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The three chefs are halfway through their heat and the pressure is mounting. They have just two opportunities left to impress veteran Tom Brown so are giving it all they have got. One of the chef鈥檚 main courses has oriental flavours inspired by the Chinese takeaway-loving title character in Skellig. Another chef has taken the ideas for his beef main from the book My Granny Was a Buffer Girl, set in Yorkshire, and the final chef is creating a pork dish in honour of Smashing Saxons. The Saxons believed pigs bought good luck, so the chef is hoping the same is true in the kitchen today. Will the chefs impress Tom with their creations?

After the nail-biting scoring on the mains, Susan asks the chefs to prepare a pre-dessert. Tom blind-tastes and ranks them in the case of a tie, so the chefs need to produce the very best dishes they can.

Tom is expecting great things of the dessert course. There is a dish inspired by Jane Elson鈥檚 A Room Full of Chocolate, featuring a delicate chocolate egg. One chef has taken inspiration from the north east鈥檚 much-loved author David Almond鈥檚 book Skellig and is serving a Newcastle Brown Ale ice cream. And there is a dessert inspired by the Yorkshire-based novel A Secret Garden, featuring Yorkshire rhubarb.

Only two chefs proceed to Friday鈥檚 judging and have a chance to represent the north east of England at the regional finals.