The Apprentice (British series 1) | |
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Promo group shot of Alan Sugar, Nick Hewer, and Margaret Mountford standing before the candidates for series 1 | |
Starring | |
Country of origin | UK |
No. of episodes | 14 |
Release | |
Original network | BBC Two |
Original release | 16 February – 4 May 2005 |
Series chronology | |
Next → Series 2 |
Candidate | Background | Age | Result |
---|---|---|---|
Tim Campbell | Transport Manager | 26 | Winner |
Saira Khan | Sales Manager | 34 | Runner-up |
Paul Torrisi | Property Developer | 34 | Fired after Interviews stage |
James Max | Investment Banker | 34 | |
Miriam Staley | Hotel Manager | 26 | Fired after tenth task |
Raj Dhonota | Internet Entrepreneur | 30 | Fired after ninth task |
Ben Leary | Headhunter | 29 | Fired after eighth task |
Sebastian Schrimpff | Financial Analyst | 29 | Fired after seventh task |
Rachel Groves | Charity Fundraiser | 32 | Fired after sixth task |
Matthew Palmer | Mature Student | 39 | Fired after fifth task |
Adele Lock | Retail Manager | 29 | Quit after fourth task |
Miranda Rose | Estate Agent | 26 | Fired after third task |
Lindsay Bogaard | Communications Manager | 35 | Fired after second task |
Adenike Ogundoyin | Restaurant Manager | 30 | Fired after first task |
Candidate | Task Number | ||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | ||
Tim | WIN | IN | IN | LOSE | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | BR | IN | WINNER | |
Saira | LOSE | IN | IN | IN | IN | BR | IN | IN | LOSE | IN | IN | RUNNER-UP | |
Paul | IN | IN | IN | IN | BR | LOSE | IN | BR | WIN | BR | FIRED | ||
James | IN | IN | IN | WIN | IN | IN | LOSE | IN | BR | WIN | FIRED | ||
Miriam | IN | BR | IN | IN | IN | WIN | IN | BR | IN | FIRED | |||
Raj | IN | WIN | IN | IN | IN | IN | BR | WIN | FIRED | ||||
Ben | IN | IN | BR | IN | IN | IN | WIN | FIRED | |||||
Sebastian | IN | IN | IN | IN | WIN | IN | FIRED | ||||||
Rachel | IN | IN | IN | IN | LOSE | FIRED | |||||||
Matthew | IN | IN | WIN | IN | FIRED | ||||||||
Adele | IN | BR | LOSE | LEFT | |||||||||
Miranda | BR | IN | FIRED | ||||||||||
Lindsay | IN | FIRED | |||||||||||
Adenike | FIRED |
No. overall | No. in series | Title | Original air date | UK viewers (millions) [5] | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 1 | 'Wilting Blooms'[6] | 16 February 2005 | 2.02 | |
Sir Alan Sugar begins a search for an apprentice amongst fourteen candidates, informing them that they will undertake a gruelling selection process composed of various business challenges, with a six-figure job being offered to the winning candidate. For their first task, the candidates must sell flowers for money as teams. The men opt for conducting door-to-door sales, focusing on a solid sales strategy throughout the task despite a slow start. The women commit to selling at a market before making sales on the move, but struggle from in-fighting amongst members and a problematic salesperson. In the boardroom, the men prove themselves with their sales figures, leaving the women's team faced with discussing their performance on the task. Of the final three, Adenike Ogundoyin becomes the first person to be fired on the show, due to the detrimental effect she had on her team's sales strategy. | |||||
2 | 2 | 'Child's Play'[7] | 23 February 2005 | N/A | |
Teams put their creative skills to the test when Sir Alan tasks them with creating a brand new toy for the 5-9 age group, with each pitching their designs to industry experts. The men focus on a safe, low-key concept involving electronic trading cards, receiving praise for the concept despite gambling on the cards producing most of the profits when pitching their design. The women find themselves dealing with a problematic leader, who forces them to take on a risky concept involving semaphore-designed cards, despite their focus group opting for more creative idea, with their overall design being panned by the experts. Feedback to the boardroom soon leaves the men winning the task. Amongst the losing team, their leader, Lindsay Bogaard, is fired for her poor decisions made on the task. | |||||
3 | 3 | 'Shop Till You Drop'[8] | 2 March 2005 | 2.17 | |
