The Apprentice (UK TV series)

The Apprentice
Genre	Reality game show
Created by	Mark Burnett
Narrated by	Mark Halliley
Theme music composer	Dru Masters[1]
Opening theme	"Dance of the Knights" by Prokofiev
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language(s)	English
No. of series	11
No. of episodes	132
Production
Running time	60 minutes
Production company(s)	Talkback and Mark Burnett Productions (2005) Talkback Thames and Mark Burnett Productions (2006–11) Boundless and Mark Burnett Productions (2012–13) Boundless and United Artists Media Group (2014–)
Distributor	FremantleMedia
Release
Original network	BBC Two (2005–06) BBC One (2007–)
Picture format	16:9 (1080i HDTV)
Original release	16 February 2005 – present
Chronology
Related shows	The Apprentice (US version) The Apprentice (Irish version) The Apprentice: You're Fired! Young Apprentice
External links
Website

The Apprentice is a British reality game show in which a group of aspiring businessmen and women compete for the chance to win a £250,000 investment from British business magnate, Alan Sugar, towards a business of the candidate's creation, with Sugar as a 50% owner. Between series one to six, the prize was originally a £100,000-a-year job as an "apprentice" to Sugar, and winners went on to work at Amstrad, an electronics manufacturing company founded by Sugar (but since sold to BSkyB),^[2][3] or one of Sugar's other companies, Viglen,^[4] Amsprop^[5] or Amshold.^[6] The show, billed as a "job interview from hell", is very similar in format to the American series of the same name, which starred entrepreneur Donald Trump.^[7] Both the American and British versions of The Apprentice are produced by Mark Burnett.

Both the first and second series aired on BBC Two in 2005 and 2006 respectively, before the third series was aired on BBC One in early 2007,^[8] the success of which led the BBC to commission two more series.^[9] The fourth series began in March 2008, and the fifth series in March 2009. These were then followed by the sixth series in October 2010, the seventh series in May 2011, the eighth series in March 2012, the ninth series in May 2013, the tenth series in October 2014, and eleventh series in October 2015. A twelfth series has been commissioned to air in 2016.^[10]

The programme has spawned three spin-offs, The Apprentice: You're Fired! (a studio-based programme which acts as a companion to the regular series), plus celebrity versions for Comic Relief and Sport Relief.^[11][12] Occasional 60-minute special episodes, often concentrating on particular candidates and their stories, also air.^[13] Apprentice-related merchandising includes a magazine, podcast, and official books.^[13][14][15] The programme has led other production companies to produce shows that follow a similar format, including Tycoon, Beat the Boss,^[16][17] and Election. It has also been compared to another BBC series, Dragons' Den.^[18]

Format

Candidate selection

Open auditions and interviews are held across the country before a series begins,^[19] attracting thousands of applicants.^[20] About 75 candidates are called back for a second round in London, for assessment in groups, asked to do various exercises to test their business skills and how they work in a team. After this, between 20 to 30 candidates are assessed by a psychologist, references are taken and other checks made. It is from this group that the final line-up is chosen.^[21] The first two series of the show featured 14 candidates of both men and women, but by the time of the third series' broadcast, that number had increased to 16, and remained so up until the ninth series. Only the fifth series had a slight change, as a last-minute withdrawal led to it going ahead with only 15 candidates.^[22] To mark the tenth year of the show, Series 10 featured 20 candidates, which is the highest number of any variation of The Apprentice. Following this series, it was decided that the number of candidates would be increased from 16 to 18, as was set out for the eleventh series.

The BBC Comedy website published a spoof video at the beginning of Series 6 revealing more about the candidate selection process.^[23]

Tasks

Candidates who are successful in getting selected soon begin the process by being split into two teams, normally by gender, with each team discussing and picking a team name to be used throughout the process. The teams are then given a series of business-themed tasks designed to test their skills in salesmanship, negotiation, requisitioning, leadership, teamwork, and organisation, with each episode covering a single task. Each task sees the teams first choose a project manager (PM) to act as their leader for the duration of the task;^[24] in some cases, the PMs are nominated or suggested by Sugar himself. As candidate numbers are whittled down, the teams are periodically rearranged by Sugar, either to balance the numbers, ensure a fair distribution of skills for a specific task, or to give less vocal candidates a chance to demonstrate their abilities.

Each team is provided with two vehicles to use to get around during a task, and can only split into two sub-teams. In some cases, Lord Sugar provides additional items for the team to use on a task (an unbranded product to be labelled, or a shop space to sell in, for example), while in other cases, the teams are given a dossier which dictates what they can acquire, produce, or what they are restricted from doing/using/getting. While they are expected to work together, in reality, the candidates often focus on their individual roles and needs rather than the greater good of the team, in order to prove themselves worthy of winning the process particularly as the competition comes close to an end. During the execution of their task, each team is followed one of Lord Sugar's aides, who notes down their opinions, observations and thoughts for later reference in the boardroom, mostly on any noteworthy matters, such as performance, mistakes, and issues, minor or serious.^[25]

Boardroom

After completion of a task, the Interview stage, or the Finals, the teams/remaining candidates report back to the "boardroom", either following completion or return the following day.^[26] Once in the boardroom, the candidates receive a review of their latest task, discussing/arguing with each other or Lord Sugar and his advisers over their recent performance, feedback and/or issues that were encountered. Most of the boardrooms are done in the process of a three-stage system, with the exception of the Interview stage and the Finals.

"Stage 1" focuses on an initial discussion on each team's performance on a task, often through the PM, with both Sugar and his advisers giving out some criticism or praise over their effort or a team member's contribution. Results are always given near the end (i.e. total number of sales made), before the winning team is dismissed to enjoy a treat set out for them (though on certain occasions this has not happened), whilst the losing team are dispatched outside the boardroom to discuss amongst themselves about their failure, usually convening at the Bridge Café to do so. When the losing team return,

"Stage 2" sees them subjected to a detailed review of their performance, sometimes humiliating, with Sugar frequently delivering scathing criticisms often added to with colourful language (such as "This was a total bloody disaster"); candidates in Young Apprentice were never subjected to this during its run. Such criticism is usually on matters, such as a prominent reason(s) for the failure, a candidate who did poorly, and so forth, which can often lead to arguments within the team to disapprove this, which either Sugar or his advisers will agree/disagree on and sometimes interject their own opinions and thoughts on the matter. Eventually, discussions end when Sugar asks the team's PM to choose two team members to accompany him or her into a final round of interrogation, who should be the two poorest performing members of the team, though on occasion are more able members in the competition or whose personality they clash with. Those not picked are sent back to the house, while the "final three" are told to wait outside the boardroom.

In "Stage 3", Sugar and his advisers discuss amongst themselves about the final three, in regards to their performance, relations to others, and any strong/poor points about them, before they are let back into the boardroom to present their views and reasons for not being fired. These often become acrimonious as each candidate tries to divert blame towards the others, and can sometimes lead to heated arguments. Their discussion ends with Lord Sugar giving a quick review of what he and his advisers thought of each candidate's performance in the task and the process, before dismissing one or more candidates from the process, ending with the catchphrase "You're fired!" at which point that candidate is eliminated from the competition (if more than one is fired, each receives the catchphrase separately). On occasions the candidate that is fired will be fired "with regret".^[24][27] The fired candidate(s) then leaves and depart in a waiting taxi for the 'journey home', where they are briefly interviewed in the taxi to reflect on his or her rejection from the competition, in the first two series the fired candidate would remain in their seat with the project manager and second person whilst from Series 3 on-wards the fired candidate leaves the boardroom once they have been fired. Sugar then sends the surviving candidate(s) back to their provided accommodation for the series, on occasion with a warning to improve. Outside the surviving candidate(s) often console the fired candidate either by shaking their hand or wishing them well while Lord Sugar reflects on why he fired him/her.

