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This week they're fixing a pachinko machine. Or, more specifically, the Repair Shop's Geoffrey Harvey is. Geoffrey is the one who looks like former Sex Pistol John Lydon looks these days. A pachinko machine, if you're not aware, or even if you are, is like a cross between a bagatelle board and a pinball thingummy, only it stands upright, or at least it's meant to.

For now, it's actually easier for Geoffrey to lay it down, so he can open it up and "see what's wrong with it". While I'm no great expert myself, on closer observation my own hunch as to what might be "wrong" with this thing is that (and please forgive the technical jargon here) it's falling apart. This often seems to be the case with items brought into the Repair Shop.

But then apparently it's been sitting in a loft since 1971, so I guess that's not wholly surprising. The lovely pair who've brought it in, sisters Julie and Tracy from Hampshire, have explained to Geoffrey and pal Will Kirk that it brings back memories of their childhood. "We always refer to it as the pinball machine," Julie goes on to tell them. "I know it's got a different name, but we can never say it."

At this point, a less diplomatic soul - such as me, for example - might reply: "Sorry, you're telling me you can't say 'pachinko'? You're kidding me, right?

"Pa. Chin. Ko - seriously, how hard can it be?"

Mind you, Will looks tempted to say something not dissimilar.

"Go on, then," he tells them. "Try."

So Julie tries.

"Pinchirriata..?" she suggests. "Pinchetta..?"

Geoffrey then chips in with: "Very near!" Which I must say I find extraordinary. If I were him, I'd be saying: "Right, ladies, here's the deal. "You go away, you take this lovely machine that you've had for 55 years and you bring it back when you've learnt how to say "Pa", "Chin" and "Ko", preferably in that order.

"Do that for me, and I'll happily fix it so it's good as new. Can't say fairer than that, can I?"

Instead, guess what. He just goes ahead and mends it in any case, as if saying it's name correctly is no big deal. Further proof that the world has gone quite mad.

I love finding out about these MasterChef contestants' day jobs. The new bunch tonight, for example, include a flight operations controller, a retired diplomat and a tattoo artist (the latter, Maddie, intrigues me in particular, as she appears not to have a single tattoo of her own). Human interest-wise, such varied back stories make the contest far less predictable than the professional version. "What do you lot do for a living?" you'd ask those pro guys. "I'm a chef," the first would reply. Followed by: "I'm a chef","I'm a chef", "I'm a chef", "I'm a chef" and "I'm a taxidermist! Just kidding..."

Are you familiar with Facebook's "like" button? It's what users tap if they want to express their approval of something another user has written, or of a picture they've posted, or of some deranged nonsense they've spouted after downing three pints of Merlot, which others somewhat bafflingly wish to register their approval of, possibly because they've personally just downed four. Well, anyway, tonight we meet the man who invented it. "Did you consider making a 'dislike' button?" Grayson asks.