The only good people this year are Kate, Yasmina and James. And Lorraine. The others are ever being dragged across the floor by them or appear to be unneeded "noise".

I don't have a selective memory as I remember how annoying, stupid and quite "radar-dimming" some people were in Series 2. But when SA said he would change the way he would pick the candidates for S3 after being disappointed the previous time round, there didn't seem to be a visible difference, only that the best of the bunch seemed to be the bigger characters, and the rest like that Sophie girl who didn't like profit (I think that's her name) not being needed. And the more series there are, the more stuck-up and arrogant they become. There is no denying that there was conflict in Series 1, because Paul and Saira took up a lot of the show, and that there were some silly people picked for Series 2, however how bad and how much conflict there has been has increased and that too is undeniable. It's not being "selective". It's putting it in perspective. As the show's ethos changed, so did the audience's reaction to the show change.

The main problem with the programe is there is not enough focus on the task.

Agree

I think there's much less conflict on a personal level in this series than any series since series 1. All the fighting seems to be on task and mostly about business issues, and most people seem to get on in the house. Compare this to the constant rows, gossip, and insults of series 2, the Katie Hopkins/Kristina Grimes nest of vipers in Series 3, and the clearly utterly foul atmosphere of Series 4 and I don't see how a case can be made that THIS is the series making the show a joke because of its conflict.

I'd add Phillip to your list of good candidates. Or at least good by the standards of this show. He's at least the equal of people like Claire, Syed, Tre, Raef, Kristina or Saira who constantly get counted as "good candidates" despite having whacking great downsides. Paula had a good head on her shoulders as well, and Debra seems to have a good grasp of business, even if she is a little hot-headed and shrieky. Howard remains to be proven, but he's by no means useless.

To be honest I think this series, this week aside, is a massive raise in standards on every level from last year. I think the problem from a viewer's perspective is that people's quality is more ambiguous and fluid in nature. You don't have the flat-out sales tasks that allow sharks (like say Mona this year, or Alex last year) to bulldoze through everybody and appear stellar when in fact they're one note. People are actually standing out for good management and good lateral thinking and well-roundedness and I like that far more than what we've seen before.

Even Ben, who despite being an atrocious leader and a gobshite is a good salesman and has good creative ideas. is head and shoulders above his counterpart from last year, Michael Sophocles who could do NOTHING. Likewise Debrabarr compared to Jenny Celery.

Remember that it was made a lot worse by Majid adding a lot of bells and whistles to it, despite the project leader saying to keep it simple.

Having a bad idea is better than no idea at all. If there were other ideas, presumably they were even worse, else why weren't they picked?

I think that was his original idea but I doubt it applies now. What would you learn about business looking at the apprentice..that it seems to be full of obnoxious people who don't know what they are doing and who stab each other in the back at the slightest opportunity.. but hey that's entertainment..

I think Siralan is secretly in love with showbiz and probably yearns to take over Brucie spot on Strictly!!! and I'm sure I saw Siralan at the Baftas....

It was a crap idea.

Only someone with a Nick style crush on Ben could give him credit for the idea and blame everyone else for it being crap.


Really?

I'd say terrorism is a bad idea and no idea would be better than terrorism.

I'd say that chemical warfare was a bad idea and and no idea would be better than chemical warfare.

If the two cretins Ben and Philip had't come up with such pathetic ideas others would have stepped in with something.

Anything would be better than 'pantsman', for Christ's sake.