What do you think folks?

Not well.

Absolutely agree, for reasons I'll explain soon.

I think that since the candidates were levelled out in Week 4, this series has generally been a lot better than Series 9, but it still isn't up there with my favourites.

Ok, first and foremost I found last years candidates a lot more likeable and bigger characters... Last year's final five was a lot more likeable IMO whereas this year they are just a bit bland. Also, last year going into tne interviews, the only one who didn't look like winner material was Francesca. This year the only ones who look like winners are Mark and Roisin, and Roisin is the only one who you can really warm to, but for me even she is a bit cold.

I think this is down to editing - having 20 candidates has made ir hard to connect with the candidates, as well as making each individual character less memorable. Who is ever going to remember the difference between Pamela and Ella Jade, for example, and so many of this years candidates will be very forgettable.

There were many more memorable moments last year as well, such as the girls failing weekly, good Dubai episode, and had some great Story arcs which this series has lacked.

I agree with you on some things, but not others. This time last year, I was absolutely sure that Jordan would not get to the final - the other three it was more of a toss-up, but his performance in Week 10 brought him down so much.

I do agree with certain points about the number of candidates, but I would question why Pamela and Ella Jade are at all alike? They had considerably different performances in the process, and they were even pretty different physically - they looked a little similar (only a little), but Ella Jade had a very distinctive upper-class English accent whereas Pamela was Irish.

Think that series 10 is an improvement on series 9 (which was in itself an improvement on series 8).

We have had some classis episodes (coach task, boardgame task, scavenger task), though I do admit that the series only really started with episode 5 (the likes of Sarah and Steven seemed to be from another planet/tv-show). Though the same can be said for series 9 with the Dubai task.

In terms of candidates we have at least 4 good to very good candidates within the final 8 (last season, Leah, Neil and perhaps invisible Jordan (always forget his name ))

Think that the final two will be somewhat underwhelming, so therefore it will probably just miss out on a top 3 rating for me (probably come in 4th or 5th, depending on the last few episodes this week).

This is rather ironic considering the winner from last year

In terms of likeability, I would give you Neil and Leah (at a very hard push). Nobody will remember Fran and Jordan in a few years time and Luisa............well, likeable is already hard with such a voice



Think that the likes of Uzma, Rebecca, Kurt, Natalie and Miles were also not very memorable. The series was mainly made by Luisa, Jason and Alex.



Think that this series has probably the biggest story arc after series 3. Which one? Well, it's about two of the final five candidates

come on spill the beans...

I wasn't a fan of Series 9 (As I prefer to see candidates do well, hence why I liked Series 8) as I was pretty underwhelmed with the Final 5, bar my favourite Jordan (Who was ripped to shreds at interviews) and though Neil was pretty competent, he wasn't easy to warm to at all. Leah was the best of the rest (And I did like her business plan) but the fact that bloody Luisa made the final made it not one of my favourite series to say the least. In fact, Dubai aside, I hasten to say that its a pretty overrated series.

This season has more candidates to root for and I like the majority of whose left. Plus we had some great entertainment along the way; I've really enjoyed this series and if Solomon or Roisin win, it'll be up there with my favourites.

Ouch, could not disagree more with that statement.

Last year you had Leah who was competent but cold; Neil was was dull, boring and arrogant; Francesca who was nicish but aimless; Jordan who I thought was competent, but was shifty and irritating to many and Luisa who was horrible.

This year you have the lovely Roisin; Solomon who I really like; Bianca who's really come on in recent weeks; Daniel who is loveable if a little arrogant and Mark who may be Markhivellian but is still a great candidate. I think there's something to root for in each of the Final 5.

Mark vs. Daniel obviously

The Apprentice sort of has a Star Trek odd/even thing going on. 1, 5, 7 and 9 are the four great series - and 3 can join their ranks if I squint at it to try and make the pattern fit.

10's around the middle of the evens. It's had some great moments, dependably entertains every week, but it's never quite coalesced. The ongoing saga of Daniel and Mark is good value, and I loved Sarah and Steven's month of carnage, but there's no jeopardy, nobody really to root for. I mean, I like Daniel, but... yeah, that's not happening.

Personally, I consider Series 8 to have a lot more in common with Series 1, 5 and 7 than Series 9 does.

Where would you rank Young Apprentice in that?

Not sure, its about the same. Not sure how to describe them, for me they are just there and dont make me want to watch like earlier seasons did. I think the candidates in 9 were pretty poor and the same this year have been poor. I prefer the tasks in season 10 too last years. Problem with 10 was like others have said, too many candidates at the start made it harder to get to know them, and in some cases we didnt met people like Pamaela or Jemma until week 4. It got better half way through, but with the loss of Steven did not help.

Leah was a good winner, so it depends who wins this year. If someone useless like Soloman or a bully like Mark win then I think 9 would be better. Any of the other 3 would be good winners so might just push 10 as being the better. At the moment I think Mark being still in it makes me prefer 9 as I just cant stand the man.

I think I prefer 9.

It never felt like this series really hit the heights following the aftermath of the 20 man twist. There was this ripple effect that I thought the series would get over and it never quite managed it.

