Kitchen Criminals Episode Rating Graph

John Burton Race and Angela Hartnett are holding auditions across the country to find the nation's worst cooks. This time they're in the South West and Wales. Angela and John were in Bristol, searching the West Country for crimes against cooking. Angela went back to basics with a master class in poaching eggs, while John attempted to convince cider drinkers about the merits of a beef and ale stew.

The nine remaining contestants had had their competitive spirits ignited, but one of them would be sent packing. They were learning to cook steak, but one of them would be having a beef by the end of the show - would it be the mum of three who's desperate to cook good food for her children, the former body builder whose hot water and smash tuna bake shocked John at the auditions, or the mystic cook who hoped her psychic powers would ensure that she stayed in boot camp for another day?

The Kitchen Criminals' cooking tasks are to try to perfect John Burton Race's pork escallops on buttered spinach and his roast pork with rhubarb compote. John attempted to put his eight remaining offenders back on the straight and narrow with a lesson in cooking with pork. But who left the boot camp? Was it the former fencing champion who likes to improvise with John's recipes, the personal trainer who has a love of Marmite, or the high-flying City career woman who admits she has it all?

John Burton Race demonstrates how to prepare a delicious dessert of poached pears with chocolate sauce and the classic French treat - profiteroles with vanilla cream. Unlikely as it seemed earlier in the competition, some of John's team actually showed promise as they tackled some classic desserts. But the outcome of the show was not sweet for one of the contestants - was it the youngest member of the team who was keen to learn to cook so that he could be independent, the Leicester man who admitted he'd never even heard of profiteroles, or the feisty Warrington cook who wasn't worried about standing up to John who swallowed a bitter pill?

After recruiting Britain's worst cooks, top chefs Angela Hartnett and John Burton Race have been tasked with transforming the nation's Kitchen Criminals into Kitchen Heroes. It was the final day of John's boot camp and the pressure was on for the six remaining contestants fighting for a place in the final five. This time they had the challenge of a three-course meal to prepare, and it was the contestants' friends and family judging their efforts in a blind tasting, and ultimately deciding who made it through to the final.

Angela Hartnett demonstrates a delicious Italian dish, Lamb Parmigano with Salsa Verde and a roast of Rack of Lamb with Ratatouilleto, to her hopeless cooks. The remaining contestants got a masterclass in cooking lamb, French and Italian-style. But who was the black sheep of the show? The air traffic controller at ease directing planes but a mess in the kitchen; the Essex career woman who horrified John and Angela at the London auditions with her steak pie, mayonnaise and ketchup sandwich; or the pensioner who, at 73, is trying for the first time in his life to learn to cook?

Angela Hartnett prepares two fish dishes - a mixed Seafood and Fish Stew and Sea Bream with Fennel and Dill Salad. The fish-themed boot camp saw some progress in the kitchen, but also some disastrous setbacks. Things didn't go swimmingly for one contestant - would the lap dancer who'd never touched, let alone eaten, fish until she came to the Manchester auditions, the career woman who turned up with a soggy victoria sponge, or the army careers adviser whose cremated sausage and lentil dish left the chefs retching be going home?

The task for the Kitchen Criminals today is to re-produce Angela Hartnett's simple Orange, Chicory and Chicken Salad and delicious Plum and Almond Tart. One of the kitchen criminals was showing signs of redemption and another who failed miserably on Wednesday appeared to be back on track. But Angela had to lose one of her team - the student who dismayed the chefs with a pool of milky liquid and noodles claiming to be macaroni cheese, the feisty Essex lady who refuses to be broken and the Northern Irish charmer who lives off pre-packaged salads were in the running for a return to the cookery cooler.

The contestants' friends and family judge the food on the final day of Angela Hartnett's cookery boot camp. They are taught to prepare an asparagus salad with Parma ham, halibut with grapefruit vinaigrette and an raspberry shortcake, before the guests will decide who goes home in a blind tasting session. And then there were five... On the final day of her boot camp, Angela sets her team members the challenge of cooking a three-course meal for their own friends and family to judge in a blind tasting that will decide who makes it through to the final stages of the competition.

Angela and John have each got five cooks left on their teams. Both chefs will have to send the person with least potential home at the end of the day so they're putting real pressure on them. Each chef had five team members remaining, but both had to lose one of their aspiring cooks. The pressure was on as they searched for protégés to represent them in the final test, cooking for three food critics. Their first task was to cook a mackerel dish without guidance from their mentors, then they attempted to master the starters that had been chosen for the final menu.

The remaining four contestants prepare duck breast with honey and spices before John Burton Race and Angela Hartnett send home the person with the least potential. The experts also demonstrate the main course they expect their chosen protege to cook in the final on Friday. John was disappointed when one of his best hopes for the final made a mess of a duck breast recipe, then both chefs watched as their teams tried out the main courses chosen for the final. How did the aspiring cooks cope with the technical difficulties of the dishes?

John Burton Race and Angela Hartnett oversee the remaining six candidates preparing chocolate mousse as the award-winning chefs step up their search to find a protege for Friday's final. The two tutors also demonstrate the desserts they expect to be prepared in front of food critics at the end of the week, before having to send one of the students home. It was Angela's turn to be disappointed in one of her most consistent performers, who let her down when making the relatively simple Chocolate mousse. Then it was time to learn to make the dessert course for the final menu, before two more contestants headed home.

The remaining four hopefuls head to a professional kitchen to practice cooking the three-course meals the food critics will judge in the final. Angela Hartnett's pair tackle salmon and scallop ravioli, while John Burton Race's team master red mullet nicoise, followed by chicken with morells and leeks. The hosts then each choose one recruit to represent them tomorrow. It was time to select the two recruits for the final. John and Angela put them through their paces by sending them to work in a professional kitchen, where they had to prepare the full three-course menu that would be presented to the critics in the final.