The Apprentice - series 5, ep 8: Mona sinks at the seaside

Mona became the latest candidate to get fired as Empire failed in their bid to rebrand Margate for the gay community.

Mona never really warmed to the idea and, in particular, found it difficult to work under project manager Debra in unchanged teams.

Debra had somewhat forced her way into the position in the first place, denying Howard the chance to lead for the first time since week one.

But Howard retained an important role and rejected Mona's original suggestion of aiming for children and families in the brainstorming session.

Instead, he strongly encouraged James's idea of targeting the gay market.

Ignite, led by Yasmina in her first project manager role since week two, came up with the more standard concept of attracting families to the faded seaside town in Kent.

The task set by Sir Alan required the teams to pitch their ideas to a set of brand experts and then to the people of Margate themselves.

They also needed to produce a poster campaign with a slogan and a leaflet for their pitches.

For Empire, Mona and James headed to the coast and spoke to residents over the likelihood of success in rebranding Margate as a gay hotspot.

But asking the public about their campaign was something with which Mona was clearly ill at ease, especially when she talked with a pre-op transsexual.

Meanwhile Howard and Debra held auditions to find two male models for their posters.

Over at Ignite, Yasmina and Kate were also casting for two people to appear as 'mum' and 'dad' in their posters as Lorraine and Ben developed photo ideas by walking around the town.

Ben came up with a cringeworthy catchphrase - 'shellebrate family fun' - before Lorraine restored some sense with her 'See Margate through children's eyes' tagline.

But Empire struggled to come up with a memorable catchphrase and it would be a lack of clarity which would cause their ultimate downfall.

Howard warned Debra that they had too much text on their poster but she ignored him, and their whole campaign proved far too subtle.

Meanwhile, Mona and James took photographs intending to show the gay scene which for the main were rather vague, except for a decent shot of two men holding hands on the beach.

Ignite's plan of a large beach shot was originally scuppered by thick fog.

But once the fret cleared, Ben made sure they got the shots he wanted by framing everything between his fingers.

Not that team leader Yasmina was pleased.

When the photographs came through, she worried that Ben's framing had left minimal blank space for their text to be put over the photograph.

And once Lorraine returned with Ben, she argued petulantly with Yasmina over the quality of their final posters and leaflet.

But at least Ignite only suffered from some minor tiffs.

Empire had left the leaflet until the last minute and, short of time, their rudimentary effort ended up being a mish-mash of blank space and random photographs.

So it was not a surprise when neither the branding experts nor the Margate residents were impressed and they both marked Empire just four out of 10.

Ignite's campaign was far less revolutionary and their poster and leaflet front cover were devoid of any pictures of children to fit with their slogan.

But, on the whole, it was executed better and received seven out of 10 from both pitches.

And so, Yasmina and her Ignite team were duly rewarded with a day out driving round the Lotus racetrack.

But for Debra, Mona, Howard and James, only the boardroom awaited.

Sir Alan accepted Empire had been brave in targeting the gay scene but accused them of "whispering the message".

He blasted Debra and Howard for producing confusing and wordy posters and leaflets, which he thought looked like something from "a bunch of loonies".

Sir Alan said: "I looked at those posters and they tell me nothing!"

Then he turned his attention Mona, who lives in Kent, accusing her of a lack of creativity.

And James, not for the first time, was labelled as being on the periphery.

It also became apparent that Debra had lied during the pitches about the embarrassing blank space on their leaflets by suggesting it would be used by local advertisers.

Sir Alan advised her that it would have been better if she had told the truth and, after her clash with Nick Hewer last week, it looked as if she might get fired.

But at least Debra recognised Howard's efforts during the task and brought back her Margate-based sub-team of James and Mona instead.

It turned out to be a wise choice.

Mona's lack of creativity and support in the task were highlighted once again by Sir Alan and this overshadowed James' lack of input and Debra's tendency not to listen.

Sir Alan said: "Mona, I do not see any creativity and I have to start thinking about where you would slot into my organisation.

"You spoke about the pier in Margate and it looks to me that you might be right at the end of the pier in this process.

"Mona - with regret, you're fired."

In the cab, Mona disagreed with Sir Alan's decision and said she believes she is a better candidate than both Debra and James.