I'd say that S9 wins in terms of BRs (Skeletongate was fun, though), overall firing decisions and overall cohesiveness. S10 has higher highs in the individual ep entertainment stakes, but also lower lows as task design was weak in several instances (YouTube was a horrible task in design and execution and the triple firing was the icing on top) - S9 was just a little middle of the road task-wise with just Dubai and the coup really sticking out as particularly memorable. Whilst the final five are okay, they haven't been presented very well so far, so the whole affair feels a little damp and squelchy.

Comparably, I don't think this year is one for the ages... though I'll give the last episodes a fair shake before being sure about that.

I wouldn't, because it'd interrupt my beloved Apprentice pattern(!) - but I might argue that it did a similar thing in microcosm. 1 and 3 were as good as any of the great Apprentice series; 2 was good, too, but with clearer flaws. Diverting enough, but from Morrisons inexplicably buying twelve tonnes of dog sick flavoured popcorn at a crucial moment right through to Harry Maxwell snotting his way through every single task, it was a little less satisfying.

I think this year is definitely better.

The only thing S9 had going for it was Dubai and Jason really. I couldn't warm to any other candidates. The only competent candidate in the entire series (Jordan btw) couldn't go through to the final because his plan didn't follow the rules, leaving us with the worst finalists and worst winner of the entire show.

This year has had several good episodes and several interesting candidates, although how much we've seen from them has been damaged by their being 20 people. I think the final five are much better and we will get a much more deserving winner.

I am enjoying this year more TBH.

Last year was a bit bland unlikable contestants. I loved Jason though <333

The 20 candidates made this year a bit different and I've enjoyed it, even though I hope its just for a one of series.

Depends if you want it to be big Brother like, and whether within that you want big brother with drama, or just to vote for who is nicest, or badest.

An alternative viewpoint would be that this series has no one as convinving as last year's two finalists , but its been packed with even more characters to crash and burn.

This series is better for me because there's no candidate that I loathe.

For me last series was far better, I quickly became engrossed in what was going on and I felt invested in the candidates.

This series has really missed the mark. I'm not sure how much of it can be blamed on there being too many candidates at the start. The first 6 weeks are a complete blur, although I was already getting frustrated by week 3 with the double firings. It just seemed so contrived and I was realizing that I wasn't becoming familiar with many of the candidates.
Things picked up after then, but I now find myself uninterested in how this series ends.

I think series 10 might end up being my least favourite series of all, depending how it ends.

Leah was certainly very professional. However, I actually found her really funny. Her boardroom rant on Alex in Week 9 is one of my favourite boardrooms Leah was also very fair.

I would find Roisin a lot more forgettable personally.

I don't think Neil was boring at all. He was extremely competent and a complex character - very investable as a person, as was Jordan for similar reasons.

Luisa has very divisive opinions - some love her, some hate her... But at least she actually evokes an opinion and has an impact unlike Bianca, Solomon and Roisin!


Last year there were so many contestants in which you could invest, follow their journey, whereas this year so many were fired without us even getting to know them, and Solomon has genuinely been invisible for most of the series - even when he was PM he was UTR.

Why should it be Big Brother like? Big Brother is a totally different sort of programme. If you want Big Brother, watch Big Brother, not something else wishing that it's Big Brother. I watch Big Brother, but for completely different reasons to why I watch The Apprentice.

I wouldn't say that I thought Strictly Come Dancing should be more like MasterChef, and I doubt anyone else would - it's the same thing. You're comparing apples and oranges.

I agree most of that.

i think 20 people left them a problem with too many characters for us to get to know.

I agree task design was sloppy many weeks.Too many tasks were won by accident, or luck, or being least bad. The teams just end up looking incompetent. Some tasks seemed to give one team an enormous advantage., others relied on finding a gullible seller or buyer, , or someone who wanted to be on TV to trade with. Too many tasks ended up being judged on criteria that were irrelevant to the task , or on random and inconsistent interpretation of the rules.

That was added to by the multiple firings - which added to the randomness by making better people go in weeks with a multiple firing, and worse people stay in weeks without.

His Lordship seems to be getting even more arbitary in his decisions , and comments, and seems to find it more difficult to judge on a consistent basis.

The prize has intruded more blatantly than ever into the process - as he's eliminated strong performers because he doesn't like their proposal and explained why in terms of their projects. People are going just because he wants bigger returns, in different sectors, with proven figures and minimal risk. The tasks have lost most of importance - beyond getting a random few, some interview dramas, and one winner to the end., And who gets there, may reflect profits on offer rather than 10 weeks of tasks.

He's ended up in this series without getting the two strongest performers to the interviews. He's also got no one who has shown the flashes of significant business skill we had last year. But , even after removing 3, he's still got two of the big characters who should never win there - alongside two also rans.

The plus side has been that they cast more dramatic characters than last year, so its worked as reality TV - albeit with Big brother like overkill on numbers. The down side is its not clear you need so many negative characters, or if its overkill when some are just thrown away. Its also a series thats ended up without two credible finalists, more task failures, and with a bigger disconnect between the series and the final.