In this first episode, the first seven hopefuls need to pull out all the stops to prove to judges John Torode and Gregg Wallace that they have the potential to rise above the rest to become MasterChef 2018 Champion.

Seven more amateurs try to prove to judges John Torode and Gregg Wallace that they have the potential to be the 2018 MasterChef champion.

It is the first quarter-final of the series, and the six heat winners continue to fight for their place in the competition. In the Critic's Test, the contestants are put through the mill with a seriously daunting test set by critic William Sitwell. His challenge for the amateur cooks is to create a dessert showcasing either alcohol or spices.

It's the second week of heats, and seven more hopefuls need to pull out all the stops to impress judges John Torode and Gregg Wallace. This year sees the return of the MasterChef Market, stocked full of the best-quality produce from across the world. The challenge is to invent and then cook one dish using anything from the market. The featured ingredients include venison, chicken, parma ham, sea bream and pollock, and the contestants have an hour and ten minutes to dazzle the judges. After tasting all seven dishes, John and Gregg decide which four cooks are good enough to stay, while three are sent home. The four remaining cooks must cook two courses that will excite not just John and Gregg but also some very special guests - 2015's MasterChef finalists Tony Rodd and Emma Spitzer and champion Simon Wood. After the four hopefuls have cooked, John and Gregg decide which three contestants deserve to take the next step in the competition and go through to Friday's quarter-final.

Seven more hopefuls try to impress judges John Torode and Gregg Wallace. This year sees the return of the MasterChef Market, stocked full of the best-quality produce from across the world. The challenge is to invent and then cook one dish using anything from the market. The featured ingredients include lamb rump, pork chops, pigeon, sea bass, turbot and langoustine, and the contestants have an hour and ten minutes to dazzle the judges. After tasting all seven dishes, John and Gregg decide which four cooks are good enough to stay, while three are sent home. The four remaining cooks must cook two courses that will excite not just John and Gregg but also the MasterChef champions from 2005, Thomasina Miers, and 2006, Steven Wallis, and finalist from 2006 Daksha Mistry. After the four hopefuls have cooked, John and Gregg decide which three contestants deserve to take the next step in the competition and go through to Friday's quarter-final.

It is the quarter-final, and the six contestants face the Critic's Test. This episode's brief has been set by Jay Rayner. His challenge for the amateur cooks is to make an exceptional pie - it can be any pie they like, sweet or savoury, but they must make their own pastry. After cooking their dish based on this brief, the contestants stand before Jay and judges John and Gregg to hear what they think of their dish and whether they've managed to rise to the challenge and fulfil the expectations. At the end of this quarter-final the best cooks go through to Knockout Week.

It's the third week of heats and seven more hopefuls need to pull out all the stops to prove to judges John Torode and Gregg Wallace that they have the potential to rise above the rest. This year sees the return of the MasterChef Market, full of quality produce from across the world including meat, fish, fruit, vegetables, nuts, pulses, grains and dairy. The challenge is to invent and cook one dish using anything from the Market. This time, the featured ingredients include chicken thighs, chorizo, crab, sea trout and prawns. They have an hour and 10 minutes to dazzle the judges and prove they are good enough to stay. The stakes are high and it's important to choose wisely because after tasting all seven dishes, John and Gregg will decide which four cooks will stay, while three cooks will be sent home. The four remaining cooks will have one more challenge standing between them and a quarter-final place.

In this episode, seven more amateurs try to prove to judges John Torode and Gregg Wallace that they have the potential to be the 2018 MasterChef Champion. This time, the featured ingredients in the MasterChef market include poussin, beef cheeks, pork mince, mackerel and tiger prawns. They have an hour and 10 minutes to dazzle the judges and prove they are good enough to stay in the competition. The stakes are high and it's important to choose wisely because after tasting all seven dishes, John and Gregg will decide which four cooks are good enough to stay, while three cooks will be sent straight home.

It's the quarter-final and the six heat winners continue to fight for their place in the competition. In the Critic's Test, the week's best amateurs will be put through the mill with a seriously daunting test set by one of the country's toughest food critics. Tonight's brief has been set by Grace Dent. Her challenge for the amateur cooks is to make their best comfort food dish - something Grace would want to eat on her day off. After cooking their dish based on this brief, the contestants stand before Grace Dent and judges John and Gregg, to hear, face-to-face, what they think of their dish and whether they've managed to rise to the challenge and fulfil the expectations. At the end of this quarter-final, the best cooks will go through to Knockout Week.

