The Apprentice is a
BAFTAThe British Academy of Film and Television Arts is a British charity that hosts annual awards shows for excellence in film, television, television craft, video games and forms of animation...
award-winning British reality television series in which a group of aspiring young businessmen and women compete for the chance to win a £100,000-a-year job as "
apprenticeApprenticeship is a system of training a new generation of practitioners of a skill. Apprentices or protégés build their careers from apprenticeships...
" to the British business magnate
Alan Sugar, The Baron SugarAlan Michael Sugar, Baron Sugar is an English entrepreneur, media personality and political advisor. From origins in the East End of London, Sugar now has an estimated fortune of £730m , and was ranked 59th in the Sunday Times Rich List 2009...
. Winners have gone on to work at
AmstradAmstrad is a British electronics company, founded in 1968 by Baron Sugar of Clapton. The name is a contraction of Alan Michael Sugar Trading. It was first listed on the London Stock Exchange in 1980. During the late 1980s, Amstrad had a substantial share of the PC market in the UK. As of 2006,...
, an electronics manufacturing company founded by Sir Alan (but since sold to BSkyB), or one of Sugar's other companies,
ViglenViglen Ltd provides IT products and services, including storage systems, servers, workstations and data/voice communications equipment and services.- History :The British company was formed in 1975 and was acquired by Amstrad in 1994...
,
AmspropAmsprop is the property company of Sir Alan Sugar, part of his Amstrad empire. Amsprop now holds the majority of Sugar's £800 million wealth and owns several office building freeholds in Mayfair and other parts of London...
or Amshold.
The Apprentice, billed as a "job interview from hell", is similar in format to the American series of the same name, which stars entrepreneur
Donald TrumpDonald John Trump is an American business magnate, socialite, author and television personality. He is the Chairman and CEO of the Trump Organization, a US-based real-estate developer. Trump is also the founder of Trump Entertainment Resorts, which operates numerous casinos and hotels across the...
.
The first and second series aired on
BBC Two
in 2005 and 2006 respectively and the
third seriesSeries Three of The Apprentice was a television series which aired in the UK on BBC One. The series began on 28 March 2007 and finished on 13 June 2007, with Simon Ambrose as the winner. Ambrose's prize was to work on a project to develop a hotel and golfing complex near Stansted Airport, whilst...
ran on
BBC One
in early 2007, the success of which led the BBC to commission two more series. The
fourth seriesSeries Four of The Apprentice was a British reality television series, which was won by Lee McQueen. The series began on BBC One on 26 March 2008, and ran for twelve weekly episodes. Auditions and interviews are reported to have taken place during the first two weeks of July 2007 in London,...
began in March 2008 and the
fifthSeries Five of The Apprentice was a British reality television series which was won by Yasmina Siadatan. The series began airing on BBC One on 25 March 2009 and ran for twelve weekly hour-long episodes, as in all previous years. Auditions and interviews took place during July 2008 in London,...
began in March 2009. A sixth series has been commissioned. The programme has spawned three
spin-offsMedia spin-off is the process of deriving new radio programs, television programs or video games or even novels from already existing ones. Spin-offs work with varying degrees of success...
,
The Apprentice: You're Fired!The Apprentice: You're Fired!, sometimes named You're Fired!, The Apprentice: You're Hired! or You're Hired!, is a British television show made by the BBC and filmed at Riverside Studios as a spin-off from the reality TV hit The Apprentice. It is hosted by Adrian Chiles and airs in a 30 minute slot...
(a studio-based programme which acts as a companion to the regular series), plus celebrity versions for
Comic ReliefComic Relief Does The Apprentice is a special celebrity version of British reality television series The Apprentice, produced to raise money for Comic Relief. The first edition aired in March 2007, and the second in March 2009. Five male celebrities and five female celebrities took part in the show...
and
Sport ReliefSport Relief Does The Apprentice was a celebrity version of the British reality television series The Apprentice, produced in 2008 to raise money for Sport Relief. Five male celebrities and five female celebrities took part in the show to complete a business-themed task...
. Occasional 60-minute special episodes, often concentrating on particular candidates and their stories, also air.
Apprentice-related
merchandisingMerchandising is the methods, practices, and operations used to promote and sustain certain categories of commercial activity.- Promotional merchandising :...
includes a magazine, podcast, and official books. The programme has led other production companies to produce shows that follow a similar format, including
TycoonTycoon was an ITV reality television show, based on the existing Peter Jones/Simon Cowell production American Inventor, which began on 19 June, 2007 at 9.00pm. It was fronted by Peter Jones, who searched for entrepreneurs with ideas that he helped turn into profit-making companies. The winner was...
and
Beat the BossBeat the Boss is a BBC TV programme in the UK, presented by Cameron Johnson and previously Saira Khan.Two teams, one kids team named "The Bright Sparks", and one adult team named "The Big Shots", have to create a product that will appeal to the kid's market...
. It has also been compared to another BBC series,
Dragons' DenDragons' Den is a British television series, hosted by Evan Davis, and first aired on BBC Two on 4 January 2005. The format of the show is owned by Sony and is based on the original Japanese series, which has been sold around the world.-Format:...
.
Candidate selection
Open auditions and interviews are held across the country before a series begins, attracting thousands of applicants. The first and second series featured 14 candidates, increased to 16 in the third and fourth. The fifth series was also meant to have 16 candidates, but went ahead with only 15 after a last-minute withdrawal.
Tasks
The successful candidates are split into two teams, initially by sex (as candidate numbers are whittled down, the composition of the teams is periodically rearranged). 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. At the start of each episode, the teams each choose a
project managerA project manager is a professional in the field of project management. Project managers can have the responsibility of the planning, execution, and closing of any project, typically relating to construction industry, architecture, computer networking, telecommunications or software...
to act as the team leader for the duration of the task, though in later episodes the project managers are sometimes nominated by Baron Sugar himself. The teams are followed in the execution of their tasks by Baron Sugar's advisers,
Nick HewerNicholas Hewer is a former public relations officer residing in Writtle, Essex.-Early life & Education:Hewer originally came from Swindon where he lived in Old Town, and was educated at Clongowes Wood College, an independent Jesuit boarding school in the Irish Republic...
and
Margaret MountfordMargaret Mountford is a British lawyer, businesswoman and television personality known for her role in The Apprentice.-Biography:Mountford is originally from Holywood, Northern Ireland...
.
Boardroom
After completion of a task, the teams report back to the "boardroom", a studio mock-up of a real company boardroom. Here Sir Alan, with the help of his advisers, reveals the results and discusses the teams' performance, exposing flaws in the candidates' strategies and personalities. Sugar, who is introduced in the programme as "Britain's most belligerent boss", frequently delivers scathing criticisms couched in colourful language ("that was a total bloody disaster" ... "you haven't got a bloody clue" ... "I'll fire the whole bloody lot of you if I have to").
The losing team is then subjected to a further detailed examination by Baron Sugar, after which the team's project manager is required to choose two team members to accompany him or her into a final round of interrogation. These are nominally the two poorest performing members of the team, but in practice the project manager may act treacherously and seek to remove more able members of the competition, or make choices based on personality. The discussions often become acrimonious as each candidate tries to divert blame towards the others. Finally, Sir Alan dismisses one of the three with the catchphrase, "You're fired!", and that candidate is eliminated from the competition.
