I think they would have wanted a final five for the semi-finals TBH. It is a shame though, I literally was speechless when Gabrielle was fired.

Why? Why does it make a difference? They had a final four in the first two series, and a final six in Series 2 and 3 of Young Apprentice. What's the issue?

Have you got into this series yet, or do you still find it boring?

I have watched it all now, and I just think nothing really came together with Series 8. There were very few interesting candidates, same old tasks, and no real dynamic. With Series 8 the format just seemed really tired, we'd seen everything we saw in Series 8 before except in a much more exciting scale.

Also, so many of the candidates were annoying or unpleasant or just plain dull. They didn't really have the right balance. Michael, Duane, Katie, Azhar, Jade and Tom were dull. Jane, Maria and Stephen were unpleasant. Laura, Jenna and Adam were very annoying.
The balance should have been a few competent, some for entertainment, and a few villains in there, and they normally get this right - it just didn't work this time however.

I like howevr for Series 9 that there were a few new twists like the first episode was completely changed in that they revelealed their business plans in the first boardroom. There was also new music. There were so many exciting original tasks like Dubai and Away-Day, and I liked how they went back to the old format for Week 11.

Series 8 felt very stale, but Series 9 had a great refreshed vibe about it.

I have to say, I'm surprised to hear you say that about Jenna. Isn't she one of your all-time favourites?

What is your definition of an entertaining candidate? I find an entertaining candidate someone who I find likeable and enjoyable to watch - like Gabrielle. I feel that Jenna and Adam became that way as the series went on. I found Katie to be one of those, and Duane came across that way in the early weeks before fading a little. I feel as though Series 8 had a lot of very competent people. I agree about Tom though - not so much him being dull, but I found him quite cold and difficult to warm to, although I think I'm in the minority there based on others' opinions of him. I think I find what the candidates physically do to be interesting, rather than finding them entertaining in and of themselves.

My definition of an entertaining candidate is someone with a complex, unusual personality.

And about Jenna, yes she was one of my favourite candidates, but I know that there were threads about how annoying her voice was - and ot was! :P But I saw through it by the end

I'm surprised you actually liked Adam though . He was a Pratt IMO.

I don't think it's fair to judge a candidate by what their voice sounds like - she can't help that.

I didn't like Adam at first, but as time went on he started getting better. There were a couple of tasks on which he really excelled. I think that on The Final Five programme, he came across as quite endearing. He definitely went at the right time, and there were a lot of other candidates I liked more, but he was definitely better than he initially came across.

Adam deserved to go in week 6 IMO. To have him in the semis over Gabrielle was a travesty.

I wouldn't at all have been surprised if Adam had gone in Week 6 - although as I said, I would have fired Azhar over him, because I think it's better to try and fail than not to try at all - but that was before he started redeeming himself. In Weeks 7 and 8 in particular, he really did do well. You can't judge someone negatively because they should have gone before they did well. I think that Jenna deserved to go in Week 2, but I'm glad that she didn't because in later tasks she did a lot better.

I also agree that Gabrielle was better than Adam, but the candidates don't always go in the right order. It all depends on a number of factors - who is on the winning team, who is in the final boardroom etc. If Adam had been in the Week 10 boardroom with Gabrielle and Stephen and the same two had gone, I would have been furious, but it didn't happen like that.

Yeah, I agree with you George, and often some candidates get very far who don't really deserve it due to being lucky enough to be on the team that wins very often!

I am now onto Series 7, watching Episode 3 as we speak, in the wait until my Series 1-6 DVD arrives.

I am quite annoyed with myself I have gotten an Apprentice phase (they come round from time to time), at the same time as my GCSE Trial Revision! . I just watched one episode and then I was hooked! Hopefully this wears off soon.

The good thing about TA as a reality TV show is that you can watch the episodes again and again, and you never get bored of them.

I think this was how Stephen lasted so long. Also, Matthew in the first series. On paper, his early record comes across as that of a very strong candidate - four wins in as many weeks, including a PM win. However, he was generally the weakest of a good lot, his PM win was more to do with his team than with him, and he was in the boardroom and fired as soon as he was on the losing team in Week 5. I think he would have gone had he lost any of the first four tasks.


You can use it to reward yourself - two hours of revision, an hour of The Apprentice etc...

Totally agree with you about Matthew. He was awful!

I am very unsure.

It could be any time from late August right up to the beginning of October. I am hoping it starts at the end of August - surely they will get the programme on ASAP seeing as by August the show will have been off air for 14 months.

I am very much hoping they get it on ASAP - TA is not a show for cold winter nights - I associate it so much with Summer

So what is everyone's opinion about when it will start?

(PS. It's seriously worrying me that I am getting ready for a new series already when we have at least 7 months to wait. )

For reference, series six started at the beginning of October when it was delayed to stay impartial during the 2010 election. So, there's your yardstick.