For those that are an exception to this system, the boardroom functions as follows:

• "Interview" stage - Sugar reviews feedback from the Interviewers about the remaining candidates, before choosing who is "fired" and who moves on into the final (with the exception of Series 7 & 8, when the Interviews were the final task). In some cases, a tough decision between two remaining candidates of who moves on and who is eliminated will result in them being sent out to give Sugar and his advisers time to discuss on their overall performance throughout the process before a final decision is made.
• Finals - Sugar reviews what he learnt from feedback on the finalists performance in the last task, usually with each arguing on why they should be hired, before Sugar informs which one has won the series by stating the line "You're hired!", upon which the winner departs in Lord Sugar's limousine to reflect on his or her success in the competition.

In some cases, the firing of a candidate might not occur in the usual fashion. In the seventh episode of Series 4, Sugar fired one candidate before the final boardroom, and then asked one team member to return to the house, effectively choosing who would accompany the Project Manager into the boardroom himself, while in the second episode of series 10, Sugar fired one candidate immediately after the results announcement, before allowing the losing team to leave the boardroom, with another regular firing taking place. In the fourth episode of Series 1, one candidate resigned without being brought back to the boardroom, effectively terminating the boardroom.^[24]

Interviews

When only four candidates remain in the process (in some cases five), each undergoes an individual set of interviews with selection of trusted aides of Lord Sugar, whose feedback after the interviews usually results in whom Sugar selects to be his two finalists; there has only been one instance in the show's history where the feedback given was used by Lord Sugar to fire one of five candidates that he considered weakest.^[28]

The interviews usually see each candidate being questioned and grilled about any brash or controversial statements that they have included on their application forms and CVs during the selection process; rather ironically, they are usually encouraged to make such outlandish claims, as failing to do so in their application would lead it to being rejected for being too bland and dull. In addition, they are also questioned about their performance during the process. Because of the change of format and the prize offered since the seventh series, an additional part of the interview questions the surviving candidate's business plans, including any issues with it, flaws about it, and whether the candidate's skills and experience and reasoning make them sound for Lord Sugar to invest in.

Key:

     Currently stars

     Previously starred

Starring[29]	Series 1	Series 2	Series 3	Series 4	Series 5	Series 6	Series 7	Series 8	Series 9	Series 10	Series 11
Claude Littner
Mike Soutar
Claudine Collins
Linda Plant
Nick Hewer
Paul Kemsley
Karren Brady
Bordan Tkachuk
Alan Watts
Matthew Riley
Margaret Mountford
Ricky Martin

Final

In the original format, these two proceeded to the final and performed one last task with teams chosen from the previously fired contestants, after which one was selected as the winner.^[24] The person to be hired was not always the person who won the final task. In fact, two versions of the final boardroom sequence were filmed—showing each of the finalists winning. Between filming and transmission—a period of about six months—both finalists worked for Sugar in temporary jobs.

Sugar does not reveal his decision about whom he is going to hire until shortly before transmission, and this determines which ending is shown. The BBC has issued contradictory statements about the decision procedure. The first version of events is that Sugar makes his decision on the day that the final boardroom sequence is filmed, based on the contestants' performance in the final task, and keeps it secret until just before transmission.^[30] The second version is that Sugar decides after the six-month trial period.^[31] Former contestant Saira Khan also stated that "His final decision is not based on the programme that people see. His final decision is based on these two people [who] have been working with him for the six months."^[32]

Owing to the change in the prize from series seven, series seven and eight moved the "interview" round to the final; the penultimate week instead utilises a task similar to the previous final episodes, but with five candidates still in the process and no returning contestants.^[33] In the ninth series, the interviews round was moved back to the penultimate episode, with the final having the two candidates attempting to set up their businesses, and then presenting their proposed plan and brand to a group of industry experts. Young Apprentice did not include an interview week, and continued to feature returning candidates in the final task.

In Series 4 of the main programme, and Series 1 and 3 of Young Apprentice, the format for the final was slightly different: instead of two, there were four contestants in the final, with each team having two joint project managers. At the end, the project managers of the losing team were automatically fired, leaving Sugar to choose which of the remaining two contestants can win. The reason for this in Series 4 was because Sugar could not separate the final 4 candidates, and therefore decided to have them all undergo the last challenge.

Schedule

The whole of The Apprentice is pre-recorded; typically the series is shot during the autumn for transmission the following year. The candidates live together in a large rented house or apartment for the duration of the competition.^[34] Owing to the twelve-week broadcast schedule, the audience is given the impression that the candidates stay for 12 weeks in the house and that there are breaks between tasks. The series is actually filmed in about two months(8 weeks),^[31] and the filming schedule means that the tasks are generally performed one after the other.^[35]

Compared to the US series, the British version has a more rigid format that requires twelve episodes per series and at least four candidates for the final round of interviews. This meant that in the first two series multiple firings were not allowed at all, a fact that was acknowledged in the second series when Lord Sugar expressed his desire to fire both Alexa Tilley and Syed Ahmed, but could only get rid of the former. In subsequent series, this was changed to allow Lord Sugar to conduct double firings where needed, with greater freedom for multiple firings when 20 candidates were introduced in the tenth series; in some episodes, Sugar performs a treble firing, which often occurs in the interview weeks when more than four candidates are involved, and has only happened twice outside of interviews in the show's history, during the fourth episode of Series 10, and during the sixth episode of Series 11. The highest number of candidates Sugar has fired in one episode is four, and was during the penultimate episode of the second series of Young Apprentice; at the start of the task there were six candidates remaining, but Lord Sugar informed them that only two would proceed to the final, as the entire losing team and one member of the winning team would be fired.

Series overview

Series	Premiere date	Finale date	The Board			Honour places		Average viewers (millions)	Channel
			Head	Left advisor	Right advisor	Winner	Runner-up
1	16 February 2005	11 May 2005	Lord Alan Sugar	Nick Hewer	Margaret Mountford	Tim Campbell	Saira Khan	2.60	BBC Two
2	22 February 2006	10 May 2006				Michelle Dewberry	Ruth Badger	4.43
3	28 March 2007	13 June 2007				Simon Ambrose	Kristina Grimes	5.62	BBC One
4	26 March 2008	11 June 2008				Lee McQueen	Claire Young	7.29
5	25 March 2009	7 June 2009				Yasmina Siadatan	Kate Walsh	8.37
6	6 October 2010	19 December 2010			Baroness Karren Brady	Stella English	Chris Bates	7.87
7	10 May 2011	17 July 2011				Tom Pellereau	Helen Milligan	8.80
8	21 March 2012	3 June 2012				Ricky Martin	Tom Gearing	7.35
9	7 May 2013	17 July 2013				Leah Totton	Luisa Zissman	7.34
10	14 October 2014	21 December 2014				Mark Wright	Bianca Miller	7.40
11	14 October 2015	20 December 2015		Claude Littner		Joseph Valente	Vana Koutsomitis	7.18

The Apprentice

The Board

Lord Sugar Nick Hewer (series 1–10) Margaret Mountford (series 1–5) Karren Brady (series 6–11) Claude Littner (series 11) Deborah Meaden (series 12–) Peter Jones (series 12–)