The fired candidate is then shown being despatched into a waiting taxi for the "journey home", and is briefly interviewed in the taxi to reflect on his or her rejection from the competition. On rare occasions, two candidates have been fired in a single episode. The surviving candidates are sent back to the accommodation that is provided for the duration of the show.
Interviews and Grand Finale
When only four candidates remain (or five in later series), they undergo individual interviews, resulting in the selection of two finalists. These two proceed to the Grand Finale and perform one last task with teams chosen from the previously fired contestants, after which one is told, "You're hired!", and wins the highly-paid executive job working with Sir Alan.
In fact, two versions of the final boardroom sequence are filmed—showing each of the finalists winning. Between filming and transmission—a period of about six months—both finalists work for Sir Alan in temporary jobs. Sir Alan does not reveal his decision about who 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 Sir Alan 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. The second version is that Sir Alan decides
after the six-month trial period. Former contestant
Saira KhanSaira Khan is a British television personality and was the runner-up on the first UK series of reality TV show The Apprentice in 2005.-Television career:...
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."
Schedule
Unlike most reality television programmes, 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. 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, and the filming schedule means that the tasks are generally performed one after the other.
Compared to the US series, the UK 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 (which was acknowledged in the second series when Sir Alan expressed his desire to fire both Alexa Tilley and
Syed AhmedSyed Ahmed is a British entrepreneur, businessman and television personality of Bangladeshi origin. He is the founder and CEO of the hand and body drier company SA Vortex...
, but could only get rid of the former), and subsequent series allow Sir Alan to conduct either two double firings or one treble firing, the latter of which first occurred in the Interviews week of 2009 when James McQuillan, Lorraine Tighe and Debra Barr were all fired.
Series One
Rumours of a UK version of
The Apprentice were confirmed in early 2004 by
FremantleMediaFremantleMedia, Ltd. is the content and production division of RTL Group, Europe's largest TV, radio, and production company...
. Both BBC Two and
Channel 4Channel 4 is a UK public-service television broadcaster which began working on November 2, 1982. Although commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station owned now and operated by the Channel Four Television...
bid for the show’s rights – the BBC was eventually successful. On 18 May 2004, Sir Alan Sugar was confirmed as the star of the new series. He said he was "delighted" to take part in the programme. Reportedly, the BBC's first choice was
Philip GreenSir Philip Green is a British billionaire businessman who owns some of the United Kingdom's largest retailers, including the Arcadia Group. He is Britain's ninth richest person with assets worth around £4.43bn in 2008...
, who was busy in early 2004 organising the takeover of Marks and Spencer.
The first series began on February 2005 and lasted for twelve episodes. The viewer ratings climbed to almost 4 million viewers for the final episode on 4 May 2005. The winner was Timothy Campbell, who had previously worked as a Senior Planner within the Marketing and Planning Department of
London UndergroundThe London Underground, Underground or Tube is a rapid transit system serving a large part of Greater London and neighbouring areas of Essex, Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire in the UK. The first section opened in 1863, and was the first underground railway system in the world, and, starting in...
. 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.
In August 2008, the American cable channel
CNBCCNBC is a satellite and cable television business news channel in the U.S., owned and operated by NBC Universal. The network and its international spinoffs cover business headlines and provide live coverage of financial markets. The combined reach of CNBC and its siblings is 390 million viewers...
began to present the first series on Monday nights. 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 AmericaBBC America is an American television network, owned and operated by BBC Worldwide Americas, and available on both cable and satellite.-History:...
, where it started transmission on 5 May 2009.
Series Two
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. The second series began on 22 February 2006 and a spin-off programme was introduced on
BBC ThreeBBC Three is a television channel from the BBC broadcasting via digital cable, terrestrial, IPTV and satellite platforms. The channel is described by the BBC as an outlet for 'New drama, talent, comedy, films, and accessible news'. The channel is on-air from 19:00 to about 04:00 each night, in...
, called
The Apprentice: You're Fired!The Apprentice: You're Fired!, sometimes named You're Fired!, The Apprentice: You're Hired! or You're Hired!, is a British television show made by the BBC and filmed at Riverside Studios as a spin-off from the reality TV hit The Apprentice. It is hosted by Adrian Chiles and airs in a 30 minute slot...
and hosted by
Adrian ChilesAdrian Chiles is an English television and radio presenter.His journalistic training and love of football have resulted in a career in two streams of broadcasting, fronting general and notably business programmes such as Working Lunch and The Money Programme; and sports programmes like Match of...
.
The second series finished with a record 5.7 million viewers tuning in to see
Michelle DewberryMichelle Louise Faye Dewberry is a British reality television contestant and businessperson from Hull, East Yorkshire. Dewberry first came into the public eye in 2006 as the winner of the second series of British television programme The Apprentice.-Background:Dewberry was born on 9 October 1979...
defeat
Ruth BadgerRuth Badger is a British businesswoman, best known as the 2006 runner-up in the second series of the UK version of reality TV show The Apprentice, in which contestants compete for a £100,000-a-year job working for British business magnate Sir Alan Sugar...
in the final. Dewberry briefly took up a post under Sugar but left in September 2006 after a series of personal problems.
Series Three
When a third series was announced, it was revealed that it would be shown on
BBC One
, which is aimed at a more "
mainstream audienceMainstream audience is a media industry term denoting a an audience with average taste and interests.The term is often applied to TV content, as well as music, movies and literature.- See also :*Mainstream*Mass media*Popular culture...
," and that
The Apprentice: You’re Fired! would re-locate from BBC Three to BBC Two. The third series attracted 10,000 applicants and promised "tougher tasks and better people" — Sugar had expressed concerns that the show was becoming
Big BrotherBig Brother is a reality television series broadcast in the United Kingdom and Ireland on Channel 4 and E4, and on S4C in Wales. Internationally, it is broadcast on the Polish network TVN. It is part of the Big Brother franchise first developed in the Netherlands, and is currently the second...
. Series Three ran from 28 March 2007 to 13 June 2007, starting with 4.5 million viewers, with the audience increasing throughout the run to peak with 6.8 million people watching the final. The series was won by
Simon AmbroseSimon Ambrose was the 2007 winner of the third series of the British version of reality TV show The Apprentice, in which contestants compete for a £100,000-a-year job working for British business magnate Sir Alan Sugar.-Background:...
, who was chosen over Kristina Grimes. Ambrose went on to work at Sugar's property company
AmspropAmsprop is the property company of Sir Alan Sugar, part of his Amstrad empire. Amsprop now holds the majority of Sugar's £800 million wealth and owns several office building freeholds in Mayfair and other parts of London...
. Unlike previous series, there were 16 candidates (rather than 14).
Series Four
In May 2007, a fourth and fifth series were commissioned by the BBC, and prospective candidates were invited to apply for the fourth series through the official website. Auditions and interviews were held during the first two weeks of July 2007 in London,
ManchesterManchester is a city and metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. In 2007, the population of the city was estimated to be 458,100...
and
BirminghamBirmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands county of England. Birmingham is the second-most populous British city, with a population of 1,006,500 ....
(interviews were also to have been held in
BristolBristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, west of London, and east of Cardiff.With an estimated population of 416,400 for the unitary authority in mid-2007, and a surrounding urban area with an estimated 561,500 residents, it is England's sixth, and...
but these were subsequently moved to London). A record 20,000 applications were received.
Series Four began airing on BBC One on 26 March 2008, and ran for twelve weekly episodes. It debuted with 6.4 million viewers. 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 has subsequently been 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.