t's the last week of heats and seven more hopefuls need to pull out all the stops to prove to judges John Torode and Gregg Wallace that they have the potential to rise above the rest to become MasterChef 2018 Champion. This year sees the return of the MasterChef Market, stocked full of the best quality produce from across the world including meat, fish, fruit, vegetables, nuts, pulses, grains and dairy. The challenge is to invent and then cook one dish using anything from the Market. This time, the featured ingredients include quail, chorizo, bone marrow, cod and squid. They have an hour and 10 minutes to dazzle the judges and prove they are good enough to stay in the competition. The stakes are high in this round and it is important to choose wisely because after tasting all seven dishes, John and Gregg will decide which four cooks are good enough to stay, while three cooks will be sent straight home. The four remaining cooks now have one more challenge standing between them and a quarter-final place. They must cook two courses that will excite not just John and Gregg, but also some very special guests. Some of MasterChef's most inspiring winners and finalists return to judge the food of this year's new contenders to the throne. In this heat, the contestants must attempt to impress MasterChef champions Natalie Coleman (2013) and Mat Follas (2009) and finalist Jack Lucas (2014). After the four hopefuls have cooked, John and Gregg will decide which three contestants deserve to take the next step in the competition and go through to the quarter-final. In a competition where only the food matters, these amateurs will need to be good to survive - taking their first step towards being crowned MasterChef Champion 2018.

In this heat, the last group of seven amateur cooks try to prove to judges John Torode and Gregg Wallace that they have the potential to be the 2018 MasterChef Champion. This year sees the return of the MasterChef Market, stocked full of the best quality produce from across the world including meat, fish, fruit, vegetables, nuts, pulses, grains and dairy. The challenge is to invent and then cook one dish using anything from the Market. This time, the featured ingredients include lamb lion, chicken thighs, scallops, salmon fillets and prawns. They have an hour and 10 minutes to dazzle the judges and prove they are good enough to stay in the competition. The stakes are high in this round and it is important to choose wisely because after tasting all seven dishes, John and Gregg will decide which four cooks are good enough to stay, while three cooks will be sent straight home. The four remaining cooks now have one more challenge standing between them and a quarter-final place. They must cook an impressive menu that will excite not just John and Gregg, but also some very special guests. In this second heat, the contestants must attempt to impress the MasterChef champion Ping Coombes (2014) and 2011 finalists, Tom Whittaker and Jackie Kearney. After the four hopefuls have cooked, John and Gregg will decide who has what it takes to go through to Friday's quarter-final. In a competition where only the food matters, these amateurs will need to be good to survive - taking their first step towards being crowned MasterChef Champion 2018.

It's the last quarter-final and the six talented heat winners have no time to rest on their laurels as they continue to fight for their place in the competition. In the Critic's Test, the week's best amateurs will be put through the mill with a seriously daunting test set by one of the country's toughest food critics. Tonight's brief has been set by Amol Rajan. His challenge for the amateur cooks is to make their own interpretation of the British classic, a full English breakfast. After cooking their dish based on this brief, the contestants stand before Amol and judges John Torode and Gregg Wallace to hear, face-to-face, what they think of their dish and whether they have managed to rise to the challenge and fulfil the expectations. At the end of this quarter-final, the best cooks will go through to Knockout Week, taking another step closer to being crowned MasterChef Champion 2018.

After four weeks of fierce competition in the heats, 56 amateur cooks have been whittled down to just 16. Now these talented cooks come together to cook off against each other across two shows. In this episode the amateurs are split into two groups - the blue group and the red group - with eight cooks in each. Both groups face a cook-off based on a brief given by John and Gregg. Their challenge is to create one dish inspired by a personal or family-favourite recipe. After cooking, John and Gregg decide who is good enough to continue in the competition. The blue group are the first to cook. In one hour and 30 minutes they must hold their nerve to deliver a dish that stands out from the crowd and prove to the judges that they have a future in the competition. However, they won't find out their fate just yet, as they have to wait until the red group have cooked before John and Gregg choose who stays and who goes.

Knockout Week continues, as the best 16 amateur chefs continue to battle it out in a high-pressured cook-off. With the blue group having already cooked, it is now the turn of the red group to face the same daunting challenge set by John and Gregg. Their brief is to create one dish inspired by a personal or family-favourite recipe. In one hour and 30 mins, they must hold their nerve to deliver a dish that stands out from the crowd and prove to the judges that they have a future in the competition. John and Gregg must then make a difficult decision as they choose who has what it takes to continue in the competition and whose MasterChef journey is about to end. Who will crumble under the pressure and who will prove they have what it takes to take another precious step towards being crowned MasterChef champion 2018?