Series One

Hired: Tim Campbell Runner-up: Saira Khan Other candidates: Paul, James, Miriam, Raj, Ben, Sebastian, Rachel, Matthew, Adele, Miranda, Lindsay, Adenike

Series Two

Hired: Michelle Dewberry Runner-up: Ruth Badger Other candidates: Ansell, Paul, Syed, Tuan, Sharon, Samuel, Jo, Mani, Alexa, Karen, Nargis, Ben

Series Three

Hired: Simon Ambrose Runner-up: Kristina Grimes Other candidates: Katie, Tre, Lohit, Naomi, Jadine, Ghazal, Adam, Paul, Natalie, Sophie, Gerri, Rory, Ifti, Andy

Series Four

Hired: Lee McQueen Runner-up: Claire Young Other candidates: Helene, Alex, Lucinda, Michael, Raef, Sara, Jennifer, Jenny, Kevin, Lindi, Simon, Ian, Shazia, Nicholas

Series Five

Hired: Yasmina Siadatan Runner-up: Kate Walsh Other candidates: Debra, Lorraine, James, Howard, Ben, Mona, Philip, Noorul, Kimberly, Paula, Majid, Rocky, Anita, Adam

Series Six

Hired: Stella English Runner-up: Chris Bates Other candidates: Jamie, Joanna, Stuart, Liz, Laura, Christopher, Sandeesh, Alex, Paloma, Melissa, Shibby, Joy, Raleigh, Dan

Series Seven

Hired / Business Partner: Thomas Pellereau Runner-up: Helen Milligan Other Candidates: Susan, Jim, Natasha, Melody, Zoe, Leon, Glen, Edna, Vincent, Ellie, Felicity, Gavin, Alex, Edward

Series Eight

Hired / Business Partner: Ricky Martin Runner-up: Tom Gearing Other Candidates: Nick, Jade, Adam, Stephen, Gabrielle, Jenna, Laura, Azhar, Katie, Duane, Jane, Michael, Maria, Bilyana

Series Nine

Hired / Business Partner: Leah Totton Runner-up: Luisa Zissman Other candidates: Francesca, Neil, Jordan, Myles, Alex, Jason, Natalie, Kurt, Rebecca, Zeeshaan, Uzma, Sophie, Tim, Jaz

Series Ten

Hired / Business Partner: Mark Wright Runner-up: Bianca Miller Other candidates: Daniel, Roisin, Solomon, Sanjay, Katie, Felipe, James, Lauren, Pamela, Jemma, Ella Jade, Sarah, Steven, Nurun, Lindsay, Scott, Robert, Chiles

Series Eleven

Hired / Business Partner: Joseph Valente Runner-up: Vana Koutsomitis Other candidates: Richard, Gary, Charleine, Brett, Selina, Scott,David, Sam, April, Mergim, Elle, Natalie, Ruth, Jenny, Aisha, Dan

Series 1: 2005

Rumours of a UK version of The Apprentice were confirmed in early 2004 by FremantleMedia.^[36] Both BBC Two and Channel 4 bid for the show's rights^[37] – the BBC was eventually successful.^[38] On 18 May 2004, Sir Alan Sugar was confirmed as the star of the new series.^[38] He said he was "delighted" to take part in the programme.^[7] Reportedly, the BBC's first choice was Philip Green, who was busy in early 2004 organising the takeover of Marks and Spencer.^[39] Michael O'Leary, boss of Irish airline Ryanair, has also said he was approached but declined as it was "too much of a distraction".^[40]

The first series began on February 2005 and lasted for twelve episodes. The viewer ratings climbed^[41] to almost 4 million viewers for the final episode on 4 May 2005. The winner was Tim Campbell,^[42] who had previously worked as a Senior Planner within the Marketing and Planning Department of London Underground. After his victory he went on to become Project Director of Amstrad's new Health and Beauty division, but has subsequently left the company to pursue other interests.^[43] He started the Bright Ideas Trust in 2008 which offers funding and support for young people wishing to start their own business.^[44]

In August 2008, the American cable channel CNBC began to present the first series on Monday nights.^[45] However, the programme aired in disparate time slots or not at all due to the network's abrupt shifting of their programme schedule in order to cover developments regarding the global financial crisis of 2008–2009. The series did not air in full, and eventually as CNBC decided to focus their prime time schedule on financial news programming, the programme's rights moved to BBC America, where it started transmission on 5 May 2009.

The opening theme was "Montagues and Capulets".

Series 2: 2006

The day after the conclusion of Series One, the BBC confirmed that a second series would be broadcast in early 2006 and, despite initial doubts, Sugar's involvement was confirmed soon afterwards.^[46][47] The second series began on 22 February 2006 and a spin-off programme was introduced on BBC Three, called The Apprentice: You're Fired! and hosted by Adrian Chiles.^[48]

The second series finished with a record 5.7 million viewers^[49] tuning in to see Michelle Dewberry defeat Ruth Badger in the final.^[50] Dewberry briefly took up a post under Sugar but left in September 2006 after a series of personal problems.^[51]

Series 3: 2007

When a third series was announced, it was revealed that it would be shown on BBC One,^[8] which is aimed at a more "mainstream audience,"^[52] and that The Apprentice: You're Fired! would move from BBC Three to BBC Two.^[53] The third series attracted 10,000 applicants and promised "tougher tasks and better people" — Sugar had expressed concerns that the show was becoming Big Brother.^[54] Series Three ran from 28 March 2007 to 13 June 2007, starting with 4.5 million viewers,^[55] with the audience increasing throughout the run to peak with 6.8 million people watching the final.^[56] The series was won by Simon Ambrose, who was chosen over Kristina Grimes.^[57][58] Ambrose went on to work at Sugar's property company Amsprop. Unlike previous series, there were 16 candidates (rather than 14).

Series 4: 2008

In May 2007, a fourth and fifth series were commissioned by the BBC,^[9] and prospective candidates were invited to apply for the fourth series through the official website.^[59] Auditions and interviews were held during the first two weeks of July 2007 in London, Manchester and Birmingham (interviews were also to have been held in Bristol but these were subsequently moved to London).^[60] A record 20,000 applications were received.^[61]

Series Four began airing on BBC One on 26 March 2008,^[62][63] and ran for twelve weekly episodes. It debuted with 6.4 million viewers.^[64] This series saw a change in the boardroom design and it was the first series where the candidates were not allowed to visit the house before the tasks commenced, instead beginning the first task immediately after the first boardroom briefing. This was subsequently the case in Series Five. The series was won by Lee McQueen, who beat Claire Young, Helene Speight and Alex Wotherspoon in the final. The final saw a new record of 8.9 million viewers, and a peak of 9.7 million viewers during the final 15 minutes.^[65]

Series 5: 2009

Series Five began its run on BBC One on 25 March 2009 with 15 contestants. A sixteenth participant, Adam Freeman, had to pull out the day before filming began. Sir Alan commented that it was due to "family matters".^[22] The Grand Finale aired on 7 June 2009, where Sir Alan hired Yasmina Siadatan over the runner up Kate Walsh.