Series Five
Series Five began its run on BBC One on 25 March 2009 with 15 contestants. A sixteenth participant pulled out the day before filming began. The Grand Finale was aired on Sunday 7 June 2009, where Sir Alan hired Yasmina Siadatan over the runner up Kate Walsh.
Series Six
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. It will be filmed during autumn 2009 for transmission in early 2010.
Margaret MountfordMargaret Mountford is a British lawyer, businesswoman and television personality known for her role in The Apprentice.-Biography:Mountford is originally from Holywood, Northern Ireland...
will not return for series six.
Karren BradyKarren Brady is a British broadcasting and sport business manager.Brady is best known for being the managing director of Birmingham City Football Club. She was appointed in March 1993, when only 23 years old, and in 2002 became the first woman to hold such a post in the top flight of English...
was named as Margaret's replacement on 30 August 2009
It has also been reported that the BBC Trust have announced that transmission of the next series of 'The Apprentice' may be rescheduled if a general election is called, because of Alan Sugar's new political role. Lord Sugar has been made a Labour peer and is the government's newly-appointed enterprise champion and some critics have said his continued role in the show could compromise the BBC's political impartiality.
The Board
Along with "the boss," Lord Sugar, two advisors follow the contestants during their weekly activities. In series 1-5,
Nick HewerNicholas Hewer is a former public relations officer residing in Writtle, Essex.-Early life & Education:Hewer originally came from Swindon where he lived in Old Town, and was educated at Clongowes Wood College, an independent Jesuit boarding school in the Irish Republic...
and
Margaret MountfordMargaret Mountford is a British lawyer, businesswoman and television personality known for her role in The Apprentice.-Biography:Mountford is originally from Holywood, Northern Ireland...
took on these roles, however Margaret resigned at the end of series 5 and was replaced by
Karren BradyKarren Brady is a British broadcasting and sport business manager.Brady is best known for being the managing director of Birmingham City Football Club. She was appointed in March 1993, when only 23 years old, and in 2002 became the first woman to hold such a post in the top flight of English...
. Lord Sugar and his two advisors constitute "The Board"—the panel that evaluates the teams' performance.
Alan Sugar, Lord Sugar is an English businessman and the founder of electronics company
AmstradAmstrad is a British electronics company, founded in 1968 by Baron Sugar of Clapton. The name is a contraction of Alan Michael Sugar Trading. It was first listed on the London Stock Exchange in 1980. During the late 1980s, Amstrad had a substantial share of the PC market in the UK. As of 2006,...
. He has an estimated fortune of £830m and was ranked 84th in the
Sunday Times Rich List 2007The Sunday Times Rich List 2007 was published on 29 April 2007. The online edition was published on 30 April 2007.Since 1989 the UK national Sunday newspaper The Sunday Times has published an annual magazine supplement to the newspaper called the Sunday Times Rich List...
. Sugar was knighted in 2000 for services to business and holds two honorary Doctorate of Science degrees, awarded in 1988 by
City UniversityCity University London is a British university based in Northampton Square, Islington, London. The university has a research experience of over 100 years and has often been highly ranked for its graduate employability and graduate salaries...
and in 2005 by
Brunel UniversityBrunel University is a higher education institution situated in West London, England. In the latest Government Research Assessment Exercise, 82% of research submitted was rated as of international standing...
. He is a donor to the
British Labour PartyThe Labour Party is a centre-left political party in the United Kingdom. Founded at the start of the 20th century, it has been seen since 1920 as the principal party of the Left in England, Scotland and Wales, but not Northern Ireland, where it has only recently begun to organise again...
and has given money to charities such as
Jewish CareJewish Care is a British charity, working mainly in London and South East England, providing health and social welfare support services for vulnerable members of the Jewish community. Tony Blair, when he was British Prime Minister, said of the charity: "Jewish Care is not just Jewish values in...
and
Great Ormond Street HospitalGreat Ormond Street Hospital is a medical institution specialising in the care of children. It was founded in London in 1852 as the Hospital for Sick Children, making it the first hospital providing in-patient beds specifically for children in the English-speaking world. Now an NHS hospital...
. In July 2007, Sugar sold his stake in Amstrad to BSkyB and has since left the business.
Early series of the show made frequent reference to Sugar's connection with Amstrad, but in the fourth series, following the deal with BSkyB, reference to Amstrad was dropped. Sugar is now billed simply as controlling a "vast business empire" (most of which is actually in property). Future winners will be employed by one of Sir Alan's other companies, such as Amsair.
Nick HewerNicholas Hewer is a former public relations officer residing in Writtle, Essex.-Early life & Education:Hewer originally came from Swindon where he lived in Old Town, and was educated at Clongowes Wood College, an independent Jesuit boarding school in the Irish Republic...
is a former
public relationsPublic relations is the practice of managing the communication between an organization and its publics. Public relations gains an organization or individual exposure to their audiences using topics of public interest and news items that do not require direct payment...
officer. His involvement with Lord Sugar began when his company was chosen to represent Amstrad in 1983. Hewer's role was as a PR manager, working with the media and press. He also became an integral part of Amstrad’s corporate management. He lives in France.
Margaret MountfordMargaret Mountford is a British lawyer, businesswoman and television personality known for her role in The Apprentice.-Biography:Mountford is originally from Holywood, Northern Ireland...
has worked with Sugar as one of his main advisers for 20 years, and is a non-executive director of Amstrad
PLCA public limited company is a type of limited liability company in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland which is permitted to offer its shares to the public.A public limited company must include the words "public limited company" or its...
. She has many years’ corporate law experience as a partner in the law firm
Herbert SmithHerbert Smith LLP is a London-headquartered law firm, with an Asian practice, plus offices and representation in the Middle East and Europe. The firm was founded in the City of London in 1882 by Norman Herbert Smith and today has 240 partners and 1,300 fee-earners.The firm has offices in London,...
, where she met Sugar when working on Amstrad's flotation. She retired from the firm in March 1999, and was appointed to the Amstrad board on 22 September 1999. She is also a non-executive director at Georgica PLC. In her column for
The Daily TelegraphThe Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Colonel Arthur B. Sleigh in June 1855 as the Daily Telegraph and Courier...
on 1 June 2009, Margaret announced that series 5 would be her last appearance on the show, as she intends to devote more time to her studies. She is currently studying for a PhD in papyrology at University College London, studying documents found in Egypt and written in ancient Greek.
Karren BradyKarren Brady is a British broadcasting and sport business manager.Brady is best known for being the managing director of Birmingham City Football Club. She was appointed in March 1993, when only 23 years old, and in 2002 became the first woman to hold such a post in the top flight of English...
is best known for being the
managing directorManaging director is the term used for the chief executive of many limited companies from English speaking countries...
of
Birmingham CityBirmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in the city of Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, they became Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham F.C. in 1905, finally becoming Birmingham City F.C...
Football Club. She was appointed in March 1993, when only 23 years old. She was responsible for the company's flotation in 1997, thus becoming the youngest managing director of a UK
plcA public limited company is a type of limited liability company in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland which is permitted to offer its shares to the public.A public limited company must include the words "public limited company" or its...
. 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. She has since made recurring appearances on the The Apprentice's sister show,
You're FiredThe Apprentice: You're Fired!, sometimes named You're Fired!, The Apprentice: You're Hired! or You're Hired!, is a British television show made by the BBC and filmed at Riverside Studios as a spin-off from the reality TV hit The Apprentice. It is hosted by Adrian Chiles and airs in a 30 minute slot...
