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It’s the fourth week of heats, and a fresh batch of ambitious cooks, including a fishmonger and data scientist, are ready to kick-start their MasterChef competition. The first mission is to secure one of four aprons – their key to this culinary adventure. Those who impress will push on to cook for some special guests, with the ultimate aim of nabbing a place in this week’s quarter-final.

First up is Basic to Brilliant, which pushes the contestants to deliver one plate of food that shows off their chosen basic ingredient in spectacular fashion. The choices include the humble tomato, mushroom and pepper, which should all lend themselves to some fabulous creations. The best cooks will be rewarded with an apron and sail through.

Those who fail to set tastebuds alight will have one more shot as they take on the Mystery Box. They will have just 45 minutes to create a dish using at least one of the surprise ingredients - lamb mince, figs and butternut squash, along with the freshly stocked larder. But will the amateur cooks be able to invent a dish under this amount of pressure? Those who fail to make the grade will need to say their goodbyes.

It’s straight back into battle for the cooks still standing. To land a quarter-final place, they will need to put in some hard graft as they cook up a two-course menu for three guests who know the drill well – 2023 champion, Chariya Khattiyot, and finalists Omar Foster and Anurag Aggarwal. All three of them, now professional chefs in their own right, will have high expectations of today’s menus. There will be no room for mediocrity.

The guests’ feedback will be taken on board, and the hopefuls who have done enough must prepare to head into the quarter-final. Nobody will want to miss out, as they will be one step closer to becoming this year’s champion.