Over the next two nights the heat intensifies as the remaining twelve contestants are split into two groups and get their first taste of a professional kitchen when they have to run an entire lunchtime service. In this episode the first group head to Eneko in Covent Garden, London. Spanish chef Eneko Atxa's second restaurant, Eneko, specialises in Basque cuisine and is led by head chef Javi Blanco, who helped launch it in 2016. During a busy lunch service, the six amateur cooks are entirely responsible for serving the restaurant's menu to paying customers. Who will buckle under the intense pressure as they cook in a demanding and totally new environment? Then it is back to MasterChef HQ for an invention test for John and Gregg. In a bid to stay in the competition, each cook has to show they have learned from their experience and can create a unique and outstanding dish worthy of gracing the table of a restaurant. The contestants also discover that they not only have to present their food to John and Gregg but also to renowned fish chef and two Michelin-starred Nathan Outlaw, who has picked his favourite ingredients which the contestants must cook with. After this challenge, one of them is sent home. Only the best five make it through to Friday's challenge - the gateway to the semi-finals.

The second group of amateurs get their first taste of professional cooking. They are heading to Sartoria in London's Mayfair, run by renowned Italian chef patron Francesco Mazzei. The six contestants are responsible for serving up every dish on the menu to paying customers during a packed lunch service. Then it is back to MasterChef HQ for an invention test for John and Gregg. In a last-chance bid to stay in the competition, each cook has to show they have learned from their experience and can create a unique and outstanding dish worthy of gracing the table of a restaurant. Guest judge two Michelin-starred Nathan Outlaw returns to help John and Gregg evaluate the six amateur cooks' dishes After this challenge, one of the contestants is sent home.

It is the end of Knockout Week and there are just nine amateur cooks remaining. At MasterChef HQ, they have only one challenge - cook one dish to win over the judges and secure a semi-final place. They have 90 minutes to create their masterpiece. The best three cooks become semi-finalists, while the other six will have to fight it out again to earn their place.

With three contestants already through to the semi-finals, the best six remaining cooks go head to head to fight for their place alongside them. Judges John Torode and Gregg Wallace are joined by renowned chef Theo Randall. Previously awarded a Michelin star when he was head chef at the River Cafe, Theo is now the proprietor of Theo Randall at The Intercontinental. The six amateur cooks are set a brief by Theo to create one outstanding dish inspired by Italian cuisine, and they have just 90 minutes to prep and cook it. At this stage in the competition, the judge's expectations are sky high, and only the five best cooks will keep their place and join the other three semi-finalists. This is the cooks' final chance to prove they've got what it takes to stay in the competition and take a step closer to being crowned MasterChef champion 2018.

The MasterChef semi-finals continue as the eight remaining cooks in the competition head to RAF Halton in Aylesbury to celebrate 100 years of the RAF's formation. The semi-finalists are split into two teams of four and face the enormous challenge of running their own kitchens in two specially constructed catering tents. Each team must create two main courses and a dessert to feed 120 veterans, serving airmen and new recruits for a special lunch that celebrates the centenary. With less than four hours to deliver, organisation and teamwork are essential for success. It's vital that the two teams perform at their absolute best and produce a lunch worthy of the occasion, because after judging their food, John and Gregg pick the weakest team to return to the MasterChef kitchen, where they cook-off against each other in a special Invention Test. The contestants must create a stunning dish from the leftover produce from the previous challenge, which includes guinea fowl carcasses, salmon scraps, vegetables, fruit, and cheeses. The battle is on to stay in the competition and take another step towards being crowned MasterChef champion 2018.

The remaining semi-finalists must pull out all the stops when they are tasked with the daunting challenge of cooking a three-course fish lunch to celebrate 100 years of women's right to vote. John Torode oversees the kitchen as the amateurs face a high-pressured lunchtime service. The VIP diners include: Dr Helen Pankhurst, great-granddaughter of Emmeline Pankhurst - leader of the suffragette movement; Baroness Hale, president of the Supreme Court; former BBC chief news correspondent Kate Adie; broadcaster Dame Jenni Murray; space scientist Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock; journalist Kirsty Wark; and leading female chefs and restaurateurs who are at the forefront of dining trends and have paved the way for culinary excellence. The contestants must each serve one dish of their own creation on the specially designed menu. Under the watchful eye of John Torode, the amateurs are challenged like never before to deliver dishes of an exceptional standard. Once service is complete, it's back to the MasterChef kitchen, where all seven cooks are challenged with creating one plate of food inspired by someone they admire. With two hours to perfect their dishes, the chefs must go all out to impress judges John Torode and Gregg Wallace. After this challenge, one amateur cook will leave the competition and only six will remain to continue the battle for the MasterChef champion 2018 trophy.