.
Filming locations
The tasks are mostly filmed in and around the London area, though the contestants have on occasion been sent as far afield as France, the Mediterranean and Morocco. In Series One, the team house was located in
ChiswickChiswick is an area of West London, located west of Charing Cross, which covers the eastern part of the London Borough of Hounslow. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London....
. A location in
Hampstead HeathHampstead Heath is London's largest ancient parkland, covering . This grassy public space sits astride a sandy ridge, one of the highest points in London, running from Hampstead to Highgate, which rests on a band of London clay The Heath is rambling and hilly, embracing ponds, recent and ancient...
was used in Series Two and another in
Notting HillNotting Hill is an area in West London, England close to the north-western corner of Kensington Gardens, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea...
for the third series. In Series Four, the candidates' accommodation was a converted glass factory in
BatterseaBattersea is a place in the London Borough of Wandsworth. It is an inner-city district located 2.9 miles south west of Charing Cross. It has a population of 75,651 people .-Geography:...
and in Series 5, the candidates lived in a penthouse house at Portobello Lofts,
Ladbroke GroveLadbroke Grove is a road in West London, and is also the name given to the immediate area surrounding the road. Running from Notting Hill in the south to Kensal Green in the north, it is located in North Kensington and straddles the W10 and W11 postal districts. Ladbroke Grove tube station is...
.
The Apprentice regularly features clips of aerial footage over the skyscrapers of the
Square MileThe City of London is a small area within Greater London, England. It is the historic core of London around which the modern conurbation grew and has held city status since time immemorial. The City’s boundaries have remained almost unchanged since the Middle Ages, and it is now only a tiny part of...
and
Canary WharfCanary Wharf is a large office and shopping development in East London, located in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. Rivalling London's traditional financial centre, The Square Mile, Canary Wharf contains the UK's three tallest buildings: One Canada Square ; 8 Canada Square and the Citigroup...
financial districts, such as the 180-metre
Gherkin30 St Mary Axe, also known as the Gherkin and the Swiss Re Building, is a skyscraper in London's main financial district, the City of London, completed in December 2003 and opened on 28 April 2004. It is tall, with 40 floors...
,
HSBC Tower8 Canada Square is a skyscraper located at Canary Wharf in London Docklands. The building serves as the international headquarters for the HSBC Group, the world's largest company by the Forbes Global 2000 and houses around 8,000 staff.The tower was designed by Sir Norman Foster's team of architects...
,
One Canada SquareOne Canada Square is a skyscraper in Canary Wharf, London. It is the tallest building in the United Kingdom at above ground level...
, and the Citigroup Centre. Amstrad—Sugar's former company that was prominently referenced in early series—does not have offices in either locale, and the company's real location, in
BrentwoodBrentwood is a town and the principal settlement of the Borough of Brentwood, part of Essex in England. It is located in the London commuter belt, 20 miles east north-east of Charing Cross in London and near the M25 motorway....
,
EssexEssex is a county in the East of England region of the United Kingdom. The county town of Essex is Chelmsford.-History:In pre-Roman Britain the territories of Suffolk and Essex were home to the Trinovantes tribe, which had grown wealthy through intensive trade with the Roman Empire, contemporary...
was rarely mentioned.
The "boardroom" (and the reception area outside) is in fact a custom-built set in a West London television studio, and the boardroom receptionist ("Frances" in Series One, Three, Four and Five, "Jenny" in Series Two) is an actress, not Sugar's real secretary.
The candidates' "walk of shame" exit sequences are actually filmed at the beginning of the series, at the same time as the scene in which they are shown entering the Amstrad 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. In more noticeable cases, hairstyles have also been different. The post-firing taxi ride merely takes the candidate around the block to allow their taxi interview to be filmed. They are then taken to a local hotel to stay the night and finally leave after packing their belongings from the house.
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. The programme was entitled
Comic Relief Does The ApprenticeComic Relief Does The Apprentice is a special celebrity version of British reality television series The Apprentice, produced to raise money for Comic Relief. The first edition aired in March 2007, and the second in March 2009. Five male celebrities and five female celebrities took part in the show...
and was recorded on 15 December 2006. It aired in two parts on 15 March and 16 March 2007. Five male and five female celebrities took part in the programme which featured only one task.
Piers MorganPiers Stefan Pughe-Morgan , known professionally as Piers Morgan, is the former editor of such tabloids as the News of the World and the Daily Mirror ....
, a former
editorEditing is the process of selecting and preparing language, images, sound, video, or film through processes of correction, condensation, organization, and other modifications in various media...
of
The Daily MirrorThe Daily Mirror is a British tabloid newspaper founded in 1903. Twice in its history, from 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the title on its masthead was changed to read simply The Mirror, which is how the paper is usually referred to in popular parlance.- Early years :The Daily Mirror was...
, was the celebrity fired by Sir Alan Sugar during the Red Nose Day telethon after the "boys' team" lost. The other celebrities participating in the programme were
Alastair CampbellAlastair John Campbell served as Director of Communications and Strategy for the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2003...
,
Cheryl ColeCheryl Ann Cole is an English singer, songwriter, dancer, fashion designer, author, and television personality. Cole rose to fame in the 2000s after becoming a member of pop group Girls Aloud through ITV's reality television programme Popstars: The Rivals...
,
Danny BakerDanny Baker is an English comedy writer, journalist, radio DJ and screenwriter. Since the late 1970s, he has worked for a wide range of publications and broadcasters including NME, LWT, the BBC, and Talk Radio...
,
Jo BrandJosephine "Jo" Grace Brand is a British stand-up comedian.-Career:Brand's mother was a social worker, and Brand herself worked as a psychiatric nurse at the South London Bethlem and Maudsley Hospital until the mid-1980s...
,
Karren BradyKarren Brady is a British broadcasting and sport business manager.Brady is best known for being the managing director of Birmingham City Football Club. She was appointed in March 1993, when only 23 years old, and in 2002 became the first woman to hold such a post in the top flight of English...
,
Maureen LipmanMaureen Diane Lipman CBE is a British film, theatre and television actress, columnist, and comedienne.-Early life:Lipman was born in Kingston upon Hull in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England, the daughter of Maurice Julius Lipman and Zelma Pearlman. Her father was a tailor; he used to have a...
,
Ross KempRoss Kemp is a BAFTA award-winning English actor, author and journalist, who rose to prominence in the role of Grant Mitchell in the BBC soap opera, EastEnders...
,
Rupert EverettRupert James Hector Everett is an English actor and singer. He first came to public attention in 1981, when he was cast in Julian Mitchell's play and subsequent film Another Country as an openly homosexual student at an English public school, set in the 1930s...
,
Tim CampbellTim Campbell is an actor best known for playing the character of Dan Baker in the Australian soap opera Home and Away. He is the cousin of Australian journalist and television personality Lisa Wilkinson....
and
Trinny WoodallTrinny Woodall is an English fashion advisor and designer, television presenter and author. Woodall was raised in a wealthy family, and was privately educated...
. 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. The celebrities managed to raise over £1 million for charity.
Another
Comic Relief Does The Apprentice celebrity special aired on 12 and 13 March 2009. The "boys' team" were
Alan CarrAlan Carr is an English stand-up comedian and media personality, known for his deliberately camp demeanour and self-deprecating humour.-Personal life:...
