This is the place to catch up on all your Apprentice UK news. We will also be discussing The Apprentice - Comic Relief as well as previous series and candidates.

Tuesday 3 April 2007

Repeat reminder...

Just to remind anyone who missed the first screening of the first episode of the new series last Wednesday, it is being repeated tonight (Tuesday) at 7pm on BBC TWO, or even if you want to relive last week's great episode again, give it another watch!

Michael Parkinson slams The Apprentice

The Mirror have reported that Michael Parkinson has hit out at The Apprentice after a trailer was aired on his Radio 2 show.

The Mirror article reads :

Parky, 72, hit out after a trailer for The Apprentice was aired on his show.

He said: "I have an aversion to that programme. I find it very distasteful. It's full of vulgar, loud people who, for all the wrong reasons, are dobbing each other in."

Parkinson, right, said of Sir Alan: "When he tells someone 'You're fired' what's funny about that? You're fired. There's nothing funny about that."

Parky loves a good moan thesedays. Maybe its because The Apprentice is rising in the ratings battle while hardly no one watches his show anymore? Not everyone wants to watch Billy Connolly or Dame Edna do the same thing on his show every series.

Monday 2 April 2007

The Apprentice Magazine!

I have finally got a release date for the first edition of the brand new Apprentice magazine. It will hit the shelves of all good newsagents on May 23rd.

Check the official magazine website out for more information!

Big twist for the next episode...

Expect a huge twist in the boardroom in episode 2 on Wednesday night. Expect a very angry and a very disappointed Sir Alan. You'll be shocked at what happens, that is all i'm going to say.

So make sure you tune in!

Sir Alan mood-meter!

Episode 1 - CALM.

Sir Alan was pretty calm in the series opener. He was just sussing the new candidates out one by one - he knows there is plenty of time to come down on them. The Sir Alan highlight was pulling Tre up, on the Boys team name, revealing that it was the name of a previous company Tre worked for.

I'm sure this mood-meter will be very different next week as you'll find out in the next entry...

Tim Campbell

Guardian Business have done it again with another fantastic interview, this time with Series 1 winner, Tim Campbell. It is an indepth interview with Tim, and covers his time in the show, to the present day where he has just left Amstrad and is now setting up his own business.

He has such a good attitude, and because of that, i'm sure he'll thrive in the business world with his own business.

You can read the article here.

Interview with Nick and Margaret

Click here for a great interview with Nick Hewer and Margaret Mountford, Sir Alan's eyes and ears at Guardian Business.

There are a few good laughs in that read, and proves to me that Nick and Margaret are the perfect assistants to Sir Alan and are loyal as they come to Sir Alan.

Nick's dry wit is now well and truly famous and it seems that Margaret can be just as scary as Sir Alan!

I hope your enjoy the article.

Episode 1 reaction

From what i've read, and heard back off the blog readers, everyone seemed to enjoy episode 1 of the new series. The big fear was the show 'selling out' for the big move to BBC ONE but it stuck to what it does and it pleased the viewers.

Every newspaper tv review I read poured heaps of praise on the show, especially on Sir Alan. Many have even said its worth the licence fee alone, which I totally agree with.

Tre Azam has made a lot of the headlines and some people may not like him but he is fantastic for the show, he'll give it an edge and it gets the press talking about the programme which then gets more people watching the show. The elements of good business, humour and madness could all be spotted in the first episode and it'll all blossom in the coming weeks.

I have been telling everyone I know who have not yet seen the show, to watch it. They watch it and love the intial draw of Sir Alan Sugar and then later, they appreciate the other parts of the show. Its such a watchable show thanks to the people at talkbackTHAMES who do a superb job at putting it all together and editing it to a high standard.

What did everyone think of the show? Did it match expectation?

Episode #1 rating

I'm back folks. Sorry for the extended break but its been a busy couple of days.

I'm here with the rating of episode 1 of The Apprentice from last Wednesday. The show received a rating of 5.0m viewers, with a 22% share of the audience.

The first episode of the last series attracted only 2.5m so its a big leap, but the move to BBC ONE explains that. I expected a steady rating of something around 5m but the test is will the rating rise or not for the second episode? The Apprentice has always grown in numbers as the series goes on week by week so it is going to be very interesting.

The Apprentice is a like a bug, once you have watched it, you can't stop watching it. Word of mouth helps a show like The Apprentice too. I expect the rating to gradually rise in the coming weeks - especially when all the candidates are all well known,

The Apprentice - 'You're Fired!' on BBC TWO started with 2.1 million viewers and an 11% share which is really good for BBC TWO, and that was probably only watched by the die hard fans so this figure will pick up too when the casual viewers started getting involved with the show more.

They are encouraging numbers and the main thing is that The Apprentice won the 9pm-10pm slot out of all the channels, which will keep the Beeb happy.