The competing chefs are halfway through their heat and the pressure is mounting. Once again, they are each serving their own original take on this year's Great British Menu pop music brief. For his main course, Ryan Simpson-Trotman is confident his dish, The UK's Number 1, will hit the top spot with his combination of a beef pie and rump cap. Sabrina Gidda is taking inspiration from her grandad's collection of old 45s for her Sunday Jukebox main: pork wellington and Black Country faggots. Kray is going all out for wow factor with wagyu beef, American-style scones and purple potatoes for Shaarron, dedicated to Birmingham's own Black Sabbath, The Osbournes and heavy metal.

Dessert is the chef's last chance to impress and stay in the competition to cook for the judges, so tensions are high. Sabrina creates a Fools Gold dessert of ice cream, peanut sable and honeycomb, in a tribute to The Stone Roses track. Kray is showing his romantic side with his dish A New Romance, inspired by the smell of Brian Ferry's aftershave. It features sweet smelling peaches presented in a variety of ways. Ryan is creating 2 Tone, a dessert dedicated to the Coventry record label and the ska music movement. It features a brownie made of white and dark chocolate as well as black and white meringues. But who is going home and who is staying on to cook for the judges tomorrow?

This week, it is the heats for the hotly contested north west region. Competing for a place on the banquet menu are two chefs returning to the competition for a second time, plus a supremely talented newcomer. Liam Simpson, who co-owns a high-end gastropub near Henley-on-Thames, is hoping to make it all the way after being knocked out in the heats during the 2018 competition. Adam Reid, chef-patron of a top hotel restaurant in Manchester, is aiming to get to the banquet for a second time, after his dessert made it in 2017. But they are facing tough competition from ambitious newcomer Hrishikesh Desai – a Michelin-starred executive chef at a luxury hotel in the Lake District.

The chefs begin by cooking their starters for a surprise veteran chef of the competition. Liam's dish Banging Beets takes inspiration from Liverpool's legendary Cream nightclub – the place to be in Britain's 90s clubbing scene – and sees him transform the humble beetroot into a sophisticated dish he hopes is worthy of serving at the banquet. Adam's musical inspiration is much broader with From the Beatles to Oasis – a refined take on corned beef hash, which he says northern musicians will have eaten through the decades. Meanwhile, Hrishikesh is hoping the luxurious ingredients of scallop, saffron and caviar will give him victory with his tribute to Great British musical greats, Old is Gold.

With no time to rest, the chefs move on to produce equally brilliant fish courses. Liam aims to impress with a simple mackerel dish inspired by a song he used to listen to with his husband while fishing, Adam pays homage to Northern Soul music with a hearty dish featuring cod and a rich butter sauce, while Hrishikesh is upping the ante with a complex salmon curry, inspired by the time he taught Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason how to cook Indian food.