,
Jack DeeJames Andrew Innes "Jack" Dee is an English standup comedian, actor and writer known for his sardonic, curmudgeonly, and deadpan style.-Early life:...
,
Gerald RatnerGerald Irving Ratner , is a British businessman. He was formerly chief executive of the major British jewellery company Ratners Group , and achieved notoriety after making a speech in which he jokingly denigrated the company's products, which caused the company's near collapse.-Early life and...
,
Jonathan RossJonathan Ross may refer to:* Jonathan Ross , English television and radio personality* Jonathan Ross , United States Senator, Justice of the Vermont Supreme Court* Jonathon Ross , former Australian rules footballer...
and
Gok WanGok Wan is a British fashion consultant, author and television presenter of British Chinese heritage.-Early life:...
, and the "girls' team" Michelle Mone,
Patsy PalmerPatsy Palmer is an English actress and television personality. Palmer made an early television appearance on the children's drama show Grange Hill, but is best-known for playing Bianca Jackson in the popular British television soap opera EastEnders...
,
Fiona PhillipsFiona Phillips is an English journalist, broadcaster and television presenter.-Early life:Phillips was born in Kent and Canterbury hospital in 1961. Her grandparents ran the Duke's Head pub in Church Street St. Paul's. Phillips attended Kingsmead primary school...
,
Carol Vorderman Carol Jean Vorderman MBE is an English media personality, best known for co-hosting the popular game show Countdown .-Early life:Vorderman was born in Bedford to a Dutch father and Welsh mother...
and
Ruby WaxRuby Wax is an American comedian who made a career in the United Kingdom as part of the alternative comedy scene in the 1980s.-Early life:...
. At the time the show was recorded, Jonathan Ross was suspended by the BBC over a
prank telephone call rowThe Russell Brand Show prank telephone calls row concerned a series of voice messages that English entertainers Russell Brand and Jonathan Ross left on the answering machine of actor Andrew Sachs, which have been labelled obscene by many media commentators and politicians alike...
, but he was nevertheless permitted to appear since the programme would not be aired until after the suspension had been lifted. 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 the following year, in March 2008, to raise money for
Sport ReliefSport Relief is a biennial charity event from Comic Relief, in association with BBC Sport, which brings together the worlds of sport and entertainment to raise money to help vulnerable people in both the UK and the world's poorest countries...
. Once again, five male and five female celebrities competed for charity to sell the most celebrity memorabilia. Viewers saw
Hardeep Singh KohliHardeep Singh Kohli is a writer, comedian, presenter and property landlord in the United Kingdom.-Background:Kohli was born in Glasgow and his parents came to the UK from in India in the 1960s. His mother was a social worker, and his father a teacher then a property landlord...
get fired by Sugar. The other celebrities participating in this edition were
Phil TufnellPhilip Clive Roderick "Phil" Tufnell is an English television personality and former cricketer.-Early life:...
,
Nick HancockNick Hancock is an English actor, comedian and television presenter.Probably TV's most well known Stoke City supporter, he hosted the sports quiz They Think It's All Over for 10 years...
,
Lembit ÖpikLembit Öpik is a British Liberal Democrat politician of Estonian descent. He is currently the Member of Parliament for the constituency of Montgomeryshire in Wales...
,
Kelvin MacKenzieKelvin Calder MacKenzie is an English media executive and former newspaper editor. He is best remembered for being editor of The Sun newspaper between 1981 and 1994, an era in which the paper was firmly established as Britain's best selling tabloid...
,
Lisa SnowdonLisa Snowdon is an English model and television personality. She has been the host of the reality television show Britain's Next Top Model, since 2006, and is known for having dated George Clooney. She has also worked as a radio host, presenting the breakfast show on the London station 95.8...
,
Jacqueline GoldJacqueline Gold is a British business woman, currently Chief Executive of the Gold Group International companies Ann Summers and Knickerbox.-Early life:...
,
Louise RedknappLouise Elizabeth Redknapp is an English singer and television presenter, known as a member of the girl group Eternal and subsequently as a solo singer ....
,
Clare BaldingClare Balding is a BBC sports presenter, journalist and jockey.- Background :In 1989 and 1990, she was a leading amateur flat jockey and Champion Lady Rider in 1990....
and
Kirstie AllsoppKirstie Mary Allsopp is a British TV presenter known for the Channel 4 property programmes Location, Location, Location; Relocation, Relocation, Location Revisited, The Property Chain and Kirstie's Homemade Home...
. The show aired on BBC1 on 12 March and 14 March 2008 and was won by the girls' team.
The Apprentice: You're Fired!
This 30-minute programme is broadcast on
BBC Two
immediately following an airing of
The Apprentice. It is hosted by
Adrian ChilesAdrian Chiles is an English television and radio presenter.His journalistic training and love of football have resulted in a career in two streams of broadcasting, fronting general and notably business programmes such as Working Lunch and The Money Programme; and sports programmes like Match of...
and features guests who informally interview the most recently fired candidate and analyse their performance. It has been running since the second series of
The Apprentice and originally aired on
BBC ThreeBBC Three is a television channel from the BBC broadcasting via digital cable, terrestrial, IPTV and satellite platforms. The channel is described by the BBC as an outlet for 'New drama, talent, comedy, films, and accessible news'. The channel is on-air from 19:00 to about 04:00 each night, in...
. The series is recorded at
Riverside StudiosRiverside Studios is a production studio, theatre and independent cinema on the banks of the River Thames in Hammersmith, London, England. It plays host to contemporary and international dramatic and dance performance, film, visual art exhibitions and television production.-History:In 1933 the...
. Celebrities who have appeared on the show include those from the worlds of television, radio and business, such as
Dominic LittlewoodDominic John Littlewood is a British television presenter, journalist and comedian.Littlewood attended St Thomas More High School for Boys, Westcliff-on-Sea from 1976 to 1981 and, on leaving, worked in the new and used car business in Essex, setting up his own business in the late 1980s...
,
Trevor NelsonTrevor Nelson MBE is an English DJ and presenter.Born in Hackney to a family of St Lucian heritage, he attended Central Foundation Boys School in Islington. His first job was in a shoe shop, but his love of music meant a part time role as a DJ...
and Michelle Mone.
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 PeterBlue Peter is a long-running BBC television programme for children. It is shown on CBBC, both in its BBC One programming block and on the CBBC Channel.It is named after the blue-and-white flag hoisted by a ship in port when it is ready to sail...
presenter Richard Bacon and running for thirty minutes. Both programmes featured former candidates being questioned by members of the public,
comediansComedians are a type of entertainer who tell jokes.Comedians can also refer to:* Comedians , a 1954 film* Comedians , a play by Trevor Griffiths* The Comedians , a 1941 film...
, and those who work in business. Some critics have described Bacon's performance as better than that of
Adrian ChilesAdrian Chiles is an English television and radio presenter.His journalistic training and love of football have resulted in a career in two streams of broadcasting, fronting general and notably business programmes such as Working Lunch and The Money Programme; and sports programmes like Match of...
, who presents the similar, but television-based, programme
The Apprentice: You're Fired!The Apprentice: You're Fired!, sometimes named You're Fired!, The Apprentice: You're Hired! or You're Hired!, is a British television show made by the BBC and filmed at Riverside Studios as a spin-off from the reality TV hit The Apprentice. It is hosted by Adrian Chiles and airs in a 30 minute slot...