On their next task, Sir Alan assigns both teams to seek out ten items that he requires, with each teams seeking out bargains with each of their purchases. First Forte manage to secure all their items, yet face problems from a difficult leader who clashes with the other members. Impact secure all but one item due to an indecisive leader, but offset this by making a surprising bargain during their search for each of their purchases. In the boardroom, Impact prove themselves the better negotiators thanks to the key purchase they made, leaving First Forte to come under scrutiny for their performance. Of the final three, Miranda Rose is fired for the severe criticism towards her attitude with the team and her management of them. | |||||
4 | 4 | 'The Harrods Sales'[9] | 9 March 2005 | 2.35 | |
Given a concession stand to run within Harrods, Sir Alan tasks each team to select items from the store's catalogue, before selling these to passing customers. Impact work steadily to achieve sales despite a slow start, thanks to one member donning a costume that attracts young customers. First Forte struggle throughout the task, due to a weak team leader and problematic salespeople, despite managing to improve towards the end. The sales figures soon show that Impact's efforts were more efficient, leaving First Forte to face questions on their execution of the task. Before a final boardroom can be made, Sir Alan is surprised when Adele Lock, who is deemed the worst contributor of the team, opts to leave after being unable to cope with the pressure from the challenges she had undertaken up to this stage. | |||||
5 | 5 | 'Art with a Capital F'[10] | 16 March 2005 | 2.18 | |
Both teams find themselves each representing an artist, selling their artwork to visitors at their own exhibition. First Forte secure representation with two artists, managing to sell well despite the artwork they exhibit having a high tag price. Impact take on representing an artist with reasonably priced pieces, managing higher sales despite one member causing issues for the team throughout the task. In the boardroom, First Forte are commended for managing a higher income than is achieved by Impact's sales strategy. Amongst the losing team, Matthew Palmer is fired for his poor contributions, false accusations against the other team, and for his confrontational personality with other candidates. | |||||
6 | 6 | 'Advertising Executives'[11] | 23 March 2005 | 2.80 | |
Sir Alan seeks an advertising campaign for his company's new Jukebox music system, and so assigns the teams to each design one for a sales pitch to potential buyers. First Forte focus on a campaign comparing the product to classical jukeboxes, providing a presentation that is well received. Impact produce a campaign that is poorly made, due to the team struggling to devise their concept and poor contributions from one member, while presenting a poorly received pitch. In the boardroom, Impact's campaign is voted as the worst, leaving First Forte to win the task. Amongst the losing team, Rachel Groves is fired for demonstrating inefficient pitching skills and for contributing the least amongst her team. | |||||
7 | SP–1 | 'The Story So Far'[12] | 2 March 2005 | N/A | |
As the battle to be Sir Alan's apprentice reaches its midway point, this special episode gives a brief recap on what happened over the past six episodes. | |||||
8 | 7 | 'Apprentice Celebrities'[13] | 30 March 2005 | 2.82 | |
Sir Alan assigns each team to run their own charity auction, convincing celebrities to donate something for a good cause. Impact secure a wide variety of donations for their auction, maintaining full control throughout the task. First Forte secure less donations from the celebrities they approach, with most of these receiving less money due to misinformation about them. In the boardroom, Impact win the task by securing the most money, leaving First Forte to face questions on what mistakes they made. Amongst the losing team, discussion over negotiation skills result in Sebastian Schrimpff being fired for both his underwhelming performance and presence on tasks. | |||||
9 | 8 | 'Food Fight'[14] | 6 April 2005 | 2.74 | |
Turning produces into products is the basis of the next task, as Sir Alan assign each team to sell what they create at a country market. First Forte focus on making jellies, jams and chutneys to sell, using promotions to help shift stock despite concerns over hiring a cook to make their products. Impact focus on selling a variety of soups, but overspend on ingredients, arrive late to sell what they make, and fail to sell most of their products. First Forte claim victory with their marketing strategy, leaving Impact to receive an in-depth review of their performance. Amongst the losing team, Ben Leary is dismissed for his poor leadership and control over the team, and raising questions over his decisions and judgment. | |||||