Series 6: 2010

In May 2009, after an episode of The Apprentice: You're Fired!, it was announced that the application process had begun for a sixth UK series to be filmed in Autumn 2009. Margaret Mountford did not return for series six.^[66] Karren Brady was named as Mountford's replacement on 30 August 2009.^[67]

It was confirmed by the BBC that series 6 would not be shown in March 2010 (as originally scheduled), but delayed until after the general election as Sugar was the government's "business tsar".^[68] Although Sugar stated that he did not view the position as partisan,^[69] the running of The Apprentice during the general election could have been a "risk to impartiality".^[70] The day after the results of the general election were announced, the BBC began advertising for the new series. Series six commenced on 6 October 2010.^[71]

Arcadia Group director^[72] Karren Brady confirmed in a newspaper interview that the contestants would no longer refer to Alan Sugar as 'Sir Alan', but instead must call him 'Lord Sugar', following his elevation to the House of Lords.^[73]

Before the series aired, it was reported that contestant Christopher Farrell was on bail for fraud, had been sacked from a previous mortgage company for misconduct^[74] and that in September 2009 he had admitted to two charges of possessing an offensive weapon.^{[75] [76]} It was also reported that contestant Joanna Riley had been convicted for racially abusing three taxi drivers in October 2005 and it was also alleged that contestant Shibby Robati had received a formal warning from the General Medical Council for "unprofessional behaviour".^[77][78]

The Grand Finale aired on 19 December 2010, in which Lord Sugar hired Stella English over the runner-up Chris Bates.

Series 7: 2011

In April 2010, applications were made for series seven, to be aired in 2011. Lord Sugar announced a change to the prize for the 2011 series, whereby the winner would go into business with Lord Sugar as a partner, with the investment by Lord Sugar of £250,000.

The seventh series premiered on 10 May 2011.^[79] The series seven candidates were revealed on 3 May 2011, via the official website and in a press launch.

The Grand Finale aired on 17 July 2011. Like series four there were four finalists, but, unlike previous series, the contest concluded with the "interviews" round, with the final head-to-head task dropped. Lord Sugar decided to make Thomas Pellereau his new business partner over runner-up Helen Milligan. He did mention that had he been hiring an employee, Milligan would have won. Susan Ma, another finalist, was praised, and Lord Sugar commented that he looked forward to becoming a partner in business with her.

Series 8: 2012

On 10 March 2012, Lord Sugar confirmed that series eight would start on 21 March 2012 on BBC One.^[80]

The final was aired on 3 June 2012. Like the previous series, the final round was the interviews round, and did not feature fired candidates. The series was won by Ricky Martin, with Tom Gearing as runner-up. Nick Holzherr came in third place, and Jade Nash in fourth place.^[81]

Series 9: 2013

The final was aired on 17 July 2013. The series was won by Leah Totton, with Luisa Zissman as runner-up. It also featured the first abdication in the history of the programme as Luisa Zissman took over from Jason Leech as project manager halfway through a task and also went back to the original format of having interviews before the final.

Series 10: 2014

The tenth series of The Apprentice commenced in October 2014, later than usual in order to avoid clashes with the 2014 FIFA World Cup and 2014 Commonwealth Games.^[82] It started on 14 October 2014.^[83] The winner of the series was Mark Wright, with Bianca Miller as the runner-up.

Series 11: 2015

Owing to the 2015 General Election, the show began showing in mid-October, the first episode airing on 14 October. As Nick Hewer had departed after the last series, his replacement was confirmed to be Claude Littner before the eleventh series was aired, and introduced in the first episode. Unlike the previous series (except the tenth series), the maximum number of candidates in the process was increased to 18, with older candidates amongst them. Joseph Valente won the competition this year, beating Vana Koutsomitis in the final.

Series 12: 2016

Although not officially confirmed by the BBC, applications for a twelfth series, set to be aired somewhere during 2016, were recently opened in November 2015.^[84]

Criticism of process

None of the winners of the first six adult series stayed with Sugar's companies for longer than three years and two - Michelle and Yasmina - stayed only a matter of weeks.^[85] In this light The Apprentice has been criticised as "an entertainment show with no real aspect of business to it".^[86] The winner of series six, Stella English described the job as a "sham",^[87] but later lost a case of constructive dismissal against Lord Sugar, with the tribunal judge John Warren saying that "Ms English, instead of appreciating a job with enormous scope for advancement, had been more interested in a glamorous role, and travelling in private jets".^[88] In the following series, the prize was changed from employment with Sugar to an investment.

Subsequent activity of winning candidates

Series One

Tim Campbell, winner of the 2005 series, became Project Director of Amstrad's new Health and Beauty division. In 2007, he left the company to pursue other interests.^[89]

Series Two

Michelle Dewberry, winner of the 2006 series, briefly took up a post under Sugar but left in September of that same year, after a series of personal problems.^[90]

Series Three

Simon Ambrose, winner of the 2007 series, went on to work at Sugar's property company Amsprop, including a project to develop a hotel and golfing complex near London Stansted Airport. He left in 2010.^[91]

Series Four

Lee McQueen, winner of the 2008 series, initially worked for Sugar's company AMSHOLD where he phoned in sick on his first day.^[92] He then went on to work for AMSCREEN as development director, reporting to Sir Alan's son, Simon Sugar, before leaving Sugar's employment in 2010.^[93]

Series Five

Yasmina Siadatan, winner of the 2009 series, started a relationship with fellow development manager 31-year-old Andrew Hepburn, weeks after taking the job, which resulted in her becoming pregnant. Shortly before she was due to return from maternity leave, she gave her notice in during 2012, after announcing she was pregnant again.^[94]

Series Six

Stella English, winner of the 2010 series,^[95] was given work at Sugar's company Viglen.^[96] In May 2011, she requested a new role after saying that she was just a "glorified PA",^[97] but after a year of employment she was told her contract would not be renewed. This resulted in her attempting to sue Sugar for wrongful dismissal in February 2012, but the legal action was ultimately unsuccessful.^[98][99]

Series Seven

Tom Pellereau, winner of the 2011 series,^[100] used his prize to launch a range of manicure products with assistance from Lord Sugar; due to a change of format, the prize was changed to a £250,000 investment from Lord Sugar and a 50% partnership with him. The range includes a range of curved nail files, which includes the S-file, the S-Buffer and the Emergency File, two curved nail clippers, the S-Clipper and S-Clipper mini and a curved foot exfoliator, the S-Ped, all of which are currently available in Boots, Tescos and Sainsburys.^[101] Despite fellow contestant Susan Ma being fired by Lord Sugar, he admitted he did like her business plan and since then he has worked with Susan in their company Tropic creating skin care products.

Series Eight

Ricky Martin, winner of the 2012 series, used his prize to launch his joint venture recruitment company,^[102] Hyper Recruitment Solutions (HRS), on 23 October 2012. The company is designed to deal with recruitment in the field of science.

Series Nine

Leah Totton, winner of the 2013 series, used her prize to open her first cosmetic skin clinic, on 22 January 2014.^[103][104]

Series Ten

Mark Wright, winner of the 2014 series, used his prize to start an SEO business called Climb Online.

Series Eleven

Joseph Valente, winner of the 2015 series, used his prize to expand his plumbing business, Impra-Gas.^[105]

The Board

Key:

     Current Board Members

     Previous Board Members

Starring	Series 1	Series 2	Series 3	Series 4	Series 5	Series 6	Series 7	Series 8	Series 9	Series 10	Series 11	Series 12
Lord Alan Sugar
Baroness Karren Brady
Claude Littner
Nick Hewer
Margaret Mountford

Along with "the boss", Alan Sugar, two advisors follow the contestants during their weekly activities. In series 1–5, Nick Hewer and Margaret Mountford took on these roles. Mountford resigned at the end of series 5 and was replaced by Karren Brady in series 6, while Nick resigned at the end of series 10, and was replaced by Claude Littner. Lord Sugar and his two advisors constitute "The Board"—the panel that evaluates the teams' performance.

