Now that the application for next series of apprentice is closing, what do people think next series will be like? I found series 10 a bit flat with disappointing ideas for tasks which is inevitable to happen as they keep trying to find new ideas. Some ideas I think would be good are start a gardening business, manufacture and sell pies , sell advertising space on created blog, take products to a trade show ie a technology expo or something (never been done), I think they could recycle some as well like the negotiate for discount deals site and the renting of high end cars.

There have been a couple of tasks that they've done in the past that I'd really like to bring back. Like the one where they all have to work in a big shop - in Series 1 they went to Harrods and in Series 2 it was Topshop. They haven't done it since then, I'd like to see it again. I also loved Series 1's celeb auction.

I remember Javine today, one of my favourite candidates. 'Lifes not all picnics and sandwiches' was I'm sure what she said.

I'm looking forward to the next series, those it's a while to wait yet lol

I'd love to see a real business task. Say, visiting a failing business, talking to the owners, staff, customers etc. then coming up with a plan to turn it round. The team that makes the most effort to understand how that business works and come up with sensible suggestions wins.
A bit like "Badger or Bust" perhaps, but it would something entirely fresh for this show and entirely relevant to what it is supposed to be about.

That's quite a good idea, but would failing businesses really be willing to go onto the show and demonstrate how they're failing? It wouldn't present the businesses in the best light...

Come on George, only last night they screened Alex Pollizi trying to bail out a seriously delusional tea-shop owner in Torquay. Such people are easy to find. The fun is when they refuse to listen to the (usually) sensible recommendations of the experts they have called in.

I don't really watch those sorts of programmes. I only know that if I was running a failing business, the very last thing I would do is approach a group of Apprentice candidates for advice.

I just want as many big/funny/entertaining characters as possible, and a lot of creative tasks. I don't really care about the business side of things as it's entertainment.

I really don't see why people talk about 'entertainment' and 'business' as though they are fundamentally different things. The point of The Apprentice is that it provides entertainment by showing young people doing business deals and engaging with competition with each other, which is naturally an entertaining process. Competition is an entertaining thing to watch, which is why quizzes and cooking contests do so well, and this competition is about being able both to perform well and to defend one's position. It baffles me when people talk about the business side of things and the entertainment side of things; to me, the second one relies entirely on the first one.

I really hope the prize is not the 250k pounds for a business anymore

i would like to see the live tv show selling task brought back.

That isn't going to change unless they get rid of Lord Sugar. He's semi-retired, it's not really in his interests to take on an apprentice anymore.

Ahhhh. Good point. At least I hope he won't mess around with the contestants, let them have a false hope for 10 weeks and then fire them simply because he doesn't like the BP at all

am just watching the rubbish task from series 7 - they are all struggling on this task. They should all do this one again.

Wouldn't mind seeing them have a go at a full series of the celebrity version like in the US (rather than the short Comic Relief efforts).

I don't think Lord Sugar would ever do it. I think his version of the show takes the format too seriously for a celebrity version to really work. From what I understand about Donald Trump, a lot of the US series was less about the candidates and the prize at the end of it, and more about personal publicity, so it made total sense to do celebrity editions. I think I heard somewhere that Lord Sugar has said that he has no intention of doing any more Comic Relief episodes. He was enthusiastic about Young Apprentice because that was taken seriously, but I can't see him being especially bothered about a version of the format where the prize at the end was not important with the contestants. It would rather negate a lot of the things he comes out with, like 'This is my money, and I have to go into business with one of you!'

Ideally we won't end up with that scenario again, but if someone offers Sugar a bad business plan and refuses any notion of tweaking it in the slightest, then he's really going to have no choice but to get rid of them. If he puts a strong candidate with a bad plan through to the final and tells them "come up with a better plan or else" (as many wanted him to do with Roisin last year) then there's going to be the risk that they refuse to listen to him and present the exact same plan, in which case the other finalist will end up winning by default, barring a major change in the format like putting three candidates through to the final.


