From left, Apprentice finalists Tom Pellereau, Jim Eastwood, Helen Milligan and Susan Ma. Photograph: Ian West/PAFinding the formula for a successful television franchise might sound just as tricky as finding a winning business proposition, but Lord Sugar, the grizzly eminence at the heart of hit "reality" show The Apprentice, has no need to worry. The current series of his long-running BBC1 programme has beaten all previous viewing figures and Sunday's final, at 9pm, looks likely to win an audience of about 9 million.
Nick Hewer, one of Sugar's advisers on the show, said: "Last week The Apprentice beat EastEnders for the first time, with the highest viewing figures on BBC1. And it did the same over on BBC2, where we have the spin-off show You're Fired." Speaking to the ObserverHewer gave little credit to the suggestion that reality shows have, at best, seven or eight years of life.
"The show has sold in 32 other countries, I believe, and the Americans are now on series 12. We are doing another one and there is no reason to think it will not go on and on," he said.
Sugar, who set up the Amstrad computer business in 1968, will have to decide to invest ?250,000 in the business plan of one of four finalists: wacky inventor Tom Pellereau, 31, the shy and retiring Susan Ma, 21, the sensible and attractive Helen Milligan, 30, or the chaotic charmer Jim Eastwood, 32.
To help Sugar make the decision his former right-hand woman, Margaret Mountford, will make a surprise appearance and put the remaining contestants through their paces. Eastwood's patter does not go down too well.
At one stage she asks Eastwood to describe himself without using cliches, to which the sales and marketing manager from Northern Ireland replies: "I'm exactly what it says on the tin."
Sceptics argue The Apprentice has little to do with business and a lot to do with the increasing idiocy of its contestants. Last week rival contestants were challenged to come up with a new eating concept. One was a Mexican restaurant inexplicably named after the Venezuelan capital. Another was for an English-themed pie brand including one called the Christopher Columbus, in the mistaken belief that the explorer was English and had discovered the potato.
But Hewer believes that the growing draw of the show is due to this year's change of format and the unlikely charisma of Sugar himself. "Far from falling away, the viewing figures continue to grow. Why is that? Two reasons. The brilliance of Lord Sugar and the fact the format really is extraordinary. We worried among ourselves whether this show would do as well as the last year. Would it get better audiences than last year, which is, of course, only one way of judging how good it is? But the prize has changed and this turns out to be quite a big thing."
Instead of "hiring" one of the original 16 contestants as an employee, this time Sugar invests in and guides their own business. Hewer said: "People tend to just glide over the fact that these people are now being offered a quarter of a million. For some ballsy character who has got nothing other than what you see to go in to the competition and get that money for his business, and to have Lord Sugar to keep an eye on it, people don't really think through what that actually means to someone."
Lee McQueen, who won the fourth series and now runs his own sales consultancy, rawtalentacademy.com, agreed that the change in the nature of the contest has been rejuvenating. "This new format is almost like Apprentice meets Dragons' Den," he said."The winner will be the one with the best business plan who will make the best return on quarter of a million pounds." The effect had been to make the show less predictable, added McQueen, who went on to work with Sugar for two years.
"Last year I called the top five in week one, but this year it was incredibly difficult because it is all on the business plan. Ultimately if any of them come out with a stupid idea and the numbers don't add up, there's no way Lord Sugar will hire them, so it's all very intriguing."
Hewer argued that in spite, or perhaps because of, the show's light entertainment tone, it did a lot to promote business knowledge among the young.
"Lord Sugar is sometimes concerned that the business element is overshadowed by the comedic content that the producers always want to promote," he said. "But he would not do the show if he thought it was not getting his message across. It has been wrapped up in this entertainment format so you don't lose that level of broad engagement."
He was on fire for the first few weeks. He has the gift of the gab. He did start to struggle when he took the lead as project manager, he didn't demonstrate strong leadership skills. Odds? 6/1
She's really determined and has clearly worked really hard to get where she is. She's only a youngster, but I don't think just because she's 21 it's a problem. Maybe lack of corporate experience will count against her. Odds 3/1
Helen's been phenomenal and I think if it were the old format she'd be a dead cert. However, we did see her wobble last week when she made the mistake of selling to retailers rather than direct. Odds 5/3
Tom Pellereau He's not done great in the tasks but he's my overwhelming favourite. He's been there, he's done it, he's grounded, he can talk to people, he's an inventor, he's creative, he's gone to China and set up manufacturing. He's a product man and Lord Sugar likes a product man. Odds 1/2
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