Odd thread I know, but thought this would be interesting

I personally would be heartbroken. I only started watching in Series 8... I am gutted I didn't start earlier. I think the show has a lot of life left in it (a good 3 years at least), and so I think it'd be a shame. Yes the ratings have not been as good for Series 8 and 9, but its only a few million behind Series 7 which was the show's peak in terms of ratings.

I wonder if people would still visit this forum and talk about the Apprentice after it was gone, or it would just be forgotten about in five years. I'm not sure that would happen though, because the show has such a distinctive well-known image.

I'd like it to continue, but I'm trying not to put my hopes on that in case it isn't. I think that ultimately, the fate of the show is in our hands. There have been no official statements either way, and I reckon the BBC are looking to gauge how Series 10 goes down before deciding whether to commit to any more. So, if we can get loads of people really invested in Series 10, I think it may have a good chance. Otherwise, you really can't say.

I actually think there would be a huge outcry if the show was axed after Series 10 though... Even if the ratings decrease again from the level that they were at for Series 8 and 9 (which I doubt they will very much), they would be silly to cancel it, because they have to remember that only three years ago, they got 10 million people watching, about one fifth of the population.

I do think that Series 8 damaged the show's ratings... I know that you liked it, but it was quite an unpopular series, and I think they failed to round up interest as the series went on like with Series 7.

The issue is that the audience doesn't know what it wants. People complained that Series 8 wasn't entertaining enough (which I actually disagree with and will debate with anyone, but not just here as that's not really my point). But last year, even though it got better ratings, I heard people complaining that it wasn't a serious business contest anymore. Of course, the complaints might not be from the same people, but you're going to annoy someone whatever you do.

I actually feel that the BBC are currently more concerned with ratings than with shows that have potential and could gain ratings in time. For example, ratings is probably the reason that Young Apprentice was cancelled, although the BBC have never released an official statement concerning that. However, I have checked and it got more ratings than Big Brother has since moving to Five. I think that Five, being a commercial channel, is more open to evolving and developing shows over time to find its audience, whereas the BBC is more focussed with immediately high ratings, and I don't think that the latter is always the best approach.

I think the issue is not that the audience don't know what they want, but that its about the show achieving the right balance, which I understand in not always easy. Series 8 and 9 were too far on each side of the spectrum whereas, in my opinion, series 1, 2, 5, 6 and 7 acheived a much greater balance. I think we'll just have to wait and see how series 10 fares but I am really not sure that I can see the show being cancelled at this stage.

I hope you're right

It'd really depend why the show was cancelled. If it was cancelled because Lord Sugar had gotten tired of doing it and wanted to move onto other things, I'd be a little disappointed, but still happy in the knowledge that we got ten years of the show, plus Young Apprentice and those charity episodes.

If it was cancelled because the ratings suddenly crashed and burned, I'd be disappointed that the BBC didn't give the show another chance to get back on track (bearing in mind that the ratings have generally been pretty consistent since the show it hit big with Series 4, with Series 7 being an unusually well-watched series in retrospect), though again it would be a somewhat legitimate reason.

If it was cancelled just because someone at the BBC thought it was yesterday's news even though the ratings were still decent... yeah, I'd be pissed off at that!

I have seen the candidates for Series 10 from filming pictures - it makes me very excited, because it looks like an interesting bunch of people... Much more diverse than last year's girls. I hope the ratings improve... Series 9 was very popular with lots of people I know, but I think it had lost a lot of fans from Series 8.

When you say diverse, do you mean in age, ethnicity or something else? I wouldn't have thought you'd be able to tell that much about them from pictures. (If you could try to answer without any spoilers, I'd appreciate it - I haven't seen the pictures.)

I mean in terms of ethinicity yes, as well as the type of people... Different shapes and sizes, different dress senses... The age range is about the same I guess although it's hard to tell. They certainly had a huge range of ages last year... Jaz would have been nineteen when Sophie was born

I agree it's hard to tell by photos, but the women look much more diverse... If I was in this same position last year, I would have had a nightmare differentiating the candidates, when Natlie and Luisa, as well as Leah and Fran looked quite similar!

Surely the most diverse group ever in terms of ethnicity was the Series 2 men? Out of seven men, there were only two who weren't ethnic minorities, and one of those two was fired in the first week.

I'm not sure... It was really quite strange actually IMO. I don't think they were actually very diverse... Mani, Samuel, Syed and Paul were all cocky bulldozers IMO, whereas Ansell, Ben and tuan were quiet and kind.

It would leave a hole in my TV-watching life but I think I could get over it. Much of the shock impact of the first few series can never be replicated. We know all the tasks and so do the candidates.