She added: "I have always been a fighter so this is not the end of me. I'm not going to cry over it.

"I did my best and I'm proud of what I have done."

Mona became the first candidate in the series to be fired "with regret" and certainly had her highlights.

Most notably, she demonstrated textbook negotiation skills as recently as the previous week when selling expensive sleeping bags in Manchester.

But, unfortunately for her, Sir Alan later revealed he believed she was too much of a one-trick pony, leaving just seven candidates remaining.

The Apprentice - series 5, ep 7: Cocky Philip finds it grim back up north

Cocky Philip's attitude proved to be his undoing as he was fired by Sir Alan having failed to sell anything in the latest task.

The candidate from County Durham once again clashed with Lorraine but she held the upper hand having made more sales in a woeful overall performance by Ignite.

Sir Alan had tricked the teams into thinking that they were going abroad by asking them to pack an overnight bag and meet him at the London Gateway.

Ben packed his swimming shorts, flip flops and sunglasses in anticipation of soaking up the sun while Philip drooled over the prospect of seeing some "bikini babes".

But London Gateway turned out to be a service station on the M1 motorway and instead the teams were heading north to Manchester and Liverpool.

Once there, they had to select two products from a range of 12 and then sell them to stores in the North West with two pitches already set up by Sir Alan on day one.

Sir Alan moved Mona and Howard to Empire with Ben and Yasmina going in the other direction.

Mona, who lost as project manager in week one, gained the approval of her new Empire team mates to lead this task.

And Lorraine stepped up for Ignite, having not been a project manager previously.

For once, Lorraine's instincts, which had previously served her so well, let her down.

She turned down the 'Lovers' Lead' - a two-handled dog lead - in favour of the 'Cat Playhouse', which were effectively cardboard boxes decorated as an airplane, tank and fire engine.

Ignite also put their faith in the 'POD', a bag to carry shopping on the back of a bicycle.

Empire decided to go with the aforementioned 'Lovers' Lead' and a 'Silk Bag', a full-body sleeping bag with separate sections for arms and legs.

As the teams arrived at the first of the pitches arranged by Sir Alan - a hardware store in Liverpool - both of them started to realise the limitations of their products.

Ignite's 'POD' was criticised by the store manager for unbalancing the bicycle - to which Yasmina oddly suggested two bags would need to be bought to even the weight distribution.

Lorraine and Yasmina were even more wide of the mark when they tried to get the hardware store to buy 5-6,000 'Cat Playhouses'.

At Empire, Debra and Howard struggled to convince the hardware store of the use of their 'Lovers' Lead'.

And the store manager was stunned by their attempt to suggest selling the sleeping bag for £89.

At the second pitch arranged by Sir Alan - a designer home store in Manchester - Empire continued to make little headway.

Their sleeping bag, in particular, failed to fit in with the store's values.

But, over at Ignite, matters improved a little with the designer home store considering an order for both the 'POD' and the 'Cat Playhouse'.

Not the other half of Ignite were doing so well with Philip, Kate and Ben managing to secure just one pitch for day two.

That pitch was at a cycle superstore in Chester but it met a dead end even though Philip went so far as to demonstrate how the 'POD' would work on a bike.

Ben looked as if he might have improved Ignite's chances by fixing up a meeting with the UK's biggest pet retailer.

But, having squabbled over who should lead the pitch, Lorraine and Yasmina still went in with totally unrealistic expectations and thought they could sell up to 20,000 'Cat Playhouses'.

The retailer ended up agreeing to 50 and no more.

But that was still more than the sub team of Philip, Kate and Ben - all three went all day without selling anything.

Sir Alan's aide Nick Hewer said: "Frankly, returning to London with no sales is a bit like the three of them popping into that cat plane and taking off to join the Battle of Britain.

"They haven't got a chance."

Empire did rather better at the same pet retailer, with Debra and Howard securing 200 orders for the 'Lovers' Lead'.

And the 'Silk Bag' sleeping bag was at least shown to be able to sell to camping stores.

It all added up to a clear victory for Empire who made £4501 from their orders while Ignite made just £1302, none of which had come from Philip, Kate or Ben.

And so, while Empire enjoyed a VIP ride in a Rolls Royce helicopter over London at sunset, Ignite were summoned back to see Sir Alan.

