Forty amateur cooks have been whittled down to the most promising eight. It's the first of the semi-finals, and the eight best cooks come together to battle in a team challenge, the Relay Invention Test. Split into two teams of four, both groups must create two dishes between them; a main course based on lamb, and a dessert using pear as the main ingredient. Each team member has just 20 minutes to make their contribution to the dish, and they must do so without communicating with one another. It's vital the team leaves clues for each other, as each cook needs to decipher what the dish is supposed to be through the hints left behind.

As the semi-finals continue, seven remain in the competition, all fighting for a place in Finals Week. In this programme they have to pull out all the stops as they are tasked with the daunting challenge of cooking for some of the world's most celebrated restaurateurs. Travelling to London's fashionable Chelsea, the amateur chefs are thrown into service at the culinary landmark Bluebird where they take full control of its kitchens. The diners are all restaurateurs who are at the forefront of dining trends and have paved the way for culinary excellence, so their expectations are sky high. The contestants must each serve one dish of their own creation on the specially designed menu. The two chefs who cook the most popular dishes will be exempt from the next cook-off.