Series 12

The pressure cookers are out, the table has been laid and the trophy has been polished - MasterChef is back, opening its doors to a new batch of aspiring chefs all battling to become Britain's best amateur cook. Across twenty-five episodes spread over seven weeks on BBC One, the contestants face extraordinary culinary challenges, expert critique and the trusted MasterChef faces, as John Torode and Gregg Wallace return to the judging table on the hunt for the twelfth champion.

Five more amateurs try to prove to judges John Torode and Gregg Wallace that they have the potential to be the 2016 MasterChef champion.

The cookery competition continues with the first quarter-final of the series. The six heat winners have no time to rest on their laurels as they continue to fight for their place in the competition.

It's the second week of heats and five more hopefuls try to prove to judges John Torode and Gregg Wallace that they have the potential to be the 2016 MasterChef Champion.

It's the second week of heats and five more hopefuls try to prove to judges John Torode and Gregg Wallace that they have the potential to be the 2016 MasterChef Champion.

It's the 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.

It's the third week of heats and five more hopefuls try to prove to judges John Torode and Gregg Wallace that they have the potential to be the 2016 MasterChef Champion.

Five more amateurs try to prove to judges John Torode and Gregg Wallace that they have the potential to be the 2016 MasterChef Champion.

It's the 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.

It's the last week of the heats and the final group of amateurs battle for a place in the quarter final. Five more hopefuls try to prove to judges John Torode and Gregg Wallace that they have the potential to be the 2016 MasterChef Champion. Firstly they are asked to cook their Calling Card, a dish that represents who they are as a cook. After tasting all five dishes, John and Gregg each pick their favourite dish. If they both choose the same dish, then they will select their second preference.

It's the last quarter-final of the heats 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 and a place in knockout week. The week's best amateurs are put through the mill with a daunting test set by one of Britain's toughest food critics, Jay Rayner. He challenges the amateur cooks to make an exceptional dish centred on one ingredient, duck breast. After cooking their dish based on the brief, the contestants must stand before Jay Rayner and John and Gregg, and hear what they think of their dish and how well they have kept to the brief. At the end of tonight's quarter-final, the best cooks will go through to knockout week, taking another step closer to being crowned MasterChef Champion 2016.

After four weeks of fierce competition only the 14 best cooks remain, and the battle is on as they come together for the first time and cook off against each other across two shows. The amateurs are split into two groups - the red team and the blue team - with seven cooks in each. Each set of contestants faces a daunting cook-off based on a brief given by John and Gregg. Their challenge is to create one dish inspired by a family favourite or food from their childhood.

Knockout Week continues, as the 14 best amateur chefs continue to battle it out in a high pressured cook-off. With the red team already having cooked, it is now the turn of the blue team to face the same daunting challenge set by John and Gregg. Their brief is to create one dish inspired by a family favourite or food from their childhood. In one hour and 30 mins, they must deliver just one dish that stands out from the crowd, and proves to the judges that they have a future in the competition. John and Gregg must now 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 2016?

Knockout Week continues, with the eleven remaining contestants facing a baptism of fire as they are split into two groups and tasked with running a professional lunchtime service on their own. In this episode, the first group heads to a London restaurant headed up by award-winning chef Stevie Parle. During a busy service, the five amateurs are responsible for serving up every dish on the menu to paying customers. Who will falter as they cook in a completely unfamiliar and demanding environment?

Knockout Week continues, as the second group of amateurs get their first taste of professional cooking. They head to an award-winning modern Italian restaurant run by head chef Antonio Favuzzi. The contestants are responsible for serving up every dish on the menu for a busy lunch service. Afterwards, it's back to the MasterChef kitchen for an Invention Test to show John and Gregg just what they have learnt.

Just nine amateur cooks remain as Knockout Week comes to a close, all of whom are desperate to reach the semi-finals. In this episode they have only one challenge: to cook one superb showstopper dish to wow the judges and secure their semi-final place. They have one and a half hours to create their masterpieces, and failure is not an option. Only the eight best amateurs will become semi-finalists, inching closer to being crowned MasterChef Champion 2016. For one more hopeful, the MasterChef dream will be over.

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.

he MasterChef semi-finals continue with a spectacular challenge, as the eight remaining best cooks in the competition head to the biggest naval base in Western Europe to embark on a special mission to serve lunch to members of the Royal Navy on board one of its longest serving ships, anti-submarine frigate HMS Northumberland. The semi-finalists face the enormous challenge of running their own kitchens in two specially constructed catering tents. Split into two teams of four, each team have to create two main courses and a dessert to feed 110 members of the ships company.

The MasterChef semi-finals continue. Forty amateur cooks have been whittled down and now only the most promising 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. John Torode oversees the kitchen, as the amateurs face a high pressured lunchtime service

It's the last of the 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 four of the country's most feared restaurant critics - Charles Campion, Tracey MacLeod, Jay Rayner and William Sitwell. 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 MasterChef Finals week?

It's the final week of MasterChef 2016. All the amateur cooks have just one goal: to lift the coveted MasterChef champion trophy. Tonight the final five become the final four. In this episode the final five travel to The Bristol Old Vic where they have the immense task of cooking for five leading actresses of the stage and screen. The dinner is overseen by rising British star, Michael O'Hare. His trailblazing restaurant, The Man Behind the Curtain, was awarded a Michelin star within a year of opening and is famed for its highly original dishes. Michael has devised a five-course menu for the guests and with just four hours to replicate his complex dishes, the amateurs will be challenged like never before.

It's the final week of MasterChef 2016. All the amateur cooks have just one goal: to lift the coveted MasterChef champion trophy. The final four talented amateur cooks embark on a culinary odyssey to Mexico, where they face a series of challenges they will remember for the rest of their lives. Mexico is home to a cuisine that has remained fundamentally unchanged for thousands of years, and the finalists' journey begins in the country's capital, Mexico City, known for its extraordinary markets, exotic produce and vibrant street food.

It's the final week of MasterChef 2016. All the amateur cooks have just one goal: to lift the coveted MasterChef champion trophy. The final amateur cooks face their most iconic and terrifying challenge yet - the Chef's Table. It's the contestants' last chance to prove they have got what it takes, because the final challenge is just around the corner.

It's the MasterChef final. After a formidable seven-week competition, the search for the country's best amateur cook reaches its climax. The finalists must push themselves to the limit one last time before John Torode and Gregg Wallace crowns one of the three highly talented cooks as the champion. In this final challenge, the finalists must pull out all the stops, show everything they have learned, and demonstrate what sort of cook they have become. They have three hours to produce three exceptional courses, push the culinary boundaries and give the judges an awe-inspiring tasting like never before. At the end of the challenge, one of the finalists will lift the trophy and become the 12th MasterChef champion.