I'd love to see more sophisticated tasks that take longer, maybe needing to be spread over two or three episodes with double firings. Perhaps have all of the candidates being project manager in turn on the same task. Maybe have three teams. A shakeup of the formula would make it far less predictable and therefore more enjoyable.

I meant in terms of ethnicity. Every male candidate bar Paul and Ben appeared to have international heritage. However, only one woman appeared ethnic minority (Nargis).

On the other hand, Series 2 did have the show's only confirmed gay woman to date.

I think Natasha Scribbins was bisexual. I'm pretty sure that Luisa is as well.

As far as I know, the only LGBT people on the show whose sexuality is public knowledge are Ruth, Lohit, Howard, Natasha, Harry Hitchens and Luisa. There must be more, but they don't generally talk about their personal lives a huge amount.

I think i've heard omeone else mention that, it could have been you, and it certainly sounds like a very interresting revamp. perhaps the show does need reinvented after Series 10.

One thing I've noticed is that they used a lot more airtime in the boardroom from Series 5 onwards, and that's quite boring. So if they had multipe episodes per task, that would (logically) equal less boardroom which (probably) equals higher viewing figures. It would be good to see the show take a new strategy though.

I wouldn't necessarily change the format of the show, but I would like to make a difference to the amount of footage that we get to see. I have two ideas for how this could happen. The first is to change it to three episodes per week, one showing the task briefing and the initial plans, one showing the second day of the task and one with the boardroom and firing. Probably the length of the episodes would have to change to half an hour or at most 45 minutes for this to work, but I think that could be quite good.

My other idea would be to keep the programme as it is, but to broadcast a two-hour one on BBC Two the following day with more footage from the task. People like us who follow it religiously could watch that, and the more casual viewers could stick to the normal hour-long episode. They could call it The Apprentice: Uncut or something.

How do these ideas sound?

I wouldn't like the second idea... There would be too much confusion between avid viewers and casual viewers.

The second idea is more up my street though. The format we have now is still good though.

Do you mean that the first idea was the one that you liked?

Yeah

I'm sort of bracing for it. No show's immortal, and ten is a strong number. I would be disappointed, because I love the Apprentice, but I think it'd be a fine decision, it is always good to shut the door while people still want more. 10 series (13, really) in nine years is a grand old legacy, The Apprentice is a veteran, it's about the same age Big Brother was when Channel 4 dropped it - a fair old whack by any show's standards. I make it 161 candidates? That's a lot of Apprentice!

So, I'm not counting on a Series 11, and think 10 would be a sensible place to shut the door... but if they do commission an eleventh series, I'll be delighted! Sod sensible - Big Brother carried on way past its critical peak, went from big public event television to a small but dedicated base of fans, whereas S9 has proven The Apprentice is in relatively rude health. The most popular series are quite evenly distributed, and Young Apprentice was looking at BAFTAs. I think it'd be sensible to mix it up a bit, hone the format, shuffle the tasks, add some new ideas... but it doesn't need much work done. If it keeps producing series like 1, 5, 7 and 9 I'm happy for it to run and run.

The problem is that they have a good idea that shouldn't be limited., Its got many of the same qualities the masterchef series have, and the BBC hasn't thought of a third option to fill the schedule. It ought to be possible to think of some new tasks and some lend themselves to play out differently with different products to find or sell. The BBC do tend to cut shows with drops in ratings, but they would need something they don't have to replace it.

The problem is the prize and the boss. The new prize doesn't work as we tend to have selection even more by the final proposal than we did by the job on offer.I don't think we have seen a great business proposal yet, and we still have the best show performers not actually winning. It may or may not matter to the audience that the show outcome and story often don't match. The bigger problem is who could continue the show with its nature intact if Lord Sugar gave up.

The series used to be repeated on BBC Two (without extra footage) in the past (and I think some series were repeated in the night on BBC One). Usually on the Tuesday before the next episode, they might pick that up again to attract extra viewers who missed the start of the series.

My own idea would be to air 1 or 2 episides prior to the actual start of the show, where we already meet the candidates (which would mean that you could get rid off the final five show; which is always buried on a Mondaynight somewhere anyway). A chance to get to know all the candidates a bit better and also to extend the series (a bit like Strictly.......without the big gap).

Now, you see, I wouldn't like that as I don't like finding out about the candidates before the start. I used to watch everyone's auditions, but I've stopped doing that because I feel it spoils it a bit because straight away I start to think about how they'll all interact with each other. I like to go into Episode 1 without having any idea what's coming.