BBC's The Apprentice: review

Over the past 12 weeks I have been tuning into BBC iPlayer every Thursday for my weekly dose of The Apprentice. I didn’t initially have much interest in watching the show - I haven’t watched the series for the past few years - however, this year was different. My sister decided she was going to watch it, and since I was soon to be living 3,000 miles away, it seemed like the perfect way to keep in touch and have something trivial to talk about. And so it began. Week one and two I was still at home and we watched together, laughing at how the boys team managed to use the same brown and green colour scheme two weeks in a row. I wasn’t really invested in any of the contestants, only really watching the show to laugh at twelve 20-somethings with big egos who created some disastrous marketing. But, in week four, something changed. I began to care about the contestants, picking my favourites to win. I was shocked when Francesca was fired in week five, fully expecting her to make it to the end as she appeared to be the only one with any real sense. However, her painful misspelling of arctic as “artic” proved me wrong: she was fired, and I was hooked.

The premise of the show is brilliantly simple. Ten weeks of tasks that are somewhat business related, followed by gruelling interviews and a grand finale where the top two contestants launch the business they want Lord Sugar to invest in. What makes this series so successful and addictive is the sheer ludicrousy of the weekly tasks. In week four, Lord Sugar sent half of each team to Cornwall to catch fish. (Remember that most of these contestants have degrees in finance and economics). The other half then had to prepare the fish to sell to high-end hotels in central London. There is potentially nothing more humbling than going on national television to secure a £250,000 investment for your business, and instead finding yourself gutting fish for a five-star hotel. This particular episode received a lot of criticism, with the production team having to release a statement promising that none of the fish was wasted.

As well as the ridiculous tasks the teams are sent on, the show's entertainment factor arises from the judgemental looks and concerned comments from Lord Sugar’s two aides: Tim Campbell (winner of series one), and the iconic Baroness Karren Brady. Every cut to Karren is comedy gold. Unfortunately, Lord Sugar’s own comments don’t quite meet their mark. His puns are painful and so obviously scripted, leaving a viewer cringing. It’s a shame that Lord Sugar, the icon behind the show, has become a slightly farcical caricature of himself for the cameras. Many of his decisions about who to fire each week I have disagreed with, and it frustrated me when watching because he only gets feedback from Karren and Tim, rather than witnessing the action like viewers at home. But, I must remind myself that this is Reality TV, and not a more serious programme, like Dragons’ Den. The penultimate episode, which aired Thursday 17th March, was the highly anticipated interview stage. Quite possibly the best moments from this series came this week, with Mike Soutar stealing the show by buying Kathryn’s website domain, making Brittany’s protein cocktail and asking Stephanie to authenticate a babygrow.

Overall, I really enjoyed the entertainment value of this series and am glad my sister goaded me into watching. I looked forward to each Thursday, and I’m sure next week there will be a hole in my evening routine. Although the actual business plans pitched by the candidates seemed boring and unnecessary, watching them run around London, Wales and Cornwall desperately trying to sell their dreadful products brought some humour and light relief to my week. I am not sure I will be tuning in for the next series, but I am glad that I watched it this year.