Alan Sugar is a businessman and the founder of electronics company Amstrad. He has an estimated fortune of £770m^[106] and was ranked 84th in the Sunday Times Rich List 2007^[107] (in 2015, he was ranked by the Sunday Times as the 101st richest person in the UK). Sugar was knighted in 2000 for services to business and holds two honorary Doctorate of Science degrees, awarded in 1988 by City University and in 2005 by Brunel University.^[108] He is a donor to the British Labour Party^[109] (until May 2015), and has given money to charities such as Jewish Care and Great Ormond Street Hospital.^[110] In July 2007, Sugar sold his stake in Amstrad to BSkyB^[111] and has since left the business;^[112] early series of the show made frequent reference to his connection with Amstrad, but this was dropped by the fourth series, following the deal with BSkyB. Sugar is now billed simply as controlling a "vast business empire" (most of which is actually in property).^[113] Although originally called "Sir Alan" during early series, the BBC announced near the end of the fifth series that subsequent series would see him being called "Lord Sugar", owing to a politically neutral appointment he had been offered.

Nick Hewer is a former public relations officer, who lives in France. His involvement with Lord Sugar began when his company was chosen to represent Amstrad in 1983, where his role was as a PR manager, working with the media and press. He also became an integral part of Amstrad's corporate management.^[114] Hewer operated as an advisor throughout the show as well as on Young Apprentice, until on 18 December 2014 he revealed on his Twitter page his decision to leave the show after the tenth series, believing that the tenth year was "the appropriate time".^[115][116] His decision to leave was fully confirmed in the discussion show You're Hired that occurred after the finals of Series 10.

Margaret Mountford worked with Sugar as one of his main advisers for 20 years, as well as being a non-executive director of Amstrad. She has many years' corporate law experience as a partner in the law firm Herbert Smith, where she met Sugar when working on Amstrad's flotation, before retiring from the firm in March 1999, and later becoming appointed to the Amstrad board on 22 September 1999. She is also a non-executive director at Georgica PLC.^[117] Margaret worked as an adviser to Lord Sugar until she announced in her column for the Daily Telegraph, on 1 June 2009, that the fifth series would be her last full-time appearance on the show, in order to devote more time to her studies; this decision to leave was fully confirmed on the discussion show You're Hired after the finals of Series 5. She went on to study for a PhD in papyrology at University College London, studying documents found in Egypt and written in ancient Greek.^[118][119] Between Series 6 through to 9, she returned to work in the "Interviews" task in the penultimate week.

Karren Brady is best known for being the former managing director of Birmingham City Football Club. She was appointed in March 1993,^[120] when only 23 years old.^[121] She was responsible for the company's flotation in 1997, thus becoming the youngest managing director of a British plc.^[122] In 2007, Brady took part in Comic Relief Does The Apprentice where she was chosen as a team leader and took the women to victory, raising over £1,000,000 for charity,^[123] and has since made recurring appearances on The Apprentice's sister show, You're Fired!.^[124] In January 2010 she was appointed vice-chairman of West Ham United following a change of ownership of the club.^[125] Karren is currently Lord Sugar's advisor on the show, who replaced Margaret for the 2010 series following her predecessor's decision to leave.

Claude Littner is a business executive and chairman of Viglen, and has previously worked as Tottenham Hotspur's chief executive. He previously starred on the show during the "Interview" stages of each series, which were often referred to as interviews "from hell" due to Claude's aggressive style of interviewing. He replaced Nick Hewer for the 2015 series of the show, following his predecessor's decision to leave. He will also continue to interview candidates during the interview stage.

Series records and statistics

Record	Record holder	Record information	Series
Most consecutive victories	Helen Milligan	9 consecutive victories	Seven
Most consecutive losses	Elle Stevenson	6 consecutive losses	Eleven
Most final boardroom appearances	Syed Ahmed Claire Young	5 boardroom appearances	Two Four
Most consecutive boardroom appearances	Adam Hosker Michael Sophocles	4 boardroom appearances	Three Four
Largest victory	Team Venture	Winners by 800,000 orders to none	Seven
Smallest victory	Team Eclipse	Winners by just a 97 pence difference	Three
Task draws	Versatile & Connexus	Both teams made no sales	Eleven

Filming

Locations

Much of all the tasks are filmed in and around the London area and across the UK, but on a few occasions the show has been filmed abroad, from France, the Mediterranean, and other parts of Europe, to as far afield as Morocco, Dubai and the USA. In each series, a house is provided for all the candidates to stay in, and is usually used in filming, often for the beginning and ending segments of an episode. In Series One, the house was located in Chiswick.^[126] In Series 2, it was located Hampstead Heath, whilst in Series 3, it was in Notting Hill.^[127][128] In Series 4, the candidates' accommodation was a converted glass factory in Battersea,^[129] while in Series 5 it was a penthouse-styled house at Portobello Lofts, Ladbroke Grove.^[130] In Series 6, the candidates lived in Bedford Square, while those for Series 7 lived in an 8 bedroom mansion in East Sheen.^[131][132] In Series 8, they lived in a town house in Porchester Terrace, Bayswater.^[133] Series 9 saw the candidates living in a Grade II listed property at 6, Lincoln's Inn Fields in Holborn ^[134] For the series introduction, and for the post-firing "walk of shame" exit sequences, between Series 1-3, the Amstrad HQ building in Brentwood was used, but following Amstrad's sale to BSkyB in 2007, this was changed to the Viglen HQ building in St Albans, Hertfordshire from Series 4 onward – this location was also used for the Week 11 interviews task before being changed to the Leadanhall building in 2014. Between Series 4-9 the Walk of Shame from the Viglen HQ building was shown at night but from Series 10 onwards it is shown in the afternoon. For the scenes involving the losing team being filmed discussing their loss in a task, two cafes are used - "The Bridge" in Acton, West London, and "La Cabana 2" in North London, although of the two, filming often makes it appear that the candidates enter "The Bridge".^[135]

While The Apprentice regularly features clips of aerial footage during the intro and various link moments between scenes, done over the skyscrapers of the Square Mile and Canary Wharf financial districts, such as the 180-metre Gherkin, HSBC Tower, One Canada Square, the Citigroup Centre, Alan Sugar does not have offices in any of these locations, nor does Amstrad.^[136] In more recent series, aerial footage has included skyscrapers outside these districts, namely Strata SE1, in Elephant and Castle, and the Shard, in Southwark.^[137]

Candidates & Tasks

Filming of an episode can usually take a considerable amount of time to be done and as such, each task is usually filmed back-to-back, rather than weekly as it appears in the broadcast schedule for a series. For each episode, four television crews are used to follow the candidates during a task, and often are focused on picking up on mistakes and issues between candidates, than on their overall performance. The final edit of an episode often trims down a task that took 2–3 days to be done, to fit it within approximately about half of what will be televised for that episode, meaning candidates may appear to make minimal contributions when in reality they made more, while others may not feature as much if Lord Sugar or his advisers feel they did well and completed their duties, as emphasis is often put on moments that can be entertaining for audiences. Often the filming of an episode can hamper the efforts of candidates in a task, due to film crews usually having to get filming permission first from the respective owner of a store or establishment, which can often be a time consuming and cumbersome process as a result,^[135] whilst the strict rules of the BBC on product placement and advertising mean candidates have to approach businesses with care when asking them for help.^[138]

Owing to the need for secrecy during the two months of filming, all candidates are made to sign a confidentiality agreement which prohibits all, but a few confidants nominated by them, to be told of where they will be during that time, which remains active after filming until the series has started broadcast,^[139] with all contact with the outside world restricted to a high level; each candidate gets a limited phone call once a week, and all have no access to newspapers, television or internet, while any electronic communication equipment they have (i.e. mobiles) is handed in before they begin.^[138] In addition, all candidates are made to remain in their accommodation throughout filming except when they must head out for a task, and can only take a day off if they are supervised by a chaperone from the production crew. As a result, the persistent presence of the cameras, the closeness of rivals in the competition and the lack of contact with families & friends, can cause considerable pressure and stress for a candidate between entering the process, to leaving it.

