Even though it’s not live, you have to treat it ‘as live’ and they allowed me to be a live presenter too. Some won’t let you do that.

“Some of them don’t know what I’ve done. One younger director said, ‘Don’t worry, we’re not live and we can stop at any time…! I thought, ‘You’re speaking to the wrong person’.”

But it’s not all glamour, she confessed: “On some locations like Castle Howard [in Yorkshire], we’re a long way from a loo – and a long way from a cup of tea.

“It can take 20 minutes to get to either.”

In the show, four painters tackle a subject over three hours.

The Challenge films in the same region for a block of five episodes with the same artists.

“One some days,” she said, “they spend three hours in the rain, cold and wind but we do give them 15-minute breaks every now and then.” In the first episode looking over the seafront of Scarborough in North Yorks, several of the artists simply ripped up their first efforts.

“That takes courage I think. Everything is going on around them. Some didn’t do that in the first episode but by the second location they gained confidence and they would just start all over again immediately.”

In the show Britton, and a regional painting judge, comment on how the painting is going in front of each artist.what if the painting is not to her liking?

“You say, ‘That’s interesting’. That’s what you say.we’re all judges really, crew and myself.

“We also talk about them when the painters take a break.

“We’re always surprised by the one chosen by the judge.

“And that’s a good thing for the audience, too. They can say, ‘I didn’t think that would be the winner...’ and so on.”

Was she ever lost for words? “Well, what is art, what is art? That’s all you can say.

“I just loved watching the process. Some paint away busily, others fiddle and take much longer to get going.”

Britton says the show was a learning exercise for her. “To get into their mindset was interesting.

I always go for the ones with lots of colour but some were just spot on, and you really feel the atmosphere coming through the page.very moving – in the way that art can sometimes do things to you. It’s like music, you feel that prickle, the tears in your eyes.they have encapsulated a moment, capturing that scene. It’s hard to explain but lovely.

“I would like to compare the show to The Repair Show, something that turns up and then we feel we need it as a show. Everyone wants to do a doodle and to have tips and information is just brilliant for the viewer.”

Away from the daubing she is penning what she hopes will be another best-seller.

“I’m busy writing number 10. A lot of people ask how I find the energy.you know, I don’t do anything. I spend a lot of time sitting! That could be it.

“I sleep a lot and I do manage to get things done – I don’t know how that really works.”

She is hoping for a second series of Watercolour Challenge. “I’ll come back if asked, definitely. It’s nice and wholesome, with nice people doing something lovely – and we’re learning how to do it.”

Watercolour Challenge, Channel 5, Monday,