In the boardroom, Philip made the audacious claim that he, Kate and Ben were the three best salespeople on their team despite none of them managing to make a single sale.

By contrast, Lorraine, who made £807 in sales, and Yasmina, who made £495, sold at four of their five pitches.

Ben defended his record on the task, having managed to fix up the appointment with the pet retailer.

And Sir Alan criticised Lorraine and Yasmina for their wildly ambitious pitches.

It was Philip, though, who continued to act like a drama queen, criticising Lorraine for her over-reliance on instinct and revelling in the fact she had got it wrong this time.

Sir Alan made it clear he was not impressed and warned that up to three candidates could be fired as Lorraine brought Philip and Kate back into the boardroom.

He started by attacking Philip for putting on his resume that he is "arrogant, cocky, stubborn and a control-freak", and questioned if he needed people like that in his business.

But he also questioned if he needed Lorraine who had admitted herself that she was a "slow burner in the thought process".

Sir Alan also suggested that she had alienated the other team members from herself.

Lorraine defended herself based on her sales but struck a low blow when suggesting the growing relationship between Philip and Kate had affected their work.

This was a surprising, almost Machiavellian move, which appalled Kate in particular.

But it was Philip who turned the attention on himself even more when he attempted to defend his recent record.

Of course, he soon piped down when Nick Hewer reminded him of 'Pantsman'.

And Sir Alan played down Philip's victory in last week's task, saying he won by default after making a smaller loss than the opponents.

Sir Alan accused Kate of going from "hero to zero" but accepted that her previous performance had meant this was her first boardroom appearance.

But he had little such sympathy for destructive Philip.

Sir Alan said: "I'm clear in my mind that your bravado and attitude ain't going to fit in my organisation. You're fired."

Philip remained defiant in his own ability to the end and, audibly, called the decision "a joke" as he left the boardroom.

In the cab, he said: "I'm disappointed. I thought I had the potential to go a lot further than this but, unfortunately, I crossed paths with Lorraine and it was the end of me."

Philip repeated that he thought he was a better candidate than Lorraine although at least he accepted that he would be forever remembered for his Pantsman idea.

The Apprentice - series 5, ep 1: Empire cleans up

A typically explosive start to the new series of the Apprentice ended with the boys' team Empire coming out on top and Anita as the first candidate fired.

Empire beat the girls' team, Ignite, by making a profit of £239, despite a smaller turnover.

It was an altogether unexpected victory for the boys who started a man down after one candidate, Adam, inexplicably withdrew from the competition before it had even started.

Sir Alan asked his teams to set up any type of cleaning company and both teams set up a car cleaning company with the boys also setting up a shoe-shine service. Mona (Ignite) and Howard (Empire) volunteered for the role as team leaders.

Even as they returned to the boardroom, the boys seemed unsure if they had got their tactics right.

Some of them were still arguing that the shoe-shine business was more profitable even though they abandoned it halfway through having spent ages cleaning just their first car.

Margaret Mountford said: “Never in the history of car washing have so few cars been cleaned by so many people.”

It did not matter, though, as the girls spectacularly failed to adhere to simple business rules despite starting late.

They only made a profit of £160.55 despite making £10 more than the boys after spending almost the entire £200 budget on costs.

Sir Alan said: “It’s a classic business message. They just simply overspent.”

The boys celebrated their somewhat fortunate victory in boisterous fashion at their cocktail-making (and drinking) session.

But the unexpected loss for the girls meant they completely fell apart in their inquest that followed and it was even more confusing when team leader Mona argued the toss with Anita and
Deborah who she had brought back to the boardroom with her.

Ultimately, though, the error was laid at the door of Anita who held the calculator as their budget was splurged.

Sir Alan said: "You showed no initiative in spotting that you were heading for disaster. And on that basis, you're fired."

Anita, in her fairness, said: "I'm bitterly disappointed but I accept that I was not particularly stellar."

It’s good to have The Apprentice back on our screens and reassuring to find that the programme-makers have not changed its successful format in what is now its fifth series.

With so many talking heads, it was difficult to see who might make the biggest impression. But, as Adrian Chiles pointed out on sister show The Apprentice: You’re Fired, Deborah stood out as the possible ice-maiden of the series as long as she continues to be reprieved.