amazing how he's managed to get to the final on that basis alone. Lord Alun keeps banging on about 'no place for hiding in this process' yet somehow he keeps the inventor in and bends the rules.

Has a finalist ever only been PM once? I bet its never happened.

Two have got to interviews (sort equivelent to the 4 way final this year) - Ansel in series 2 (lost as PM) and Lohit in series 3 (won as PM)
Perhaps suprisingly Alex Wotherspoon did PM twice - he was famously reluctant to step up to the plate early on - maybe Margret pulling him up on it made him man up

But yes there is one, suprising, actual finalist who only PM'd once - Kate Walsh in series 5 - but she did win as PM
Perhaps also tellingly Kate lost to Yasmina who won all 3 of her PMs...

Bloody hell, its happened all the time then .......... ok I take it back ...... but I bet no-one has ever shown the sheer terror of taking on the PM role as has our Tom!

Kate ended up with Howard in a similar situation and he took the last opportunity to PM. Thats series was difficult though as Lord Sugar selected a lot of people to PM. I agree lack of success may have hurt her chances.

Jim has avoided putting hself forward being PM too - until this week when he more or less had to with all three girls on two PM wins.

Zoe also played to the win count logic. She was 1-1 and seemed to think she needed the second win when she put herself forward on the biscuits task. In her case, volunteering wasn't a good idea and she got no credit - but she may have needed the win to remain competitive with Helen.

Lord Sugar is always contradicting himself. If he likes someone he will find a way of keeping them in, even if they have done very little and hide in the background. If the format was the same as the previous years where he would hire them to work for him then I suspect Tom would have gone a long time ago.

Kate was a credible finalist in my eyes - Tom just seems to be Mr Hindsight or Mr Off-on-a-tangent.
Still - half the nation seem to want to take him home and mother him, so he's a winner in one way at least

Coward.

In week 1 the chance of being PM was 1 in 8. By week 11 it was 1 in 2.5. Total number of PMships was 22.

The average number of times the last 4 candidates could have made PM by random chance would be around 2.5. Because of their longevity the last 4 candidates would have clocked up average 10 PMships out of 22.

He's the worst finalist in The Apprentice history if we take into consideration the number he worked as PM and the number he was on the losing team. One time only as PM, and he was jerked around by Melody.

How many times was Tom in the board room?
Too many appearances there for anybody would not enhance Lord Sugar's estimation.

Five times?

Three times actually, tasks 8/9/10

so:

Helen: once, task 10, has won all tasks as PM
Tom: 3 times, once as losing PM - tasks 8, 9 and 10
Susan: 3 times, tasks 6, 7 and 11, has won all tasks as PM
Jim: twice, both as losing PM - tasks 7 and 11

That could be another reason why the audience do not relate to Helen. Until her first and only appearance in the boardroom she has hardly been shown on VT in conversation at all.

The others got enough exposure to inspire admirers as well as detractors. Helen has been remote. This is a variant of the saying "There is no such thing as bad publicity."

Jim was on a losing team only twice and both times when he was PM? That can't be right because wasn't he in a losing team when he wasn't the PM? The dog food task with Vincent as PM? Did I misremember?

Edited - sorry, I misunderstood. That list is about them being brought back in the board room?

You read it wrong, the list is about the times they were in the final boardroom. Jim was in the final boardroom twice, but on both occasions, he was the losing PM. (So nobody ever chose to bring him back)

Well, Leon chose to bring back Jim - but then he was subjected to Jedi mind control and thought better of it

Thats an insult to jedi.

He's a manipulative git not a knight

there is a part of me wants Jim to nick the investment simply because of the moment he completely Jedi'd Leon. One of the best moments of the boardroom ever.

Anyone notice how Helen said "I would like to be PM for the restaurant task" and Tom didn't say "well, so would I." He just gave in as usual.

He practically needed a change of underwear the one time he was FORCED to be PM.

Big deal. It's 'The Apprentice', not 'The Project Manager'

You can have an input without being PM.

Its about stepping up to the plate ............ and Tom sadly lacks in that department.

True, but I would have too, seeing as the food industry is Helen's area of expertise. If he'd pushed to be project manager I wouldn't have been surprised if he'd been shot down for it in the boardroom because of that (IIRC I think Natasha was criticised for not offering to be PM with her degree?).

That said, I wish he'd stepped up more. I was willing for him to redeem himself after his poor showing in Paris