It's the last of semi-finals and it's do-or-die for the best six amateurs as they cook-off to win a coveted place in the prestigious MasterChef finals. The contestants have just one challenge to win a place in the final five; to cook an outstanding dish to win-over three of the country's most-feared restaurant critics -Tracey MacLeod, Tom Parker Bowles and Fay Maschler. Serving food to these masters of the dining room is a daunting task for the most adept chefs, and these talented home cooks now have to put their skills and palates on the line. Any mistake could cost them the competition, so with the pressure firmly on, it is a tense and thrilling battle. At the end, judges John Torode and Gregg Wallace face a difficult decision - who to take through to the MasterChef finals week?

It's Finals Week of MasterChef 2018, and just five cooks remain. The final five travel to Carlton Towers in rural North Yorkshire, a Victorian gothic country house which is home to Lord and Lady Fitzalan-Howard and family. Here, the five amateur cooks must cook for the lord and lady as they host a lunch for some of Yorkshire's finest local producers and farmers, including author and shepherdess Amanda Owen, rhubarb farmer Robert Tomlinson and Simon Eyles MD of Yorkshire tearooms Bettys. The special lunch is overseen by one of the UK's most impressive young chefs, Tommy Banks. In 2013, at the age of just 24, Tommy became Britain's youngest chef to hold a Michelin star. Tommy has devised an exceptional five-course tasting menu for the guests at Carlton Towers using the best local produce, and with just four hours to recreate his complex and beautiful dishes, the finalists face their biggest challenge yet. The finalists then return to the MasterChef kitchen, where they are faced with the challenge of creating one dish inspired by a place they love, and they have just two hours to showcase all they have learned. Their one dish needs to demonstrate to judges John Torode and Gregg Wallace that they have what it takes to go the distance. Will their flair, creativity and palate be enough to save them from being sent home? Who can make it through to the final four and keep their dream alive?

Finals Week continues, and just four cooks remain. Now they embark on a culinary adventure of a lifetime to Peru. Over the last decade, Lima, the capital, has led a food revolution that has popularised Peruvian cuisine around the world. Here the finalists face three challenges, guided by two of Peru's most acclaimed chefs. The first challenge takes place in Lima's major fish market Chorillos, where, in teams of two, they are tasked with recreating four popular iconic Peruvian dishes to serve to a group of local fishermen. To help the finalists make sense of this unfamiliar cuisine, they are mentored by one of Peru's most prolific and celebrated chefs, Gaston Acurio. Next, the amateurs have the honour of working with chef Virgilio Martinez. His world-renowned restaurant Central is known for its unique menu which offers diners a taste of the incredible biodiversity found at different Peruvian altitudes. The four contestants work during a busy lunch service at Central and are given three hours to each cook a dish from Virgilio's 17-course tasting menu. Virgilio's cooking is precise and his standards exacting, so there is no room for error. Finally, the finalists face the daunting challenge of creating a special dinner at the Lima Country Club Hotel for Gaston, Virgilio and three other leading industry figures from the Peruvian food scene - Roberto Grau, Pia Leon and Malena Martinez. The amateur cooks must draw on their experiences of Lima to create their own Peruvian-inspired dish and impress their high-profile guests.

It is the penultimate show, and the final four amateur cooks face the challenge of a lifetime cooking alongside internationally renowned chef Ashley Palmer-Watts. Regarded as a leading culinary innovator, Ashley has worked alongside one of Britain's most famous chefs, Heston Blumenthal, for the last 18 years. As head chef at the three-Michelin-starred Fat Duck in Bray, Ashley helped create some of the world's most revered dishes before working with Heston to open London restaurant Dinner in 2011. Within months of opening, Dinner won a Michelin star and was awarded its second a year later. Now the four finalists gain a unique insight into Ashley's cuisine as they learn directly from him and his head chef Jonny Glass in the MasterChef kitchen. Each amateur cook has five hours to recreate an iconic dish from Ashley's menu at Dinner, and some of Dinner's recipes have as many as 120 stages of preparation. Once the four finalists have prepared their complex and precise dishes, they must serve them to Ashley and to judges John Torode and Gregg Wallace. Finally the four amateurs are tasked with creating one exceptional dish for John and Gregg that showcases their growing cooking talent. Only three can make it through to the final.

It's the MasterChef final. After an arduous seven-week journey, the search for the country's best amateur cook reaches its climax. The finalists have to push themselves to the limit for one last time before judges John Torode and Gregg Wallace crown one of the three talented cooks the champion. This is their final chance to pull out all the stops and show everything they have learned along the way, and in three hours demonstrate the kind of cook they have become. They must produce the best three dishes of their lives, push their culinary boundaries and produce jaw-droppingly good food for the judges. It's now or never for these exceptional amateur cooks as only one of them can lift the trophy and become the fourteenth MasterChef champion.