Oh I wish I could remember who was in which series

I liked 1 with Saira and Tim

I liked the series with Stu Baggs in

And I liked the one with Katie Hopkins in ( Boo ! Hiss! )

Any changes in opinion about this Series 8, now it's done and dusted?

I only started watching Series 5 onwards, but like others I'm not that keen on the new format. We have Dragon's Den for investment.

My favourite series would probably, oddly, be Young Apprentice 2011. It's certainly been a better watch than the two adult versions surrounding it. I'm looking forward to the third series later this year.

Agree with the part that I highlighted.

Only problem with that series was the semi-final format, as applying that to the grown up version would have meant that Tim, Simon and Stella would not have been in the final and therefore would not have won.

Bump for series 9, now we're more than half way!!

1. Series 3
2. Series 5
3. Series 9
4. Series 7
5. Series 4
6. Series 2
7. Series 1
8. Series 6
9. Series 8

this series iw going very well with me. And just to clarify, I don't by any means think series 8 is awful, I like all the series

Series 8 was the worst one. LS quickly eliminated anyone who I found interesting; and by the end of week five or six everyone I had hoped might be a contender was gone. What was left was a very dull process of elimination producing a winner who was worthy, but not exciting to watch.

This year is up there with the best for me. I am loving it each week. It's a great mix of characters, and the tasks, though familiar, are sufficiently challenging to create a nice bit of drama in each episode. I don't particularly have a favourite to win*, but there are some firings I am greatly looking forward to.


*Probably Jason, if push comes to shove.

1 - Series 7
2 - Series 9
3 - Series 5
4 - Series 3
5 - Series 1
6 - Series 4
7 - Series 6
8 - Series 2
9 - Series 8

I notice a trend.

1. Series 1
2. Series 4
3. Series 8
4. Series 5
5. Series 3
6. Series 6
7. Series 7
8. Series 2

Series 9 may find itself either side of series 8 atm.

1. series 3 (highly entertaining in so many ways)
2. series 2 (because of Syed)
3. series 1 (Paul, Saira)
4. series 4
5. series 6 (because of Stella English)
6. series 5
7. the rest

I didn't watch series 1 and only got into it at the end of series 2, so I'll leave them out...

Series 3 - One of my fave contestants ever (Tre) and some absolutely genius tasks. I will never forget Simon trying to fix te legs on the trampoine during the TV selling task...

Series 4 - I know a lot of people rank it lower, but I think because I only started watching the series before it still felt 'new' and hadn't started repeating tasks too much (unlike now...)

Series 5

Series 7

Series 6

Series 8

It says a lot that there are people mentioning contestants they liked (both here and in other threads) from various series and the ones I remember / recognise are all from older series. I barely remember any from series 5 onwards!

Omitting YA just for the sake of simplicity

Series seven - Amazing.
Series five - Amazing. Also, the first one I saw, so I see it as the definitive run. Watched S5-S9 and the Young Apprentices live. S4, S3, S2 and S1 were catch-up jobbies.
(Series nine - So far, this is where I'm expecting it to end up. Really digging it.)
Series one - I left this 'til last, and I wish I hadn't. I'd sort of worked back through them over time, and I found the earlier series were a little weaker, more primordial, I didn't feel like they quite hung together as well as later series. Finally, pleasantly surprised to find that S1 was absolutely riveting, start to finish.
Series four - This is the one I think of when someone mentions the Apprentice. I didn't watch it at the time, but I was the most aware of it when it was on; I heard lots of chatter about it at the time, and it had a lot to live up to. The candidates were flappy and the finalists undeserved, but... I already knew that when I went in! Great fun.
Series six - Weird one, this - utter carnage, but played host to some really boring candidates. Chris Farrell, Jamie Lester, Sandeesh Samra, et al., never really earned their place. The candidates who were good telly worked overtime, and I fear Stuart Baggs will probably become the definitive Apprentice candidate, but it's a funny clash of slightly average versus utter mayhem. Not enough good business to rank higher, I didn't feel like I had anybody to really root for except Stuart himself, but a great watch nonetheless.
Series eight - Probably the weakest series I watched live, but still entertaining. Bit of a vibe of "been there, done that." Liked a lot of the candidates as people - Gabby was cool, Ricky was cool, Tom and Nick, great - but it didn't coalesce quite right.
Series three - I feel like I know this one the least. Most eps I've only watched once, never followed it with anyone, and it came slap bang in the middle of an early series catch-up marathon. This placement might be a little unfair, I'm really eager to rewatch it one day, but for now, it's here.
Series two - Ruth's good, Paul's good, but it feels a bit... samey? I'm perfectly happy to watch it, but for what I'd basically consider the breakout series, I don't think it stacks up to any of the others.

That's 7 - 5 - (9) - 1 - 4 - 6 - 8 - 3 - 2. S3 aside (which I think may be unfairly maligned), I seem to have a sort of Star Trek thing going on. Odds vs. Evens.

Young Apprentice, I'd rank thusly...

1. Junior Apprentice
2. Young Apprentice (Ashley)
3. Young Apprentice (Zara)

Junior's hanging somewhere around S4, qualitywise. Ashley's series, just below. Zara's series, somewhere in the S6-S8 fug. Think it shared a lot of the same problems as those two - and like those two, still remained a good watch.