To take the slightly more cynical viewpoint, Trump currently has way more active businesses than Sugar ever has done during his entire life, and likely a correspondingly huge tax bill. Celebrity Apprentice doubtless gives him plenty of opportunities to claim charitable deductions.

Well yes, there is that, but I still think it would damage the format hugely. The seriousness behind it is a big part of the format. I haven't been a big viewer of the US series, but from what I've heard a lot of it is about the conflict. Trump has a really 'take no prisoners' attitude, to the extent of making ludicrous decisions just to prove that he's the boss, and the winner can be pretty arbitrary. (Correct me if I'm wrong there, as I've said I haven't watched much of it, but I've read a lot of opinions from people on these forums.) By contrast, Lord Sugar isn't much like that at all. He has the 'never underestimate me' air of authority, but he generally does attempt to play fair, he listens to what people have to say and the decisions that he makes are largely based around who he can reasonably see himself awarding the prize to at the end. And that is the whole point of the UK format - everyone takes it very seriously, particularly Lord Sugar himself. If you were going to take away that (which you would need to for a celebrity edition) I'm not sure there'd be a whole lot left. If the US version is more about Trump himself than about business, a celebrity edition can presumably work in a similar way - Trump can behave in exactly the same way that he does on the civilian edition, and no one bats an eyelid. That wouldn't work here, I don't think.

If there was a celebrity edition I'd give it a try for a couple of episodes just to give them a chance to impress me, but I can't see myself getting into it.

Last year they started filming on the 29th April so it shouldn't be long before we start seeing photos on Twitter! I wonder if they'll go with 16 or 20 or something else?

I am currently re-watching Series 10 and I don't actually mind the 20 candidate thing apart from it seemed like a lot of people didn't have much skill, just cos there wasn't enough airtime!

The last two series have been a bit like freak shows tbh... A bit like BB went in its last few years on C4. They're now going for the biggest characters they can, because the format itself I think has lost its novelty so they need interesting character interaction. But I don't mind, as long as I am entertained and Series 9 and 10 were both very entertaining

Hmm, I'm not sure I agree, Tom. I'd grudgingly accept that point for Series 9, but I don't think that Series 10 was really a freak show. It came across a little bit like that in its early weeks because there were just so many people and it was the likes of Steven and Sarah who stood out, but by about Episode 5 when the deadwood had been weeded out I think many of the candidates were very credible. Obviously there were still people like James and Daniel, but there were many people who both seemed to be taking things very professionally, and were quite strong a lot of the time - such as Mark, Bianca, Katie, Roisin, and also those who were a bit quieter like Sanjay, Lauren and Jemma seemed to have something going for them.

I actually think that Series 10 had quite a strong selection of candidates. I'm sure you've seen my list of the series that are more centred on success and the ones that are more centred on failure. Including Young Apprentice, prior to Series 10 there had been six in each category. Series 10 was certainly the hardest one to place, but I think it just squeaks into the success category, as I think that there were quite a few tasks where both teams did really well, and many of the candidates did seem to be taking it quite seriously and handled situations as professionally as they could. I think that what let it down was the 20 candidates thing. In addition to the problem of not having enough chance to shine (out of the final five, there had only been seven Project Managerships between them, which is a considerable low record as every other adult series has had at least ten) and I felt that especially in the early weeks, people were forced to be loud just to appear as though they were doing something, and I don't think that this is how you prove your worth.

