Masterchef: The Professionals 2014 - the enormously popular, BAFTA-award winning competition for professional chefs - returns to BBC Two on November, 4 for its seventh series.

Across the seven week run, the professional chefs are once again tested, challenged and pushed to the edge of their gastronomic limits, in the hunt for the next culinary superstar.

Marcus Wareing joins Monica Galetti and MasterChef’s seasoned diner Gregg Wallace, together they will search for the chef who has the skills, commitment, palate and style to push them to the top of their demanding industry. Monica Galetti said: “What makes the Professional series so exciting is that for these chefs it's their trade and they want to prove just what they can do, how creative they can be and the extent of their skills set.

"This is their opportunity to really demonstrate the extent of their experience and potential and I expect them to impress me - when they do, the competition gets seriously exciting! Gregg Wallace added: “Mediocrity is no friend of Professional MasterChef. You either go for it or you go home!”

Forty chefs from kitchens all over Britain compete in the heat stages, which run over the first four weeks with only the best making it through to Thursday’s quarter final. Every week, Thursday’s quarter final begins with the six best chefs from the heats battling in an invention test. Failure to impress will cost them; after judging their dishes, Marcus and Monica decide who can continue in the competition and who must go home. The Semi Finals, running across two weeks, begin with the final twelve chefs competing in pairs.

Firstly each pair are sent to one of Britain’s most famous Michelin starred restaurants to cook a busy lunch service under the Head Chef, and then recreate their Michelin-starred signature dish for judgement by the chef himself. Then, they must prepare a two-course showstopper for Marcus and Monica. Only five chefs make it through to the final week. The remaining finalists will face the toughest challenge of their career - the incredibly daunting Chef’s Table.

In what has become one of the most prestigious culinary events in Britain today, twenty four of the world’s leading chefs with 25 Michelin stars between them, descend on central London for a unique dinner that could make or break the finalists careers and their chances of winning the MasterChef title.

This year the chefs cook at the One Lombard Street in heart of the City of London. Serving a four-course menu, each chef has five hours to prepare one course. The penultimate show sees the final three chefs sent to Mugaritz in San Sebastian, Spain - the two Michelin starred restaurant world renowned for being on the cutting edge of modern gastronomy.

The chefs have two days to work with Andoni Luis Aduriz and must show what they have learnt by creating a dish for Andoni and his Head Chef. If successful, they will then work under Andoni in his state of the art kitchen, to cook a nine-course menu for specially invited guests and the three MasterChef judges. Lastly, there is one final cook-off in the MasterChef Kitchen to decide who will be this year’s champion.

The chefs must cook the best three courses of their lives for one final judgement from Marcus, Monica and Gregg. Marcus Wareing said: “Talent always shines through, it stands out – cream always rises to the top.”

Only brilliance can win the title of Professional MasterChef 2014. Episode details: Starts Tuesday 4th November Continues Wednesday 5th, Thursday 6th November 8-9pm, BBC Two

>>> Read more about Masterchef: The Professionals 2014 here