Well, I temporarily suspended my self imposed ban on watching The Apprentice this year. Why? Claude Littner - the man is a seriously frightening individual and I couldn't miss him tonight. He was absolutely fascinating and engrossing as usual.

Poor Solomon was built up and then utterly destroyed for his lack of business plan. It was absolutely classic Littner. I don't believe it is scripted - I imagine Littner is exactly as he appears on the show.

Surely he is now due his own show? I can imagine him in a variety of programmes. Maybe troubleshooting failing small businesses or something of that type. Nick Hewer managed it and I would love to see Claude Littner in his own independent series.

I don't believe it's scripted either.

Claude is obviously a Rottweiler - who else would LS have as his international trouble-shooter?

He's got 'Complete & Utter Bastard' written through him like a stick of rock

If Sugar ever gave up The Apprentice, I can see Littner replacing him. At least he's more articulate than LS.

That said, I don't get the "good telly" vibe from him, because he seems a bit fake to me. I don't think I'd want to see him acting like that every week in the boardroom, so I'd switch off.

Well you can see him popping up occasionally in Doctor Who as a Sontaran.

Claude reminded me of this...

Bilbo has gone mad: http://youtu.be/30rUL2oVlfI

I like him. I would like to see more of him.

Claude's been the best thing on the show for...........ever really. I'd love to see him do his own show or actually replace that little old woman Sugar. You know Claude won't be fooled by tears and tantrums, or sales patter. The probelm is he'd probably find good reasons to fire them all on show one, which wouldn't make for much of a series.

You knew as soon as he built Solomon up that he'd be heading for a mighty fall, although I admit there was a split second where I thought he might love his stripped-back business plan.

I could see him giving speeches at funerals.
'Mike was such a nice man, who was loved by all.' (Dramatic pause) 'But!! '

Claude tells it as it is...you mess up a figure on your pitch expect it to be caught out...he's the nit picker with zero care who goes through but just that every i is dotted and t crossed and is supported by proof

TBF at least he's fair, he gives praise when its needed and rips one when it's required

Imagine Alan Partridge saying that - "Classic Littner!"

Or even better, "There's just one word for that - Classic Littner!"

I like him, he clearly knows why he's there, and is always good value... I especially like when he lets the mask slip and we can see he's probably alright really...

I thought his attack on Soloman was fair, but largely he was blowing steam. He was annoyed in the quality of his BP and threw him out, without any interview. But then he tears shreds in to Roisins and Daniel's, so the answer just give him any old figures as along as its at least 10 pages of crap.

Claude is great - he certainly doenst take any prisoners. I think next year LordSug should dump the Brady woman and replace her with Claude - would be very entertaining and forthright!!

Personally, I think HE'S a disgrace. There is absolutely no need to be such a colossal see-you-next-tuesday to the candidates.

Firstly, not shaking Solomon's hand. How much ruder could you get? That's just common courtesy whether you respect an individual or not. If an interviewer did that to me, I would seriously consider whether I still wanted the job seeing as the person I'd be working with/for is so lacking in basic manners and decency.

Secondly, claiming Solomon's business plan is a disgrace and getting quite aggressive about it all. OK, it wasn't anywhere near up to standard, but did it really warrant a response that was so full of rage? There's absolutely no excuse for it.

I think they make the viewing uncomfortable for the sake of it being uncomfortable. And Claude takes it too far. He's an utter bastard. He treated Solomon like he'd just spat in his face.

Of course Claude is an utter bar steward, but that's what's needed in his role. Why should he be pleasant and 'oh well' to a man who has totally wasted his and Sugar's time. I wish there were more people like him than the wishy washy types we see everywhere else. Claude is like a breath of fresh air.

There's being affirmative and strict, and then there's being plain rude and nasty. Not shaking someone's hand is an insult. It was as if Solomon had personally attacked him.

But as has already been alluded to here, that's Claude's role in the process, to be the utter b*st*rd, and to see how the candidates cope when faced with an more-than-normally-unreasonable person... do you cope politely, do your best to counter his rudeness and turn him around, or get flustered and lost on your way back to the door? It's standard "good cop/bad cop" stuff, with Claudine & Ricky being more on the "good cop" side this year... the fact that Claude's been doing this for 10 years now should mean the candidates are ready for him when the time comes, but he always still manages to shake them...

That Solomon Claude thing was DEFINATELY 100% a test of character and Solomon failed. Solomon should have argued his point, I mean this Claude guy was intentionally making his own holes for Solomon to pick up.

"Why is it despicable?"
"You may focus on the logos, I focus on the figures"
etc.