The Junior Apprentice
In May 2009, after an episode of
The Apprentice: You're Fired!, it was announced that the application process had begun for a new spin-off for candidates between the ages of sixteen and seventeen. It has been stated by Lord Sugar that the show will consist of 10 candidates - 5 boys and 5 girls.
Instead of the six figure salary and job working for Lord Sugar, the eventual winner will receive around £25,000 in funding for their future prospects and further education aims etc.
One-off programmes
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
AmstradAmstrad is a British electronics company, founded in 1968 by Baron Sugar of Clapton. The name is a contraction of Alan Michael Sugar Trading. It was first listed on the London Stock Exchange in 1980. During the late 1980s, Amstrad had a substantial share of the PC market in the UK. As of 2006,...
's health and beauty division, his task was to market a new anti-wrinkle product, named
The Integra. The programme also documented the reaction of Campbell's family, including mother Una Campbell, fiancée Jasmine Johnson, and daughter Kayla Campbell. As a result of his impressive performance, he was offered a permanent position within Amstrad. 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".
The Apprentice: Beyond the Boardroom was a one-off special shown on
BBC Two
on 2 June 2007. The programme featured interviews with the final five candidates from
Series ThreeSeries Three of The Apprentice was a television series which aired in the UK on BBC One. The series began on 28 March 2007 and finished on 13 June 2007, with Simon Ambrose as the winner. Ambrose's prize was to work on a project to develop a hotel and golfing complex near Stansted Airport, whilst...
.
Nick HewerNicholas Hewer is a former public relations officer residing in Writtle, Essex.-Early life & Education:Hewer originally came from Swindon where he lived in Old Town, and was educated at Clongowes Wood College, an independent Jesuit boarding school in the Irish Republic...
and
Margaret MountfordMargaret Mountford is a British lawyer, businesswoman and television personality known for her role in The Apprentice.-Biography:Mountford is originally from Holywood, Northern Ireland...
also gave their opinions on the final five, along with some of the previously fired candidates. The programme spoke about the candidates' private lives, revealing that Kristina Grimes was sent to a
conventA convent is either a community of priests, religious brothers, religious sisters, or nuns, or the building used by the community, particularly in the Roman Catholic Church and in the Anglican Communion...
at age 17 owing to her pregnancy, Tre Azam once fell asleep whilst driving and nearly died,
Simon AmbroseSimon Ambrose was the 2007 winner of the third series of the British version of reality TV show The Apprentice, in which contestants compete for a £100,000-a-year job working for British business magnate Sir Alan Sugar.-Background:...
was bullied as a child and has an IQ of 174,
Katie HopkinsKatie Hopkins is an English Reality Television contestant, businesswoman and journalist, best known for her 2007 appearance on the third UK series of TV reality programme The Apprentice, in which contestants compete for a £100,000-a-year job working for British businessman Sir Alan Sugar. Hopkins...
managed to complete the New York Marathon whilst she was pregnant. Friends of the candidates and members of their families, including parents, children, and partners, aired their views.
The Apprentice: Why I Fired Them was a one-off special which was screened on
BBC Two
on 10 June 2007, three days before the revelation of the winner of
The Apprentice Series Three. In the programme, Sir Alan Sugar looked 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. The episode featured the former participants' views of their time on the programme and what they had learnt from the experience. Sugar's assistants Nick Hewer and Margaret Mountford also spoke about the former contestants. At the end of the programme, Sugar reviewed the performances of the two finalists, Kristina Grimes and
Simon AmbroseSimon Ambrose was the 2007 winner of the third series of the British version of reality TV show The Apprentice, in which contestants compete for a £100,000-a-year job working for British business magnate Sir Alan Sugar.-Background:...
, and said that deciding who to hire would be difficult. Despite voluntarily leaving rather than being "fired",
Katie HopkinsKatie Hopkins is an English Reality Television contestant, businesswoman and journalist, best known for her 2007 appearance on the third UK series of TV reality programme The Apprentice, in which contestants compete for a £100,000-a-year job working for British businessman Sir Alan Sugar. Hopkins...
was also featured on the programme and her time on
The Apprentice was discussed.
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
in which celebrity fans and former contenders remembered those "motor mouth" candidates who only just failed to become "The Apprentice".
The Apprentice: The Final Five was a documentary about the final five contestants left in the 2008 series.
The Apprentice: Why I Fired Them was a look back at why he fired all of the 2009 candinates.
The Apprentice: The Final Five was a documentary about the final five contestants left in the 2009 series.
An Apprentice Special of
The Weakest LinkThe Weakest Link is a television quiz show which first appeared in the United Kingdom on BBC Two on 14 August 2000. The original British version of the show airs around the world on BBC Entertainment and used to air on BBC America...
aired on BBC One on Friday 30 May 2008. It featured memorable candidates from past series of
The Apprentice along with
Apprentice narrator Mark Halliley replacing Jon Briggs as gameplay commentator.
Praise
The programme has been given positive reviews by several newspapers. In the popular press,
The SunThe Sun may refer to -* The Sun a tabloid newspaper published in the United Kingdom and Ireland* Sun, the star at the center of the Solar System...
newspaper has called it "The thinking man's reality show", and
The Daily MirrorThe Daily Mirror is a British tabloid newspaper founded in 1903. Twice in its history, from 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the title on its masthead was changed to read simply The Mirror, which is how the paper is usually referred to in popular parlance.- Early years :The Daily Mirror was...
described it as "jaw-dropping viewing". Broadsheet newspapers have given the programme a similarly positive reception, with
The Daily TelegraphThe Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Colonel Arthur B. Sleigh in June 1855 as the Daily Telegraph and Courier...
calling it "The most addictive show in years", and
The GuardianThe Guardian is a British daily newspaper owned by the Guardian Media Group. Founded in 1821, it is unique among major British newspapers in being owned by a foundation .The Guardian Weekly, which circulates worldwide, provides a compact digest of four newspapers...
saying that it provided "A salutary lesson in aggressive buying and selling, hiring and firing".
The Sunday TimesThe Sunday Times is a British Sunday newspaper.The Sunday Times may also refer to:*The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times...
said that it was "not just a game show: it's a business school."
The Evening Standard was also favourable, describing the programme as "terribly compelling".
Criticism
The programme has been criticised in the British media for suggesting that success in the business world requires possession of unsavoury qualities.
Terence BlackerTerence Blacker is an English author, columnist, journalist, and publisher. He is the son of General Sir Cecil Hugh Blacker, and the brother of sculptor Philip Blacker....
of
The IndependentThe Independent is a British newspaper published by Tony O'Reilly's Independent News & Media. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily newspapers. The daily edition was named National...
newspaper, for example, said that he believed that the programme falsely linked success with being "nasty, disloyal, greedy and selfish".
Talk showA talk show or chat show is a television or radio program where one person or group of people come together to discuss various topics put forth by a talk show host...
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".
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. 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".
Former contestant and runner-up
Saira KhanSaira Khan is a British television personality and was the runner-up on the first UK series of reality TV show The Apprentice in 2005.-Television career:...
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.
Former contestants Lucinda Ledgerwood and
James MaxJames Max is a journalist and radio presenter specialising in business issues. He currently presents programmes for London speech radio station LBC 97.3....
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.
