The Apprentice: the Final
BBC1/iPlayer
Alison Rowat
***
AFTER 19 series there is not a lot of sorcery to be found in the finale of The Apprentice.
Like the programme itself, which began when Tony Blair was PM and had apprentice woes of his own, the big finish follows the same routine: the losers return, an advert is made, the business idea is pitched to industry insiders, Lord Sugar chooses his apprentice.
After that the victor, and their business idea (which often involves marketing, cupcakes, or something else not terribly interesting) are rarely heard from again. It’s not often you can say, “I’d buy that” of the winning products.
Imagine Lord Sugar’s shock, then, when he was confronted with two sensible, mature finalists with sound propositions for making a buck.
Anisa Khan had her own company making Indian-Italian fusion pizzas. Dean Franklin ran a successful air conditioning company supplying the domestic market. Air con and designer pizzas - what a time to be alive.
But where would Lord Sugar’s 250K go? Warning: spoilers ahead.
The Piano: music is a treat but do we really need all those backstories?
Barristers: Meet the real life Annas and Miles from This Life
If The White Lotus is looking for a new location, we know a terrific spot ...
Black Mirror review: Yes, that is really Peter Capaldi
The best adverts for Anisa’s idea were the shots of her team and judge Tim scoffing her pizzas. Dean knew he had a tougher sell. Air conditioning was “not the most glamorous thing in the world, but I think it’s sexy,” he said.
Oddly enough, his team turned in an unintentionally hilarious advert featuring a salesman bursting into a woman’s bedroom to sell her an air conditioner.
Anisa’s presentation had yet more pizza-scarfing shots including one of Lord Sugar looking blissful. Overall her pitch was more polished than Dean’s, who walked off the stage after his speech, forgetting he had to do a Q&A.
The Londoner was nervous and it showed. He mangled his words, earning him a rueful smile from Sugar, perhaps the Henry Higgins to Dean’s Eliza, perhaps not.
In the Q&A, Lord Sugar asked how much it would cost to have a unit put in his bedroom. Franklin replied: “For you Lord Sugar, it would be free.”
Lord Sugar replied: “Well then you won’t be hired by me if you’re giving things away.” How everyone laughed.
Pitches over, it was back to the boardroom to hear the result. “You’re both very credible,” said Lord Sugar. “Very credible.” When did he last say anything like that in a final? And was it just me, or were the candidates this time round altogether nicer, and less forehead-slappingly ridiculous than in previous years?
Recent series have been criticised for relying on the same tasks (being a presenter on a shopping channel, etc) carried out by a cast of familiar types. Maybe this series has shown there is life in the old format yet.
The clock moved towards 10pm. A decision had to be made. For a moment it looked like this year’s finalists might split the money, but Dean emerged the winner, with Sugar praising his performance in the series as “quite good”. Not the most gushing of endorsements, but it will do.
Share