With the two double firings and one triple firing, there are now twelve candidates remaining - the same number that there would be at this point had it started with the normal sixteen, and not had any double firings up until this point. Therefore, I doubt there will be many more double firings - there may be one more at some point because there usually is one in a series, but I imagine that will be it. I'm not sure if this is good or bad - it seems to defeat the point of having more candidates than normal. Surely if you want more suspense for double firings, it's better to stretch them out throughout the series rather than exhausting them at the earliest possible opportunity? Having said that, I prefer it with fewer candidates so I'm quite relieved that we can now go back to the normal format.

The fact that so many people went in the early weeks makes me wonder if Lord Sugar hated the '20 candidates' twist, that it was forced on him by producers and he just got rid of as many of them as he could in the early weeks to bring things back to normal.

Yes, I don't think LS liked it very much - although tbf there have been no multiple firings yet which I have thought to be unfair or unnecessary - in fact, they were all kind of necessary - if any of those three had survived last night, they would have been extremely lucky.

I wonder what they'll do next year - I think they'll do 18 - 20 was definitely too many for the early stages, yet the triple firing last night made for very dramatic TV, and I am sure the ratings will reflect that.

I can't locate the source, but I thought I'd read somewhere that for the next series (which is already under way?) they were reverting to 16 candidates?

I preferred it with 16. Easier to keep track of everyone, although to be fair I think they've done a pretty decent job of ensuring everyone's had at least a little airtime so far despite the need to feature the eight fired candidates so far in the edit. Jemma and Sanjay are probably the two we've seen the least?

How far are they into producing series 11? because I haven't even seen applications open yet, or did I miss that? Perhaps it's not in production yet, and they have just commissioned it.

But it wouldn't surprise me if they go back to 16 next year.

They're into production I believe, so the candidates will have been chosen by now.

How will the ratings reflect that? It wasn't announced beforehand that three would be fired (at least, not to my knowledge - if it was that was a completely pointless spoiler) so you won't gain more viewers for an episode like last night. On Big Brother, if there's a double eviction it's normally announced in advance and that gains ratings, but it doesn't work on a show like this. The only thing it could do it pick up ratings on iPlayer, which I realise probably count but is a bit of a cheat really.

That's my understanding, although I can't for the life of me remember where I read it - probably on here somewhere!

Am I right in thinking they're talking about moving it back to a summer slot again next year? If so, they'd definitely be into production now to wrap up filming before Christmas.

I'm not sure about that, if only because of the general election. Wouldn't they need to postpone it so Lord Sugar isn't on TV whilst its going on?

When did they get the candidates? I can't remember them ever having auditions for this one. Did they just take rejects from the current series?

Good point - same as they did in 2010. Although the GE needs to take place by May, so that wouldn't preclude a June/July start. Whether the BBC would want to run it then during the quieter summer period is another matter, of course.

Having said that, the Beeb would probably want to allow some space for a second election in the event of a hung parliament, so maybe Sept/Oct rather than earlier?

It will pick up many viewers on iPlayer I think. I mean, Episode 1 gained almost 2 million views on iPlayer, and so with a triple firing something that has never happened before at this stage in the process, the ratings could be big I think.




I don't understand how they'd have found candidates for Series 11 already, unless as George said they picked Series 11 candidates from the Series 10 auditions.

Yeah, unfortunately I think it'll be next Autumn when Series 11 airs, and I don't think the candidates have been chosen yet. I think applications will open shortly.

The Radio Times talked specifically shout it being in production this autumn which means the candidates will definitely have been chosen.

Can you show me the article please? I just don't understand why they're producing it this early unless they're broadcasting it before the general election, which would mean roughly two months between Series 10 and 11.

http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2014-...-in-production

There you go

Is there any news anywhere about when Series 11 will actually air?

I can't imagine series 11 will air before the election. As you say, it would mean a very short gap between series - no point in that - plus:
1. There's no guarantee the election will be in May. I think it needs to take place by May 6th, but there's nothing to stop it being earlier if Cameron decides to do so, and he would only need about a month's notice to declare that. The Beeb woudn't risk having to take the series off the air-mid run
2. Even if the election does take place in May, having Sugar on TV in the immediate run-up to it would be still be considered potential political bias.

I think we're either looking at a summer broadcast or a similar slot to this year, sliding into the schedules as soon as GBBO finishes.

So, January it is, then ...

Now that Karren's a Tory peer all they need to do is get Nick on the Lib Dem benches and the woman who mans the phones to get high up in UKIP (shouldn't be hard) and they won't have to worry about political bias at all!

("In production" can mean any number of things. I would guess it'll still air next autumn.)

Before we know it, it will be Farage manning the phone ...

Perhaps Claude supports the Green Party?