10 | 9 | 'Team News'[15] | 13 April 2005 | 2.59 | |
Each team find themselves tasked with selling a text messaging service for football match updates, through the use of promotional means. First Forte opt for using posters and hiring promotional staff to market their service, but secure less subscriptions from this approach. Impact opt for making use of a Jumbotron and also making use of professional staff, increasing sales through motivating their employees with an offer of commissions for sales. In the boardroom, Impact win the task with their strategy, leaving First Forte to face scrutiny over their execution of the task. Of the final three, Raj Dhonota is fired over his failure to step up in tasks and his dismal sales skills. | |||||
11 | 10 | 'Apprentices on TV'[16] | 20 April 2005 | 2.40 | |
Made to work on a shopping channel, each team is tasked to choose the right products to sell, assign members as presenters, and use a presentation style that can entice viewers to buy during their allotted airtime. Impact struggle with selling their choice of products due to constant interruptions amongst the production sub-team leaving their chosen present receiving mixed advice and instructions. First Forte secure less products than they desire, but manage well during their broadcast thanks to a strong presentation style by their chosen presenter. In the boardroom, Impact face criticism over their performance after First Forte win with their choices and presentation style. Amongst the losing team, Miriam Staley is fired for her poor management style on the task and demonstrating an unsuitable personality. | |||||
12 | 11 | 'Interviews'[17] | 27 April 2005 | 2.72 | |
After facing ten tasks as teams, the four remaining candidates now compete as individuals in their next task – a series of tough, gruelling interviews with five of Sir Alan's most trusted associates. Each member faces scrutiny over their backgrounds, work experience and performance within the process when questioned by the interviewers. Feedback to Sir Alan, alongside observations by his aides, leads him to firing James Max over questions on his dedication to tasks and for being an unattractive long term prospect, while Paul Torrisi is fired due to concerns by interviewers on his aggression and for providing unclear reasons for wanting the job on offer. Of the remaining two, Saira Khan receives unanimous praise from interviewers, while Tim Campbell, despite questions on him being naive, is commended for his business acumen he demonstrated. | |||||
13 | 12 | 'The Final'[18] | 4 May 2005 | 3.77 | |
After facing a multitude of business tasks and a tough interview, the two finalists now face one more challenge – with help from old friends they worked with, each receives a budget of £5,000 to help with setting up a special themed event aboard a riverboat. Saira opts for a wine-tasting event, with her team recouping their costs and making a profit towards the end. Tim opts for a fashion show, demonstrating his ability to keep costs down despite making less from the event. Reviewing the performance of both finalists, Sir Alan decides that Tim Campbell's overall performance and background make him worthy to become his first apprentice, leaving Saira Khan to become the runner up due to issues with her personality and elements of her leadership in the task. | |||||
14 | SP–2 | 'You're Hired!'[19] | 7 May 2005 | N/A | |
In this special episode, Adrian Chiles interviews the winner of The Apprentice and the losing candidates to find out what they learned of the experience throughout their time on the show, as well as meeting with Sir Alan to see what he thought about the candidates that took part. |
Episode no. | Airdate | Viewers (millions) | BBC Two weekly ranking |
---|---|---|---|
1 | 16 February 2005 | 2.02 | 15 |
2 | 23 February 2005 | N/A | N/A |
3 | 2 March 2005 | 2.17 | 24 |
4 | 9 March 2005 | 2.35 | 26 |
5 | 16 March 2005 | 2.18 | 26 |
6 | 23 March 2005 | 2.80 | 13 |
7 | 30 March 2005 | 2.82 | 8 |
8 | 6 April 2005 | 2.74 | 13 |
9 | 13 April 2005 | 2.59 | 11 |
10 | 20 April 2005 | 2.40 | 11 |
11 | 27 April 2005 | 2.72 | 6 |
12 | 4 May 2005 | 3.77 | 2 |
Airdate | Viewers (millions) | BBC Two weekly ranking | |
---|---|---|---|
The Story So Far | |||
2 April 2005 | N/A | N/A |
Wikiquote has quotations related to: The Apprentice (UK) |
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