“It would be unreasonable to ask you to be the best… but I think it’s perfectly reasonable for me to ask you to be your best”. And with that rallying call from Raymond Blanc, so began last night’s fantastic edition of The Restaurant (BBC Two, Wednesday, 8pm). As I’ve mentioned previously, last night saw Monsieur Blanc turning up at the various participating eateries to see just how good his contestants are. The nervous energy and worry was plain to see as, and this is something of a rarity in TV, the contestants clearly respected Raymond to the point where they became those that averted their eyes when he entered.

Now that we’re down to the last three couples, a lesser show would have taken a week ‘off’. We would have seen them having a bit of fun and we’d get to ‘know’ them a little better. However, the great thing about The Restaurant is that it refuses to budge. It keeps things simple. It tells us that we learn far more about our contestants by watching them work… and it’s true. I couldn’t care less about their personal lives… I want to see how good they can be. This show is not trying to make a celebrity out of anyone. Being down to the last three, and two couples going into tonight’s challenge, that means someone is through to the final non?

Unfathomably, arguably the least likeable couple on the show have made it to the final week. Jeremy and Jane’s consistent performance and high profit have seen them guarantee a spot in the final and are now in sniffing distance of going into business with Raymond. For those who have been watching the show, you won’t be surprised to learn that Jane cried when told the news. We’ve seen Jane breaking down quite frequently during the show, which tends to suggest that she lacks the hard nose that is required to work in the food business. Jeremy on the other hand seems to be playing chef as any real passion for food has (so far) failed to come across. Jeremy said that he wanted to win so badly that he wouldn’t even care if “the prize was death”. However, I just couldn’t buy it.

Maybe the main lesson to learn, for the viewer mostly, is that this show is not a popularity contest. If Blanc and Co choose Jeremy and Jane, then we have to respect the decision and get on with it. In this scenario, Blanc’s reputation is actually on the line… unlike most chefs who churn that line out willy nilly. It doesn’t matter whether I like Jeremy and Jane at all… but previous reality shows have conditioned my poor little brain.

On to the two remaining couples – Jess and Laura and Grant and Laura. The twins have proven to be strong competitors since week one and have really taken up the challenge with considerable gusto. Their grace in the line of fire has seen them become particularly popular amongst the viewers and fellow contestants. That said, they’ve been performing so well that it seems like complacency has set in. It’s not that they’re not trying and pushing, rather, they’ve been teacher’s favourite for so long that any criticism throws them wildly off course. They strike me as two girls who have performed well in everything they’ve done in life, and now, they don’t quite know how to handle negative feedback… a bit like the clever girls in class who can’t quite believe that they didn’t get top scores in their exams. It’s not that they’re bitchily competitive, but rather, they’re not used to finishing second. So into tonight’s challenge they go.

Grant and Laura meanwhile have continued to impress this writer. They’ve shown great passion for what they do and a kind of professionalism that I simply know nothing about. They have managed to be forthright with Raymond without coming across as rude and have managed to get their business heads on without ever coming across as… well… dickheads for want of a better word. They too find themselves in tonight’s challenge, and where I once wanted the twins to go through, my allegiance is firmly with Grant and Laura. Tonight (BBC Two, 8pm) is crunch night. Tune in or miss out on one of the TV highlights of the year.