Even if you're not that interested in the serious business element (and I realise that the show is a combination of both) the whole point of a competitive reality TV show is hope that people you don't like are eliminated quickly, and as time goes on and you get to know them better to support people who you want to win. The 20 candidates thing caused issues with both of these. With regards to supporting people, I think it was very hard to notice anyone who was doing well to start off with. I remember after the triple firing in Episode 4, I was talking to some friends about it and said to someone, 'Who do you want to win?' and the person said, 'Oh, I'm not sure yet.' I was thinking, 'Hmm, we are a third of the way through the series, I think at this point you should be able to remember the name of at least one person you like, if you're following it properly.' With regards to hoping people get fired, I think it ruins that a little bit as well, because you can only really hope that someone goes if there's a chance that they won't. If you start with so many candidates, in the early tasks pretty much everyone in the boardroom who hasn't shown their strengths straight away will be going - so it's much easier to predict who it will be, so I don't see what the point is of hoping for an outcome. An episode should end with you feeling either delighted or gutted about the outcome, and I didn't feel like that at all for a portion of the series. And as it went on, I grew to really enjoy Series 10, so I think it's a shame that it started off with such a setback. If they'd stuck to the normal sixteen, I think it could have been one of my all-time favourites.

Having said that, I don't hold it against Lord Sugar for doing it because I don't mind a bit of experimentation, but I think 20 is too many and I really, really hope it doesn't become a regular thing. It seems to have had quite a bit of negativity - I've seen other people with similar grievances to my own, and also Nick and Karren have gone on record saying that they were against the idea, as it made their jobs a lot harder with so many to observe (I know Nick won't be there anymore, but that's a moot point.) So yeah... it was a good idea and worth a try, but I'd be disappointed if they kept it for Series 11. I don't think they will though, I think it was a novelty thing for ten years of The Apprentice.

I see what you mean about the Series 10 candidates but I still think they were a bit like weirder than the Series 8 candidates if you know what I mean and candidates like Sanjay adn Chiles had been on other TV shows before. I think I stand by Series 9 and 10 being the closest series to 'freakshows' if there ever was one.

And I really disagree about Series 10 falling into the success category! Maybe they performed well in Weeks 9 and 10, but if you think of Week 2, both products were absolutely awful, Week 4, both teams had absolutely awful, in Week 5 both teams performed pretty badly, in Week 6 the Relationship Guru was one of the worst products ever, in Week 7 mistakes were made, and in Week 8 we saw some of the most unprofessional behaviour I've ever seen on the show!

They were more that way inclined that Series 8 candidates, I'll agree on that much. I don't think that having been on other TV shows means that they are any less business-inclined - you have to have a slightly extroverted personality to want to go on something like that anyway, and if you have one it is reasonably likely that you'd have been up for doing something else at times. Nothing wrong with that!

Here is my call on the tasks:
Task 1) Both teams were set back because of too many massively conflicting personalities (boys) and Sarah's appalling leadership (girls). However, they did both also have strengths. Felipe was a decent manager, possibly a little too easily led but I don't think that was all his fault, and despite Steven's temperament they would most likely have won had they listened to him. Roisin's half of the girls' team did really well, after the initial mistake of going off without any money, did a lot of selling and I thought were generally good.
Task 2) I think that this task was completely flawed - wearable tech is such a niche market, and I imagine that no one knew very much in advance about what was physically possible to create, let alone what would sell, so I don't think anyone was ever going to do well on that one.
Task 3) Both teams seemed to perform very well, especially the Project Managers.
Task 4) This was another one that was flawed, because you cannot create a viral video like that. Viral videos generally go viral because they are spontaneous, and the winning team was determined not because of the overall quality of the videos, but because of the collaborator. And no matter what either team came up with, I think it was always going to be down to the collaborator.
Task 5) Again, a very difficult one. They didn't know much about the history of the places that they were showing people around, so it was always going to be difficult to produce a good tour. Credit was given to Lauren for swatting up as a tour guide, but I think that she just happened to be good at it - perhaps she had a photographic memory. I don't think I would be able to lead a tour about something I'd known nothing about the day before without notes, no matter how much swatting up I did in the meantime. That said, I think that they all tried really hard - James was an idiot, but I feel like he was the exception rather than the rule.
Task 6) I'll accept your point that the Relationship Guru was absolutely awful! Honestly, no excuses there. But in fairness, the other team created something really good. I would play that game. Often in these tasks the winning team is just the one whose idea is less bad, but they actually did a good job and pitched it really well. They seemed to sell a lot despite Bianca's exclusivity hiccup.
Task 7) I can't recall anything really going wrong with it? Mark sidelined Lauren, but that was just due to the format.
Task 8) Okay, I need to say that I wasn't especially impressed with Task 8. James, Daniel and Felipe were all pretty awful in this, and there's no excuses for that. All of the other team members were shown really positively though, and there was a massive sale there.