A number of people have criticised the show's editing and production methods. Contestants
Syed AhmedSyed Ahmed is a British entrepreneur, businessman and television personality of Bangladeshi origin. He is the founder and CEO of the hand and body drier company SA Vortex...
and Tre Azam accused the show of dumbing down their appearances for entertainment. Gerri Blackwood said that her boardroom scene was filmed again to make it look better.
Media WatchMediawatch-uk, formerly known as the National Viewers' and Listeners' Association, is a pressure group in the United Kingdom, which campaigns against the publication and broadcast of media content that it views as harmful and offensive, such as violence, "profanity", sex, homosexuality and...
has voiced concerns over inclusion of company names and products such as
ChryslerChrysler Group, LLC is an American automobile manufacturer headquartered in the Detroit suburb of Auburn Hills, Michigan. Chrysler was first organized as the Chrysler Corporation in 1925. From 1998 to 2007, Chrysler and its subsidiaries were part of the German based DaimlerChrysler AG...
in the programme, accusing the producers of breaking BBC policy. Despite these claims, Talkback Thames has denied any suggestion of
product placementProduct placement, or embedded marketing, is a form of advertisement, where branded goods or services are placed in a context usually devoid of ads, such as movies, the story line of television shows, or news programs. The product placement is often not disclosed at the time that the good or...
.
Viewing figures
The Apprentice has received high rating figures in its run. 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. It had an 11% share of the audience and some episodes managed to beat more popular programmes, such as
Desperate HousewivesDesperate Housewives is an American television comedy-drama series created by Marc Cherry, who also serves as show runner, and produced by ABC Studios and Cherry Productions. Executive producers, as of the fourth season, are Marc Cherry, Bob Daily, George W...
, and some films, such as
Ali G IndahouseAli G Indahouse is a British comedy film directed by Mark Mylod starring the fictional character Ali G, performed by the British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen...
, which were airing on rival channels at the time. Series Two achieved 4.4 million viewers on average, with a peak audience of 5.95 and a 27% audience share. Episodes of this series achieved higher ratings than the
2005 UEFA Cup FinalThe UEFA Cup 2004-05 season was won by CSKA Moscow, coming from behind in the final against Sporting Clube de Portugal. It was the first win by a Russian side in any European competition, and was even more impressive considering that the final was held at the José Alvalade Stadium, the home of...
and the film
Pearl HarborPearl Harbor is a war film directed by Michael Bay. It features a large ensemble cast, including Ben Affleck, Alec Baldwin, Jon Voight, Josh Hartnett, Kate Beckinsale, Cuba Gooding, Jr., Dan Aykroyd, Colm Feore, Mako, Tom Sizemore, Jaime King, and Jennifer Garner...
. Series Three, airing on the "more mainstream"
BBC One
, attracted 6.8 million viewers at its peak, with a 27% audience share. This series managed to attract more viewers than
City LightsCity Lights is a British comedy-drama broadcast on ITV starring Robson Green and Mark Benton. The show is a sequel to the 2006 series Northern Lights .-Plot:...
,
Grand DesignsGrand Designs is a UK Channel 4 TV series covering unusual architectural house-building projects, presented by Kevin McCloud and produced by Talkback Thames. The properties featured in the series vary wildly from homes underground to converted water towers, with the only common factor being that...
and
Big BrotherBig Brother is a reality television series broadcast in the United Kingdom and Ireland on Channel 4 and E4, and on S4C in Wales. Internationally, it is broadcast on the Polish network TVN. It is part of the Big Brother franchise first developed in the Netherlands, and is currently the second...
. 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. The fourth series opened to 6.4 million viewers, and the series peaked at 9.7 million during the last episode.
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.
Awards
The Apprentice won the BAFTA for "Best Feature" during the
2006 awardsThe 2006 British Academy Television Awards were held on Sunday 7 May at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London. The ceremony was broadcast on the ITV Network, hosted by television presenter Davina McCall...
, beating
Top GearTop Gear is a BBC television series about motor vehicles, primarily cars. It began in 1977 as a conventional motoring magazine show. Over time, and especially since a relaunch in 2002, it has developed a quirky, humorous style. The show is currently presented by Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond...
,
Ramsay's Kitchen NightmaresRamsay's Kitchen Nightmares is a television programme featuring British celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay. The BAFTA and Emmy Award winning programme debuted on Channel 4 in 2004....
and
Dragons' DenDragons' Den is a venture-capitalist television programme that originated in Japan where the format is owned by Sony. The format, which is now broadcast internationally, consists of entrepreneurs pitching their ideas in order to secure investment finance from business experts — the...
. It was also nominated for a BAFTA for "Best Feature" at the
2007 awardsThe 2007 British Academy Television Awards were held on Sunday 20 May at the London Palladium Theatre in London. They were broadcast live on BBC One in the UK...
, but was beaten by
The Choir.
Other awards that the programme has won include:
- 2007 Royal Television Society
The Royal Television Society is a British-based society for the discussion, analysis and preservation of television in all its forms, past, present and future. It is the one of the oldest television societies in the world...
(RTS) Award – Features & Factual Entertainment
- 2007 Broadcast Award – Best Entertainment Programme
- 2006 BAFTA – Pioneer Award (voted for by the public)
- 2006 National Television Awards
The National Television Awards is a British television awards ceremony, sponsored by the ITV network and initiated in 1995. Although not widely held to be as prestigious as the British Academy Television Awards, the premier UK television accolades, the National Television Awards are probably the...
– Most Popular Reality Programme
- 2006 Rose d'Or
The Rose d'Or is a television award. It has been given annually in spring since 1961 at the Festival Rose d'Or. Since 2004, the festival has been held in Lucerne, Switzerland...
– Reality Show
- 2006 Televisual Bulldog Awards – Best Factual Reality Show
- 2006 TV Quick
TV Quick is a British weekly TV listing magazine published by family-run German company H Bauer Publishing. It features the TV listings of the week from a Saturday to the following Friday and is sold every Tuesday...
/TV Choice Awards – Best Reality
- 2006 The Guild of TV Cameramen Awards – Camera Team Excellence in Photography
- 2006 Banff
The Banff World Television Festival is among the most important international media events in Canada. Held in the Canadian Rockies at the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel in Banff, Alberta, the Festival is dedicated to world television programming and its creation and development...
– Unscripted Entertainment Programme
- 2006 Wincott Business Awards – Best TV Show of the Year
- 2005 National Television Awards
The National Television Awards is a British television awards ceremony, sponsored by the ITV network and initiated in 1995. Although not widely held to be as prestigious as the British Academy Television Awards, the premier UK television accolades, the National Television Awards are probably the...
– Most Popular Reality Show
- 2005 RTS Craft & Design Award
The Royal Television Society is a British-based society for the discussion, analysis and preservation of television in all its forms, past, present and future. It is the one of the oldest television societies in the world...
– Tape & Film Editing
- 2005 RTS Craft & Design Award
The Royal Television Society is a British-based society for the discussion, analysis and preservation of television in all its forms, past, present and future. It is the one of the oldest television societies in the world...
– Tape & Film Editing, Entertainment & Situation Comedy
- 2005 Grierson Awards – Most Entertaining Documentary
Parodies and imitations
The show has been imitated in the
ITVITV is a public service network of British commercial television broadcasters, set up under the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC. ITV is the oldest commercial television network in the UK...
programme
Harry Hill's TV BurpHarry Hill's TV Burp is a popular BAFTA award-winning British television comedy programme, produced by Avalon Television for ITV, and is hosted by the comedian Harry Hill...
