Episode 1
MasterChef: The Professionals returns to BBC One for the 17th series of the UK's most revered cooking competition. Thirty-two of the country's most ambitious chefs are invited to battle it out in the MasterChef kitchen, in a bid to become the 2024 champion.
Judging throughout the journey are culinary legend Marcus Wareing, renowned chef Monica Galetti and celebrated MasterChef judge Gregg Wallace, all hoping to unearth the next culinary superstar.
Over seven weeks, the 32 professional chefs will have their skills, creativity and culinary knowledge put to the test in a series of demanding challenges as the judges hunt out the most impressive talent in the industry. Only the strongest contenders will be in with a shot of winning the coveted MasterChef: The Professionals trophy.
Tonight, it's heat one, which will see the first four brave chefs enter the MasterChef kitchen. Their mission is to impress across two daunting tasks, in the hope of securing a place in this week's quarter-final.
First stop is the infamous skills test. The chefs have ingredients laid out for them, with just 20 minutes to show off their talents. Nobody will want to leave a bad first impression. The first two chefs take on the challenge set by Monica: to make a carrot schnitzel and serve it with a white bean hummus and Middle Eastern herb sauce, zhoug. This is plant-based cookery at its best, and will require the chefs' intuition and a little bit of flair.
It's a sweet dish for the two remaining chefs as they tackle a dessert brief given to them by Marcus. Their job is to a rustle up choux pastry beignets and serve them with lavender sugar and a whipped orange cream. Precise pastry work will be the order of the day as the chefs try to delight the judges with light, fluffy sugary clouds.
The heat will end with all four chefs cooking their own two-course signature menu. Can they pull off an exceptional main and dessert in just one hour and 30 minutes?
The best chefs on the day will head into the quarter-final as the race for the title of MasterChef: The Professionals champion 2024 gets off to a flying start.
Trailer
Recently Updated Shows
The Masked Singer
Part guessing game and part singing show, The Masked Singer sees 12 famous faces compete to pull off the best performance, with their identity elaborately and imaginatively concealed, thanks to an expert team of talented costume designers. The stars will be transformed and they will take on a masked identity and become a fantastic character which will disguise them for the whole series.
Forget any thoughts of fancy dress – they'll be full-on, original, movie-standard creations taking inspiration from worlds as varied as manga, superheroes, and wild animals and mythical creatures. Their transformations will be total, even their speaking voices will be disguised in interviews.
It will be up to a superstar panel to lead the viewers at home in their quest to discover who they are. Although the stars aren't judged on their voices, they'll still need to give their best performance – the audience's least favourite will be eliminated, before the panel try to guess their identity and unmask them.
Real Time with Bill Maher
Real Time with Bill Maher includes an opening monologue, roundtable discussions with panelists, and interviews with in-studio and satellite guests. Politico hailed Maher as "a pugnacious debater and a healthy corrective to the claptrap of cable news", while Variety noted, "There may not be a more eclectic guest list on all of television".
The Apprentice
The Apprentice sees fourteen candidates, competing against each other for a position at Lord Alan Sugar's company. Each week the candidates take part in a task set by Lord Sugar. Each team will have a Team Leader who managers that group for that task. The team that performs the best will win a reward and avoid the boardroom. The losing team will be summoned to the boardroom where their team leader will be forced to pick two people in their team who we join them in the boardroom and a chance to be fired. After twelve weeks Lord Sugar will be left with his Apprentice, who will work for him at a salary of £100,000. Lord Sugar is very busy so he has Nick and Karen, who act as his eyes and ears, to inform him of what's going on.
Cold Case Files
The return of Cold Case Files will explore compelling new cases that have gone cold for years and chronicle the journeys of the detectives who reopened them. The detectives relive the events of the crimes, reveal new twists and startling revelations for full viewer immersion into these tragic cases, relying on breakthroughs in forensic technology and the influence of social media to help crack these cases - bringing long-awaited closure to the victim's families and friends.