Boardroom, 'Walk of Shame' and Final

The "boardroom" (and the reception area outside) is in fact a custom-built set in a West London television studio,^[140] while the boardroom receptionist ("Frances" in Series One, Three, Four and Five, "Jenny" in Series Two) is an employee at the production company Talkback Thames, and not Sugar's real secretary; oddly, Sugar's actual PA is called Frances.^[141]

The candidates' "walk of shame" exit sequences are actually filmed at the beginning of the series,^[141] at the same time as the scene in which they are shown entering the headquarters building at the start of the first episode. This explains why the clothes worn by fired candidates in their exit sequences sometimes differ from those worn in the boardroom scene ostensibly filmed only moments earlier.^[142] In more noticeable cases, hairstyles have also been different.^[142] The post-firing taxi ride merely takes the candidate around the block to allow their taxi interview to be filmed, after which they are then taken to a local hotel to stay the night before being finally allowed to leave after packing their belongings from the house.^[141]

Related programmes

The Apprentice: You're Fired!

This 30-minute programme, originally aired on BBC Three but now broadcast on BBC Two, immediately follows an airing of The Apprentice, and performs an in-depth look into the recent task of the programme, as well as featuring guests who informally interview the most recently fired candidate(s) and analyse their performance. It was hosted initially by Adrian Chiles when it began alongside the beginning of the second series of the Apprentice, but after his departure before the sixth series when he took a contract with ITV, it was later hosted by Dara Ó Briain from the sixth series to the tenth series. Following Ó Briain's departure, the show is now currently hosted by Jack Dee. The shows are recorded at Riverside Studios.^[143] Celebrities who have appeared on the show include those from the worlds of television, comedy, radio and business, such as Dominic Littlewood, Trevor Nelson, Michael Mcintyre and Michelle Mone.^[144][145]

The Apprenticast

The beginning of the third series saw the launch of a weekly podcast called The Apprenticast, and a radio programme on BBC Five Live, both hosted by former Blue Peter presenter Richard Bacon and running for thirty minutes.^[146] Both programmes featured former candidates being questioned by members of the public, comedians, and those who work in business.^[147] Some critics have described Bacon's performance as better than that of Adrian Chiles, who presented the similar, but television-based, programme The Apprentice: You're Fired!^[15]

For the 2009 series, an independent weekly podcast was also released, hosted by first series contestant James Max, in conjunction with London talk station LBC (on which Max hosts his own show).

Comic Relief Does The Apprentice

Between the airing of the second and third series of The Apprentice, it was announced that a celebrity version of the programme was to be recorded in aid of the charity Comic Relief.^[148] The programme was entitled Comic Relief Does The Apprentice and was recorded on 15 December 2006.^[149] It aired in two parts on 15 and 16 March 2007.^[150] Five male and five female celebrities took part in the programme which featured only one task. Piers Morgan, a former editor of the Daily Mirror, was the celebrity fired by Sir Alan Sugar during the Red Nose Day telethon after the "boys' team" lost.^[151] Morgan went on to win a full length series of the American Celebrity Apprentice. The other celebrities participating in the programme were Alastair Campbell, Cheryl Cole, Danny Baker, Jo Brand, Karren Brady, Maureen Lipman, Ross Kemp, Rupert Everett, Tim Campbell and Trinny Woodall.^[152][153] Tim Campbell, winner of the first series of The Apprentice, was not in the original line-up, but was brought in when Everett decided to leave after the first day.^[153][154] The celebrities managed to raise over £1 million for charity.^[155]

Another Comic Relief Does The Apprentice celebrity special aired on 12 and 13 March 2009. The "boys' team" were Alan Carr, Jack Dee, Gerald Ratner, Jonathan Ross and Gok Wan, and the "girls' team" Michelle Mone, Patsy Palmer, Fiona Phillips, Carol Vorderman and Ruby Wax. At the time the show was recorded, Jonathan Ross was suspended by the BBC over a prank telephone call row, but he was nevertheless permitted to appear since the programme would not be aired until after the suspension had been lifted.^[156] Alan Carr was eventually fired for being "too happy", relieving him from the "two grumpy ones", Dee and Ratner.

Sport Relief Does The Apprentice

After the first celebrity version proved to be successful, the BBC decided to schedule a second celebrity edition in March 2008, to raise money for Sport Relief.^[157] Once again, five male and five female celebrities competed for charity to sell the most celebrity memorabilia. Viewers saw Hardeep Singh Kohli get fired by Sugar.^[158] The other celebrities participating in this edition were Phil Tufnell, Nick Hancock, Lembit Öpik, Kelvin MacKenzie, Lisa Snowdon, Jacqueline Gold, Louise Redknapp, Clare Balding and Kirstie Allsopp.^[157][159] The show aired on BBC1 on 12 and 14 March 2008 and was won by the girls' team.^[160]

Young Apprentice

In May 2009, after episode 5 of The Apprentice: You're Fired!, it was announced that the application process had begun for a new spin-off for candidates aged sixteen and seventeen.

The first series started on BBC One on 12 May 2010,^[161] and consisted of 10 candidates – 5 boys and 5 girls.^[162] It was won by 17-year-old Arjun Rajyagor, with the runner-up being Tim Ankers. Instead of the six figure salary and job working for Lord Sugar, the winner received £25,000 in funding for his future prospects and further education. Margaret Mountford's replacement, Karren Brady, made her debut on Junior Apprentice, having begun appearing on the adult version on 6 October 2010 in series six.

On 28 August 2010, the BBC confirmed that a second series of the Junior Apprentice had been commissioned. The new series once again featured 16- to 17-year-olds, this time increased to twelve candidates, and featured an extended 8 episode format, but with the title being changed to Young Apprentice. The first episode aired on BBC One on 24 October 2011.^[163] Zara Brownless won the second series, with James McCullagh being the runner-up. A third series began airing on 1 November 2012, and was won by Ashleigh Porter-Exley, with Lucy Beauvallet being the runner-up.

It was confirmed in February 2013 via Lord Sugar's Twitter account that the BBC decided not to renew a further series of Young Apprentice, making Series 3 its last.

Special programmes

One-Offs

The Apprentice: Tim in the Firing Line was an hour-long documentary which aired on 19 February 2006, days before the launch of the second series. It followed Tim Campbell, the winner of Series One, during the first twelve months of the job that he won on The Apprentice. Working within Amstrad's health and beauty division, his task was to market a new anti-wrinkle product, named The Integra.^[153][164] The programme also documented the reaction of Campbell's family,^[165] including mother Una Campbell, fiancée Jasmine Johnson, and daughter Kayla Campbell.^[166] As a result of his impressive performance, he was offered a permanent position within Amstrad.^[167] Sir Alan Sugar later said that Campbell's job would not have been in danger had he failed to make the product a success, and that the project was a "joint responsibility".^[164]

The Apprentice: Beyond the Boardroom was a one-off special shown on BBC Two on 2 June 2007.^[168] The programme featured interviews with the final five candidates from Series Three. Nick Hewer and Margaret Mountford also gave their opinions on the final five, along with some of the previously fired candidates.^[169] The programme spoke about the candidates' private lives, revealing that Kristina Grimes was sent to a convent at age 17 owing to her pregnancy, Tre Azam once fell asleep whilst driving and nearly died, Simon Ambrose was bullied as a child and has an IQ of 174, Katie Hopkins managed to complete the New York Marathon whilst she was pregnant.^[168][169] Friends of the candidates and members of their families, including parents, children, and partners, aired their views.^[169]

The Apprentice: The Worst Decisions Ever was a one-off special which was screened on BBC Two on 3 April 2008. It revisited some of the poor decisions made by candidates in previous series.