And the other two tasks you conceded on.

I feel that it is from the point after the double-firing that it started being more about success, but generally the candidates by that point were very credible. I will be the first to say that there were notable exceptions - James and Daniel could be pretty idiotic (though the latter redeemed himself a little), and at times Felipe got dragged into that as well. But aside from them, I would say that starting at Task 5, the focus seemed to be more on people working hard and doing well. There were quite a few times when people were praised in the boardroom, in a way that I feel they weren't in Series 9. Generally I consider the Series 10 crop to be stronger.

You bring up another good point which is that Tasks 2 and 4 were terrible in terms of showing us who the good candidates were!

Personally I think the product design task was never going to work with 19 candidates. You have a PM, someone who comes up with the final product, and a maximum of 3 pitchers. Considering you can't 'shine' at market research that's potentially 5 or more candidates spare parts throughout the task.

And as you say Task 4 was pretty bad as again very few people got to shine, and it had very little real business content.

I just feel that we didn't get to see enough of the candidates for them to seem strong. Our of the final eight for example none of them seemed particularly weak or strong as we had just seen snippets of them. Katie, Sanjay and Solomon had been pretty UTR throughout the while thing, and Daniel and Felipe were really just memorable for their personalities. The only ones you remembered as being good candidates at this point were Roisin and mark and pretty much all of my friends shared this opinion.

So yeah actually I do hope they go back to 16! Or 18, but 20 is just too many.

Yeah, that's exactly my point. As I said, I think it's still in the 'focusses on success' category just about, but it is undoubtedly the hardest one to place. Which really annoys me, because that group of candidates had some very strong people, and if there has been fewer of them it could have been right up there with some of the best series.

I think my main expectation, or should I say hope, is that they look back at series 10 and do things completely different to that.
What an absolute mess.

Don't start off with 20 candidates. The producers seemed so pleased with themselves for this twist because viewers love multiple firings. But what they failed to notice is that the past multiple firings have all had some compelling backstory or at least some kind of build-up. I could hardly remember the candidates names in series 10, nevermind cared that they were fired. I think the only multiple firing that worked was the one involving Steven and Sarah, but the only reason that stood out was because they had been desperately relying on those two to provide entertainment.

Infact the whole series seemed contrived in the name of entertainment, with the cliched forgettable tasks and the edit making everyone look like an idiot.
More than any other series it felt like the candidates weren't a team of work colleagues trying to get along and make it through the task, instead it continuously felt like a bunch of individuals all playing their own game of one-upsmanship. It became so tedious and left me thinking that I really wouldn't want to be around any of them in a work environment.

I also didn't like that the most ruthless and self-interested player was the eventual winner. I don't think it sent out a good message about business at all.
His skills were strong enough to explain his win, but the edit had essentially eliminated almost everyone as competition so it didn't feel like a huge accomplishment to win.

It felt like they've basically tried to find the most appealing aspects of the show to the audience (the drama, the mistakes, the funny moments) and only concentrated on delivering those. But without any kind of context to them, they don't have anywhere near the same impact or meaning.
One moment that particular sticks in my mind was when Nick was sat on the lawnmower, it was so cringingly desperate and self-aware.

If I actually thought that series 11 was going to be a repeat of series 10 then I wouldn't actually watch it.