It looks as if the opening format will be the same as last year. From radiotimes.com:
Thursday 29th
The nine couples battling for the opportunity to change their lives forever are given just one hour to cook a dish that sells their culinary skills as well as their vision for a restaurant. Only the best will go on to the next stage and get one step closer to the prize.
The first two series were very good, beautifully shot and narrated with a format that worked. To be honest it was the RAB'ers on here who made it into much more than a RTV show.
There was no other couple eliminated that week. The numbers have been off since the first week. It was the health and safety disaster with the knives and two couples eliminated that week which threw the numbers awry.