Has anyone else who has watched the apprentice since season one noticed that Nick has a much smaller involvement than previously? Rarely is he seen speaking during tasks to make witty criticisms or point out his observations one on one to the camera like he used to. I've also noticed in some episodes he isn't even shown uttering a single word in the boardroom. I used to find him an entertaining and integral part of the programme.

Her name is Karren.

And yeah, Nick's had a reduced role lately. I think it's because a lot of the floating heads Nick & Karren do are done after the fact and perhaps he either doesn't have the time to do them because of Countdown or is choosing not to because he's getting on a bit. Or maybe the editors are just shafting him. Who knows?

Who are you, her husband?

Anyway, it may be due to countdown, but i've noticed it as a trend that appears to be from the editing side. If nick's supervising the tasks anyway, it doesn't take extra time out his day to make a passing observation to the camera or to the team. With Nick and Karren's current level of involvement in the show it's almost getting less and less worthwhile their being there, which is a shame. I always felt they were quite integral to the feel of the show.

Can't stand Brady.

I wonder when she will next do her 'women in business' schtick, convenient forgetting her own career working for David Sullivan's porn empire.

True, but at least she's not a banker.

I don't understand all the negativity towards her. She's managed to combine a family, a successful career and overcome a serious health scare.

Well apart from being a Tory, she has the air of the distasteful ruthlessness and poker-up-the-backside coldness that characterises a lot of money-worshiping business people.

Her career in football has been been marked by accusations of that sort of ruthlessness and haughtiness. And no, it's got absolutely zero relation to her gender - I hate the sort of demeaning master and servant/Teacher and recalcitrant child, class-system related attitude that typifies employer-employee relations in this country just as much in men as I do in women.

The to-camera soundbites are done on-task, not afterwards. You can see they're usually shot out in the street or in an office building, not a studio.

Nick and Karren may have a reduced role on screen these days but they still have a crucial role to play as they are Sugar's eyes and ears reporting back on who did (or didn't do) what during the tasks. It's not like Sugar is following the teams around or gets to see the same neatly edited footage that we do before the boardroom.

If they have had less screen-time this season, I suspect it's more because of the need to try to give enough snippets of airtime to cover the initial 20 (as opposed to the more usual 16) candidates in the early episodes. I haven't counted up N&K's airtime, but I have a suspicion that we see more of them generally as a series progresses and there are fewer candidates to worry about.

There are certainly quite a few cuts to comments by Nick in this Wednesday's episode, more than I remember seeing in the early weeks.

Take it you are not a fan then ?

Clever woman though and there are not that many people successful - and rich people - who are NOT ruthless - that's how they get there.

I don't care what anyone thinks I want Margaret back- Her eyeballs were priceless!

LOL...how true.

The "withering stare" followed by a dry put down of the highest order. Good times.

This series needs more Nick, yes we get all the faces that we love, but him scoffing samples or posh cakes in the background were pure golden moments.

I do miss Margaret.

I think that with Mark in this episode Nick showed that he's just as capable of creating a massive fuss over very little as he ever was.

I thought some of the comments that karren made about some of the contestants in 2011 were cutting. I didn't like the way she favoured a particular contestant who I thought to be a bitch and a ruthless bully.

When Karren and Nick stand either side of Alan Sugar as he introduces the task at the beginning of each episode is funny. Why are they so serious? It's only show business it's not a matter of life & death. The least they can do is crack a smile!

Who was that?

I think Nick has become a bit of a parody of himself. Things like You're Fired have made him all too aware of the tongue-in-cheek humorous moments that the audience look for.

Sitting on top of the lawn mower just reeked of the producers creaming themselves over how hilarious it is to put Nick on top of a lawn mower, it lacked the randomness for me and felt way too self-aware.

Also, I feel like Nick plays up a bit when he appears on You're Fired, throwing in some unusual comments and taking these long pauses in the middle of sentences. Just really playing up his eccentricities as a way to pander to the audience.

Karren has been instructed to make the Nick faces this series as well. It just doesn't suit her.

I'm sorry I couldn't remember last night. Through Wikipeadia I found out that it was Series 7 and the contestant was called Natasha Scribbons. I remember it was her because she came from Taunton, which is in Somerset. I live in Somerset.

I miss Margaret too.....why did she leave?....

I thought Karren was actually ok in the last couple of series she's done but this time around there is an air of arrogance about her and rather than respecting her views the way we would with say, Margaret, she's coming across as a bit of a whinger and fusspot. All the eye rolling and face pulling leave me perplexed. I'm not sure what emotion she is trying to entice; whether it's supposed to be funny or embarrassing is beyond me and I've actually gone quite off her. I hope she gets back to her usual self soon.

Are you sure you're not getting Natasha mixed up with Helen? I don't remember Karren ever showing favour to Natasha but she did like Helen (eventual runner up) a lot.

I don't remember Natasha being a bully Are you sure you're not mixing her up with Zoe?

Officially she left to concentrate on her degree in Papyrology. Unofficially I think she'd just had enough of following a bunch of halfwits around London.

Both of them with their dark suits and sunglasses flanking LS while he lays out the details of the task, are looking more like Sugar's Secret Service Agents by the week.

It's even funnier when it's just the TV screen. It surely can't be long before they get Sugar a white cat.

Soon Sugar won't even bother using a screen. It'll be a pre-recorded voice only.