Interesting that you thought Zara's series was the weakest? I thought it was the strongest series, interestingly enough

Series 3
Series 1
Series 9
Series 5
Series 2
Series 4
Series 7
Series 6
Series 8:yawn:

1) Series 3: Brilliantly hilarious.
2) Series 4: Marrakesh. And Lucinda.
-) Series 9 so far.
3) Series 2: They hadn't quite got the format right (no double firings, even for chickens), but that did keep Syed in it, which turned out to be a good thing
4) Series 5: aside from Pantsman, the wrong people got fired too early, and it ended up being a bit pants
5) Series 1: Saira was beyond obnoxious... That soccer club episode was car crash television. Painful.
6) Series 6: bit lacklustre and put me off bothering to watch it – the format had gone too far the wrong way from series 1&2.

Didn't watch: series 7
Didn't watch: series 8

I never saw series 1 or 3 so I'd say:

Series 4
Series 5
Series 2
Series 9?
Series 6
Series 7
Series 8

Do you like seeing people screw up? I look for the complete opposite in an episode of The Apprentice to what you apparently look for.

George I am watching YA2. It is absolutely brilliant!! Love the characters and the short, to-the-pointness of the series. Although I don't like the other two much, especially Junior Apprentice.

I will now re-rank.

=1) Series 3 (Many gold moments and characters)
=1) Series 4 (I love all the arguments and b*tchiness )
3) Series 5 (Once again very interesting characters and pantsman and James )
4) Series 9 (Great mix of likeable, entertaining candidates and classic moments)
5) YA Series 2 (Very good TV, the shortness really suited this series, the quadruple firing ruined it a bit )
6) Series 8 (Very underrated IMO)
7) Series 7 (Not many likeable characters, am a bit OVERrated I think)
8) Series 2 (Only memorable things were Badger and chicken pizzas)
9) Series 1 (Seems very messy compared to the series today, and real business proved to be boring )
10) Series 6 (Never watched it in 2010 and when I watch it on YT, I just cant get into it)
11) YA Series 3 (Many unlikeable candidates)
12) YA Series 1 (Awful )

Glad you're liking it! It's my favourite Apprentice series, out of both Young Apprentice and the main show. Partly because I absolutely loved Zara, and partly because I think lots of the other candidates are amazing as well.

Strangely enough looking through this thread, many people have ranked series 9 pretty highly, yet on the 'is this series a classic?' thread, many people are saying NO!! Hehehe
I am so loving this series, absolutely love Leah, and Luisa has improved, definitely just behind series 3-5, which are pretty unbeatable TBF

I think that Series 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 9 are great series of the Apprentice, and I don't really want to rank them, as my opinions on them change all the time. They are all classic series IMO, and I just generally love the Apprentice.

However, Series 1, I have forgotten about, I've not fully watched it since the same time Series 8 was airing.

The two I don't think are up to the standards of the other series are:
Series 2. This is because I just feel there was literally NO eye candy on either sex, apart from Syed and Michelle. I also feel that Michelle, Ruth and Ansell were the only likeable candidates, and they, along with a few others were the only few that had true business brains. The others were all horrible characters (Mani, Sharon, Paul), idiots (Syed), Crackpots (Jo), or bland (Ben, Karen, Alexa, Samuel, Tuan).
Series 8. This is because I feel there were too many bland, unlikeable characters, and although it is a business show, everyone likes to see LS get angry from time to time, and this bunch of candidates were just too competent to allow this to happen There are hardly any memorable moments, and Series 8 had the worst finalists ever in terms of likeability (along with Series 4)

YA is a whole different ball game. I have never really been interested, I've seen them all at least once, but there's something about 16-year olds acting like adults I find extremely off-putting. I remember thinking Series 2 was pretty good though.

So, out of the adult series, I love them all, because it is the format that makes the show for me, it's just that Series 2 and 8 have more flaws than the others.

What is off-putting about seeing a mature 16-year-old? Personally, I find it very refreshing. The amount of stick that young people get for messing around and not doing anything - I think that those individuals, plus others of equivalent maturity, are an example to their peers.

No, but they want to be clones of the adults - it's not that they ARE mature, it's that they're acting it. I'd rather watch truly accomplished business people.

I think that a lot of the young people come across as more with it than the adults actually. The adults were chosen more on entertainment, the youngsters on talent.

It's hard to compare accurately as there have been so many more adult candidates than young candidates, but based on the people left in the final two weeks, I'd rather have a team consisting of Arjun, Tim, Zoe, Kirsty, Emma, Zara, James, Haya, Lizzie, Harry H, Harry M, Ashleigh, Lucy, Maria, Patrick, Steven and Andrew than a team consisting of Tim, Saira, James, Paul Torrisi, Michelle, Ruth, Ansell, Paul Tulip, Simon, Kristina, Katie, Tre and Lohit. There are good and bad eggs in both groups, but I think that the young sample generally contains more likely bets than the adult sample.

I guess you're right, the kids came across more competent.

However, I just don't enjoy watching 16-17 year-olds - I prefer to watch adults from the adult world.Peope generally don't enjoy watching teenagers on TV, just like The majority of people wouldn't want to watch a programme full of Scottish people. Its about targeting to please the greatest number of people possible, by putting the people that people can relate to on their TV screens.