Masterchef finale: BBC confirms new date and time for rescheduled episode

Episode will air on Wednesday night 14 April

The BBC has confirmed a new date and time for the broadcast of the MasterChef finale, after it was postponed due to the death of Prince Philip.

The final episode of the cooking competition will see contestants Tom Rhodes, Mike Tomkins and Alexina Anatole battle it out to be crowned the series’ winner.

It will air on Wednesday night (14 April) at 8.00pm on BBC One, the broadcaster’s press office has confirmed.

The episode was originally scheduled to air on Friday (9 April), however, was included in the slate of evening programs postponed due to the death of Prince Philip earlier that day.

The entirety of BBC One and BBC Two’s scheduled line-ups were pulled following the announcement that the Duke of Edinburgh had died aged 99.

Both BBC One and BBC Two aired the same news coverage at the same time. Programmes included a tribute to the late royal, as well as two showings of a documentary that included interviews with Prince Charles and Princess Anne.

The broadcaster also pulled advertising from BBC-owned channels, largely halted upbeat music on the station’s radio services in favour of repeated news bulletins, and suspended all programming on BBC Four. The latter instead broadcast hours of a blank screen urging viewers to “switch to BBC One for a major news report”.

The programming switch was met with hostility by many viewers, particularly over the cancellation of the final of MasterChef, as well as EastEnders, Gardeners World and The Graham Norton Show. 

As a result, the BBC’s website had created a new page solely dedicated to complaints about the coverage, while acknowledging that many viewers were upset by their editorial decision-making.