The Apprentice: Motor Mouths was a one-off special which was screened on BBC Two on 18 April 2008 in which celebrity fans and former contenders remembered those "motor mouth" candidates who only just failed to become "The Apprentice".

An Apprentice Special of The Weakest Link aired on BBC One on 30 May 2008. It featured memorable candidates from past series of The Apprentice along with Apprentice narrator Mark Halliley replacing Jon Briggs as gameplay voiceover.

Series

The Apprentice: Why I Fired Them were documentaries in which Sir Alan Sugar looks back over the series so far, discussed the merits and shortcomings of the candidates, and explained in more detail why he fired each candidate when he did.^[170] It featured the former participants' views of their time on the programme and what they had learnt from the experience.^[171] Sugar's assistants Nick Hewer and Margaret Mountford also spoke about the former contestants.^[171] At the end of the programme, Sugar reviews the performances of the two finalists. It had its debut in series 3. However, it did not broadcast during series 7 and was replaced by How To Get Hired, presented by Dara O Brian. It returned in Series 8.

The Apprentice: The Final Five is a documentary about the remaining final five contestants. It debuted in series 4.

Reception

Praise

The programme has been given positive reviews by several newspapers. In the popular press, The Sun newspaper has called it "The thinking man's reality show", and The Daily Mirror described it as "jaw-dropping viewing".^[172] Broadsheet newspapers have given the programme a similarly positive reception, with The Daily Telegraph calling it "The most addictive show in years",^[172] and The Guardian saying that it provided "A salutary lesson in aggressive buying and selling, hiring and firing". The Sunday Times said that it was "not just a game show: it's a business school."^[172] The Evening Standard was also favourable, describing the programme as "terribly compelling".^[172]

According to a report released by Ernst & Young in August 2013, the rise of popular television programmes like The Apprentice, have helped to encourage and foster an entrepreneurial culture across the UK. The report revealed that 71% of entrepreneurs surveyed thought the UK encourages an entrepreneurial spirit.^[173]

Criticism

The programme has been criticised in the British media for suggesting that success in the business world requires possession of unsavoury qualities. Terence Blacker of The Independent newspaper, for example, said that he believed that the programme falsely linked success with being "nasty, disloyal, greedy and selfish".^[174] Talk show host Sir Michael Parkinson has also expressed misgivings about the programme, describing it as being "full of vulgar, loud people who, for all the wrong reasons, are dobbing each other in".^[175]

The premise of the show itself has been called into question by some members of the business world. Steve Carter, the head of recruitment firm Nigel Lynn, described the "brutality" of the recruitment process as being unrealistic.^[176] In response to these criticisms, a spokesperson for The Apprentice has been quoted as saying "The show isn't designed as a tool for recruiters... but it does highlight and thoroughly test key business skills such as leadership, teamwork, dedication and strategic thinking – integral skills most recruiters are looking for".^[176]

Former contestant and runner-up Saira Khan has criticised the programme because the final two candidates both work with Sir Alan Sugar for a few months before he decides whom he will hire. Khan stated that "Sir Alan Sugar's final decision is not based on the programme that people see, his final decision is based on these two people who have been working with him for the six months." Khan also said that the show is more concerned with giving viewers a rags-to-riches ending than employing the most able candidate, and that the show promotes bullying in the workplace.^[177] The series has been notably edited afterwards to show the winner in a different light. This has led to some viewers correctly guessing the winner of the series partway through the series.

Former contestants Lucinda Ledgerwood and James Max have criticised the tasks on the show as being too heavily sales-focused and designed for entertainment rather than as tests of all-round business skills.^{[178][179][180]}

A number of people have criticised the show's editing and production methods. Contestants Syed Ahmed and Tre Azam accused the show of dumbing down their appearances for entertainment.^[181] Gerri Blackwood said that her boardroom scene was filmed again to make it look better.^[182] Alan Sugar himself revealed in his autobiography (but did not criticise) that the boardroom scenes are edited to create tension. Jokes and light hearted encounters are cut out, and Alan is seen "banging the table".^[183]

Media Watch has voiced concerns over inclusion of company names and products such as Chrysler in the programme, accusing the producers of breaking BBC policy.^[184] Despite these claims, Talkback Thames has denied any suggestion of product placement.^[184]

The show received criticism from viewers during series six after it was revealed that orders placed in the programme were not genuine.^[185]

Viewing figures

The Apprentice has received high rating figures in its run.^[186] The first series, broadcast in 2005, achieved an average of 2.5 million viewers, with a peak of 3.8 million people watching throughout the series.^[186] It had an 11% share of the audience and some episodes managed to beat more popular programmes, such as Desperate Housewives, and some films, such as Ali G Indahouse, which were airing on rival channels at the time.^[186][187] Series Two achieved 4.4 million viewers on average, with a peak audience of 5.95 and a 27% audience share.^[186] Episodes of this series achieved higher ratings than the 2005 UEFA Cup Final and the film Pearl Harbor.^[188] Series Three, airing on the "more mainstream" BBC One, attracted 6.8 million viewers at its peak, with a 27% audience share.^[189][190] This series managed to attract more viewers than City Lights, Grand Designs and Big Brother.^[190][191] Prior to the airing of the third series, Comic Relief Does The Apprentice attracted 6.72 million viewers, becoming the fifth most-watched programme on BBC One the week it aired.^[192] The fourth series opened to 6.4 million viewers,^[193] and the series peaked at 9.7 million during the last episode.^[194]

The first episode of series five of The Apprentice averaged 8.11m (33.3% share). The previous highest-rating instalment was the opening programme of series four, which achieved 6.4m (25.6%) on 26 March 2008. The Apprentice: You're Fired! garnered 3.01m (15.2%) for BBC Two in the 30 minutes from 10:00 pm.

According to BARB, the 10 highest rating episodes^[195] to date are

Number	Series	Episode	Broadcast Date	7 Day Consolidated Rating
1	7	12	17 July 2011	10.24 million
2	5	11	3 June 2009	09.76 million
3	7	11	13 July 2011	09.73 million
4	7	10	6 July 2011	09.42 million
5	5	12	7 June 2009	09.31 million
6	4	12	11 June 2008	09.29 million
7	7	9	29 Jun 2011	08.98 million
8	5	9	20 May 2009	08.90 million
9	7	1	10 May 2011	08.79 million
10	7	8	22 June 2011	08.77 million

Awards

The Apprentice won the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) for "Best Feature" during the 2006 awards, beating Top Gear, Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares and Dragons' Den.^[196] It was also nominated for a BAFTA for "Best Feature" at the 2007 awards,^[197] but was beaten by The Choir.^[198]

Other awards that the programme has won include:^[199]