. It was also mocked in the BBC impressionist programme
Dead RingersDead Ringers is a UK radio and television comedy impressions broadcasted on BBC Radio 4 and later BBC Two. The programme was devised by producer Bill Dare and developed with Jon Holmes, Andy Hurst and Simon Blackwell. It starred Jon Culshaw, Jan Ravens, Phil Cornwell, Kevin Connelly and Mark Perry....
, in which Sir Alan Sugar turns fired contestants into frogs and the candidates are portrayed as failed applicants of
Strictly Come DancingStrictly Come Dancing is a British television show, featuring celebrities with professional dance partners competing in Ballroom and Latin dances. The title of the show suggests a continuation of the long-running series Come Dancing, with an allusion to the film Strictly Ballroom...
and
Big BrotherBig Brother is a reality television series broadcast in the United Kingdom and Ireland on Channel 4 and E4, and on S4C in Wales. Internationally, it is broadcast on the Polish network TVN. It is part of the Big Brother franchise first developed in the Netherlands, and is currently the second...
who are seeking their
15 minutes of fame15 minutes of fame is an expression which refers to the fleeting condition of celebrity that grabs into an object of media attention, then passes to some new object as soon as people's attention spans are exhausted...
. Several parodies have been uploaded onto the popular video publishing website,
YouTubeYouTube is a video sharing website on which users can upload and share videos. Three former PayPal employees created YouTube in February 2005. In November 2006, YouTube, LLC was bought by Google Inc. for $1.65 billion, and is now operated as a subsidiary of Google...
, notably Michael Sophocles' overexaggerated celebration in Sir Alan's boardroom from Series Four.
Rory BremnerRoderick "Rory" Keith Ogilvy Bremner FKC is a Scottish impressionist, playwright and comedian, noted for his work in political satire.-Early life:...
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 JohnsonAlexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson is a British politician and journalist. The current Mayor of London, he previously served as the Conservative Member of Parliament for Henley-on-Thames and as editor of The Spectator magazine....
,
Ken LivingstoneKenneth Robert Livingstone is an English politician; he has twice held the leading political role in London local government, firstly as Leader of the Greater London Council from 1981 until the council was abolished in 1986 by the government of Margaret Thatcher, and secondly as the first Mayor of...
and
Brian PaddickBrian Leonard Paddick is a British politician, and was the Liberal Democrat candidate for the London mayoral election, 2008, coming third behind Boris Johnson and Ken Livingstone...
, 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 occured to
The Sorcerer's ApprenticeThe Sorcerer's Apprentice is the English name of a poem by Goethe, Der Zauberlehrling, written in 1797. The poem is a ballad in fourteen stanzas.-Story:...
.
In early 2007, the show was mocked in the television programme
Kombat Opera Presents The Applicants. The series has been lampooned on the Boleg Bros website, where it is shot in
LegoLego is a line of construction toys manufactured by the Lego Group, a privately held company based in Billund, Denmark. The company's flagship product, Lego, consists of colorful interlocking plastic bricks and an accompanying array of gears, minifigures and various other parts...
.
Paul MertonPaul Merton is an English comedian, writer and actor. He is well known for his regular appearances as a team captain on the popular BBC panel game Have I Got News for You, as a regular panellist on Radio 4's Just a Minute and as one of Comedy Store's Comedy Store Players...
and
Ian HislopIan David Hislop is a British satirist, writer, broadcaster and editor of the magazine Private Eye. He has appeared on many radio and television programmes, most notably as a team captain on the BBC current affairs quiz Have I Got News for You.-Early life:Hislop was born in Mumbles, Swansea in...
also parodied the show during a promotional advert for the 2007 and 2008 series of
Have I Got News for YouHave I Got News for You is a British television panel show produced by Hat Trick Productions for the BBC. It is based loosely on the BBC Radio 4 show The News Quiz, and has been running since 1990...
.
In June 2007, shortly after the conclusion of Series Three of
The Apprentice, rival UK channel
ITVITV is a public service network of British commercial television broadcasters, set up under the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC. ITV is the oldest commercial television network in the UK...
began airing
TycoonTycoon was an ITV reality television show, based on the existing Peter Jones/Simon Cowell production American Inventor, which began on 19 June, 2007 at 9.00pm. It was fronted by Peter Jones, who searched for entrepreneurs with ideas that he helped turn into profit-making companies. The winner was...
, described in
The Times as "a shameless rip-off of The Apprentice".
Mark ThompsonMark John Thompson is Director-General of the BBC, a post he has held since 2004, and a former chief executive of Channel 4.-Early life:...
, 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". The series followed
Dragons' DenDragons' Den is a venture-capitalist television programme that originated in Japan where the format is owned by Sony. The format, which is now broadcast internationally, consists of entrepreneurs pitching their ideas in order to secure investment finance from business experts — the...
star
Peter Jones'Peter Jones, CBE is a British businessman with interests in mobile telecommunications, television, media, leisure, and property. He became a television celebrity through his appearances on the British BBC2 television show Dragons' Den and on his American television show American Inventor, where he...
search for a new business tycoon. It proved relatively unsuccessful and was removed from a
prime timePrime time or primetime is the block of programming on television during the middle of the evening.The term prime time is often defined in terms of a fixed time period, for example, from 8:00 pm to 11:00 pm...
slot on Tuesdays after achieving fewer than 2 million viewers, over 2.5 million below the channel's average. The final episode attracted just 1.3 million viewers. The programme's winner, Iain Morgan, won a prize of over £200,000.
In the fourth series of
Charlie Brooker's ScreenwipeCharlie Brooker's Screenwipe is a British television review programme broadcast on BBC Four by Charlie Brooker. It is similar in tone to Brooker's Screen Burn column which he writes in The Guardian newspaper’s Guide supplement every Saturday...
,
BrookerCharlton Brooker, commonly known as Charlie Brooker, is a British journalist, comic writer and broadcaster. His style of humour is savage and profane, with surreal elements and a consistent satirical pessimism...
parodied
The Apprentice, with Brooker taking on the role of a Sugar-like character dressed in a crown and gown. Instead of saying "you're fired" he said "you're fucked" to the contestants.
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. On 16 February 2006, the book was revised with additional information relating to the second series. An official magazine was first released on 23 May 2007. It includes items about
businessA business is a legally recognized organization designed to provide goods and/or services to consumers. Businesses are predominant in capitalist economies, most being privately owned and formed to earn profit that will increase the wealth of its owners and grow the business itself...
, interviews with candidates from the programme and other
Apprentice-related features.
The Apprentice has included various pieces of classical and popular music throughout. Numerous pieces from film soundtracks are also used. Examples of the music used include the opening theme ("Dance of the Knights" from
Romeo and JulietRomeo and Juliet is a ballet by Sergei Prokofiev based on William Shakespeare's play Romeo and Juliet. Music from the ballet was extracted by Prokofiev as three suites for orchestra and as a piano work.-Ballet:...
by
ProkofievSergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev was a Russian composer, pianist and conductor who mastered numerous musical genres and came to be admired as one of the greatest composers of the 20th century.-Biography:...
) and "The Boardroom", "You're Fired" and "Closing Credits" from
The Apprentice (Original Theme) by
Dru MastersDru Masters is a British composer, best known for composing television music. He has composed tracks for the British version of The Apprentice and The Unteachables, amongst others...
. An official soundtrack was released on 4 June 2007.
External links