I'd presume October, and if it comes sooner, great. Gutting that Doctor Who and The Apprentice are both nudged. That's my Spring, right there! But, oh well, killer Autumn.

We had Junior Apprentice between Series 5 and Series 6 though. I am probably just thinking wishfully though! End of august would be great though.

I am up to Week 11 of Series 7 - what a fabulous series! The mixture of strong personalities mixed with business acumen and lack of it made it a pretty perfect balance!

Out of the three series since the prize change, Series 7 has to be my favourite closely followed by Series 9. Series 8 is miles behind I'm afraid.

My favourite candidate was Melody, who I way loved cause as well as being very strong candidate, she was also very entertaining, and I loved her scraps with Natasha and Zoe.

I absolutely think that Zoe is one of the most loathsome candidates from any series. She was smug, bitchy, manipulative and a liar! She pretty much lied in every boardroom when her team lost.

I really liked Series 7 as well, and the second series of Young Apprentice. 2011 was a fantastic year for The Apprentice. I always associate Series 7 with orange-flavoured chocolate - I was eating some when I first saw the trailer!

Which is your favourite series (out of all of them, including Young Apprentice?)

That is a very tricky one. I could give you a top three.

Series 4, becuase of the entertaining, idiotic and villainous characters. We also had Marrakech. The finalists did let it down a bit for me - Raef and Lucinda really deserved to be in the finals - we were left with four unlikeable and quite incompetent finalists. But overall, great series!

Series 7, as I have ecolanined above.

Series 9, because although everyone was fairly incompetent atthe start everyone sort of blossomed by the end. There were some true comedy moments and some great candidates.

Perhaps once my new DVDs arrive, my views won't be so skewed on Series 3 and 5 - I never saw those series at the time, and so I have had to watch them in terrible quality on YT - video quality does matter!

YA has never really appealed to me.

Your favourtie series were 7 and YA 2 right?

I can't really speak for Series 4, as I have only seen the second half of it once and that was a while back. I can't remember whether I thought Raef should have got that far or not, but I disagree about Lucinda. If I remember correctly, she was a very good team leader, but not a very good team player; she never really did well when she wasn't PM. That said, she was better than Helene, who did get to the final. I don't see why Alex and Helene were kept. The final should have just been between Lee and Claire.

I actually think that the most underrated person in this series was Sara, and that is who I think should have won.


Hmm, I'm not sure I agree that everyone blossomed by the end. Leah, Luisa and Neil did, but they were the strongest candidates in any case, and it was natural that they would be the ones remaining. Francesca started out weak and ended weak, and I don't understand how she got so far. Jordan started out as a real contender, and by the end was quite a joke.


Interesting. I tend to like it more than the adult series, for a few reasons. Firstly, the candidates were closer to me in age (although probably not so much anymore, as I'm now 20.) Secondly, they tended to be more competent than the adults. Thirdly, I thought we saw more of the real Lord Sugar in YA - I feel like he overdoes his reputation in the adult series, and has become a bit of a caricature; I really like and respect the man, and I think he's probably a really nice person underneath all the belligerence. Fourthly, I liked the shorter series with fewer candidates; it gave me as a viewer more of a chance to analyse all of them from early on.


That is correct, but YA2 comes before Series 7 in my ranking. Partly because as everyone knows, I really, really liked Zara, but that's not the only reason. I think that in addition to her, there were a lot of other people in that series who I really liked, and if Zara hadn't won, I would have been happy for any of the rest of the final seven to win, save for Harry M.

Back on the topic of this thread () - it occurred to me that if Series 10 goes down well, maybe they'll commission Series 11 and 12 in one go.

The reason I think this is that I think they'll want to get TA back on in Spring. I don't however think they'd have time to make Series 11 in time for Spring 2015. I also don't think they'd want to put TA on another big hiatus until Spring 2016 if Series 10 was popular.

So... they could have a Series 11 in Autumn so it's not too long for a new series, and a Series 12 for Spring 2016, so they can get it back to a Spring airtime.

Of course this is all just speculation, but I think that would be really good! I am quite scared it'll be cancelled after Series 10

I'm just keeping in mind that if it does get cancelled, it has run for ten years and 13 series, if you include Young Apprentice. Whatever happens next, that is some achievement.

I am annoyed with myself that I started watching it so late - Series 8, it's too latte! Haha.

I really hope we will have not seen the last of TA by this Christmas.

I am annoyed with myself that I started watching it so late - Series 8, it's too latte! Haha.

I really hope we will have not seen the last of TA by this Christmas.

Also, seeing as the American one is now dead, it's funny that a show that was sold to so many countries and was an international success, would actually be dead and gone in ten years.

Have you seen many of the international versions? I've found it quite hard to warm to any of them, except The Apprentice Australia, which I thought was really good. Shame it only lasted one season.

I have seen clips of TA America - I don't like their boardroom or Mr Trump - so irritating.