Master Chef (UK TV Series) - Revived Series (new Format)

Revived Series (new Format)

In 2005, executive producers Franc Roddam and John Silver along with series producer Karen Ross radically overhauled the format, and a new series was introduced, initially under the name MasterChef Goes Large. The name returned to MasterChef in 2008. In the new version, there are two permanent judges, John Torode and Gregg Wallace, though neither addresses the viewer directly; instead narrative information is conveyed in a voiceover by India Fisher. The show proved very popular and became one of BBC Two's more successful early-evening programmes, leading to an announcement by the BBC in 2009 that it would be moved back to BBC One.

In the new format, each series airs five nights a week for eight weeks, consisting of six weeks of heats and quarter-finals, with six contestants emerging to compete against one another over the final two weeks to select a winner.

In each of the first six weeks, there are four heats and a quarter-final. Six contestants enter each heat, with one quarter-finalist emerging from each of the four heats, and these four quarter-finalists compete for a semi-final place, so that over the first six weeks, six semi-finalists emerge. In 2010, the judges were given more flexibility, allowing them to promote more than one contestant to the quarter-finals, or in one instance, none at all.

Heats

The heats follow a three-round format:

• The Invention Test: the contestants must invent a dish from scratch in 50 minutes (40 minutes up until 2009). The contestants can choose from any of a selection of ingredients provided on the day. This forms the first round of the programmes and reduces the contestants from six to three cooks.
• The Pressure Test: Working a lunchtime shift at a busy restaurant under the supervision of a professional chef who comments on their performance.
• The Final Test: Cooking a two course meal, with the contestants designing their own menus and choosing their own ingredients, in one hour.

Quarter-Finals

The quarter-finals follow a different structure with different challenges. Up until 2010, the format was:

• The Ingredients Test: where the contestants are asked to identify a selection of ingredients or produce.
• The Passion Test: in which each contestant has one minute to convince the judges of their overwhelming passion for food. Following these two rounds, one contestant is knocked out without having cooked that day.
• Finally the remaining three quarter-finalists each produce a three course meal in one hour and twenty minutes.

In 2010, the quarter-final format was changed to:

• The Choice Test: where the contestants are given 15 minutes to cook their choice of either a pre-selected fish recipe or a meat recipe with the judges looking on. At least one contestant is eliminated after this test.
• This is followed by the remaining quarter-finalists producing a two course meal in an hour.

Comeback Week

The sixth week is called "Comeback Week" and features contestants from the previous series of MasterChef who did not advance past the heats or quarter-finals. The format is different for this week:

• The Skill Test: where the contestants have 25 minutes to cook one of two pre-selected recipes. Some contestants may be eliminated after this test.
• The Palate Test: where John Torode cooks a complex dish and asks the contestants one by one to eat the dish and list as many ingredients in the dish as possible. Some contestants may be eliminated after this test.
• The Pressure Test: where the remaining contestants work a lunchtime shift at a busy restaurant under the supervision of a professional chef who comments on their performance.
• The remaining contestants then have 60 minutes to cook a two course meal. One contestant is selected to advance to a quarter-final.
• The comeback quarter-finalists then cook head-to-head in a larger version of the invention test, cooking one dish in an hour. One contestant is selected to advance to the semi-finals.