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The three chefs are halfway through their heat and the pressure is mounting to try and impress veteran Tom Aitkens with their main courses. One chef is creating an ambitious Hogwarts Feast honouring Harry Potter, which features Glenarm shorthorn beef and a range of tasty accompaniments. One of the other chefs is basing their CS Lewis-inspired Centaur鈥檚 Supper dish around bacon and oats, the food both a man and a horse would eat for breakfast. The final chef is cooking a feast fit for a giant - The Big Friendly Giant - and is roasting pork loin for his Roald Dahl-inspired main. Will Tom鈥檚 high expectations be met or will he be left wanting?

After the nail-biting scoring on the mains, presenter Susan Calman asks the chefs to prepare a pre-dessert. Tom ranks the dishes in case of a tie, so the chefs need to produce their very best.

After a glimpse of their pastry skills, it is on to dessert. The three chefs are pulling out all of the stops as this is their last chance to impress Tom and get through to the judges' chamber. For dessert, there is a Narnia-inspired beetroot sorbet served with rose granita and buttermilk snow. One chef creates an edible book tribute to Oliver Jeffers鈥檚 story The Incredible Book Eating Boy. The pages of the book are made with layers of chocolate ganache, coconut parfait and coffee gel. The final dessert is a fruity offering called Each Peach Pear Plum, in tribute to the book of the same name, a childhood favourite of the chef鈥檚. It features a plum pie and a pear sorbet served with a peach parfait. The dessert course is always the most challenging as many elements have to be frozen and set. Who will keep their cool and create a best-selling dish?

Only two chefs proceed to Friday鈥檚 judging and have a chance to represent Northern Ireland at the regional finals.