• 2009 Televisual Bulldog Awards – Best Reality Event
• 2009 Televisual Bulldog Awards – Best in Show
• 2009 Broadcasting Press Guild – Best Factual Entertainment Programme
• 2009 Media Guardian Edinburgh International TV Festival – Terrestrial Programme of the Year
• 2009 TV Quick/TV Choice Awards – Best Reality
• 2009 Broadcast Award – Best Entertainment Programme
• 2008 Media Guardian Edinburgh International TV Festival – Terrestrial Programme of the Year
• 2008 TV Quick/TV Choice Awards – Best Reality
• 2007 Royal Television Society (RTS) Award – Features and Factual Entertainment
• 2007 Broadcast Award – Best Entertainment Programme
• 2006 BAFTA – Pioneer Award (voted for by the public)
• 2006 Rose d'Or – Reality Show
• 2006 Televisual Bulldog Awards – Best Factual Reality Show
• 2006 TV Quick/TV Choice Awards – Best Reality
• 2006 The Guild of TV Cameramen Awards – Camera Team Excellence in Photography
• 2006 Banff – Unscripted Entertainment Programme
• 2006 Wincott Business Awards – Best TV Show of the Year
• 2005 RTS Craft and Design Award – Tape and Film Editing
• 2005 RTS Craft and Design Award – Tape and Film Editing, Entertainment and Situation Comedy
• 2005 Grierson Awards – Most Entertaining Documentary

Parodies and imitations

The show has been imitated in the ITV programme Harry Hill's TV Burp.^[200] It was also mocked in the BBC impression programme Dead Ringers, in which Sir Alan Sugar turns fired contestants into frogs and the candidates are portrayed as failed applicants of Strictly Come Dancing and Big Brother who are seeking their 15 minutes of fame.^[201]

Rory Bremner did an impression of Sir Alan on the show Bremner Bird and Fortune; he was in the boardroom with the main London Mayoral candidates, Boris Johnson, Ken Livingstone and Brian Paddick, and after each of the candidates failed to get a single vote according to his results, he hired himself for the job claiming he "would make a profit on City Hall". In Dead Ringers Bremner also impersonated a Sir Alan with magic powers castigating a contestant over an event akin to what occurred to The Sorcerer's Apprentice.

In early 2007, the show was mocked in the television programme Kombat Opera Presents The Applicants.^[202] The series has been lampooned on the Boleg Bros website, where it is shot in Lego.^[203] Paul Merton and Ian Hislop also parodied the show during a promotional advert for the 2007 and 2008 series of Have I Got News for You.^[204]

In June 2007, shortly after the conclusion of Series Three of The Apprentice, rival UK channel ITV began airing Tycoon, described in The Times as "a shameless rip-off of The Apprentice".^[205] Mark Thompson, The BBC's director general, accused ITV of "copycatting" and said that Tycoon was "very like The Apprentice, and there's possibly a bit of Dragons' Den in there".^[206] The series followed Dragons' Den star Peter Jones' search for a new business tycoon.^[207] It proved relatively unsuccessful and was removed from a prime time slot on Tuesdays after achieving fewer than 2 million viewers, over 2.5 million below the channel's average.^[208] The final episode attracted just 1.3 million viewers.^[209] The programme's winner, Iain Morgan, won a prize of over £200,000.^[209][210]

In the fourth series of Charlie Brooker's Screenwipe, Brooker parodied The Apprentice, with Brooker taking on the role of a Sugar-like character dressed in a crown and gown, and replacing the catchphrase, "You're fired" with "You're fucked."^[211]

The chidlren's comedy sketch show "Horrible Histories" features "Historical Apprentice" as a recurring sketch. This directly references "The Apprentice" and Lord Sugar, and features two different teams from different historical periods.

Lord Sugar starred in a mock clip of The Apprentice within the 2012 Doctor Who episode, "The Power of Three".

Series have expanded outside television with a number of University student groups recreating local competitions by sticking to the format of tasks. What is known as Student Apprentice competitions have been hosted across the country in a number of Universities, especially in London. Events became so popular competitions joined as Regional Student Apprentice in London and other regions in UK. In 2013, these were joined to form National Student Apprentice,^[212] which became a competition bringing together six regions for a national event.

Merchandise

On 10 February 2005, Sir Alan Sugar released a book to coincide with the first series, called The Apprentice: How to Get Hired Not Fired.^[213] On 16 February 2006, the book was revised with additional information relating to the second series.^[214] An official magazine was first released on 23 May 2007.^[14] It includes items about business, interviews with candidates from the programme and other Apprentice-related features.^{[215][216][217]}

The Apprentice has included various pieces of classical and popular music throughout. Numerous pieces from film soundtracks are used as well as music featured in the BBC TV series Doctor Who. Examples of the music used include the opening theme ("Dance of the Knights" from Romeo and Juliet by Prokofiev) and "The Boardroom", "You're Fired" and "Closing Credits" from The Apprentice (Original Theme) by Dru Masters. An official soundtrack was released on 4 June 2007.^[218] At the beginning of the first episode of Series 6, the iconic string phrase from the first movement of Gustav Mahler's Sixth Symphony can be heard in, one might surmise, a numerological nod. Further episodes in Series 6, include an extract from a piece by the French composer and pianist, Erik Satie, (from his "Gymnopédies No 1"), music from the Disney-Pixar 2009 film, Up, composed by Michael Giacchino, and a famous extract from Benjamin Britten's opera, Peter Grimes. A number of episodes also featured brief snippets of several tracks from The Sims series of games, such as the neighbourhood theme from The Sims 3, was briefly used in the last episode of series 6 and one of the build tracks from Makin' Magic was used in Series 7 episode 8.

In 2009, a DVD called "The Apprentice: The Best of Series 1–4" was released.

YouTube releases

In November 2010, the BBC made the first two series of The Apprentice available to stream via the BBC's YouTube channel. It is unknown whether any future series will be released.

Transmissions

Series

Series	Start date	End date	Episodes
1	16 February 2005	4 May 2005	12
2	22 February 2006	10 May 2006	12
3	28 March 2007	13 June 2007	12
4	26 March 2008	11 June 2008	12
5	25 March 2009	7 June 2009	12
6	6 October 2010	19 December 2010	12
7	10 May 2011	17 July 2011	12
8	21 March 2012	3 June 2012	12
9	7 May 2013	17 July 2013	12
10	14 October 2014	21 December 2014	12
11	14 October 2015	20 December 2015	12

Specials

Date	Entitle
2 April 2005	The Story So Far
19 February 2006	Tim in the Firing Line
3 June 2007	Beyond the Boardroom
10 June 2007	Why I Fired Them
3 April 2008	The Worst Decisions Ever
18 April 2008	Motor Mouths
2 June 2008	The Final Five
8 June 2008	Why I Fired Them
3 June 2009	The Final Five
5 June 2009	Why I Fired Them
9 December 2010	The Final Five
16 December 2010	Why I Fired Them
7 July 2011	The Final Five
15 July 2011	How to Get Hired
29 May 2012	The Final Five
2 June 2012	Why I Fired Them
8 July 2013	The Final Five
11 July 2013	Why I Fired Them
13 October 2014	Ten Years of The Apprentice
16 December 2014	The Final Five
18 December 2014	Why I Fired Them
9 December 2015	The Final Five
16 December 2015	Why I Fired Them

References

1. Masters, Dru. "Dru Masters". Retrieved 30 July 2007.
2. "First Day at the Office for the New Apprentice" (Press release). Amstrad. 10 May 2005. Retrieved 11 May 2007.
3. "Apprentice TV winner to be chosen". BBC News. 4 May 2005. Retrieved 11 May 2007.
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External links

• The Apprentice at BBC Programmes
• The Apprentice at the Internet Movie Database
• The Apprentice at TV.com
• The Apprentice at Biogs.com
• The Apprentice – UK Soundboard Soundboards