Is it any wonder both teams didn't exactly ace this one? To be fair, I think both ideas were actually pretty good considering they had a two-day turnaround. The real work is done by those guys at the manufacturing plant, who create a decent prototype from the lamest sketches in under 12 hours.
Loquacious James led Empire and was charmed by Ben's enthusiasm for his "Home Multi Tone" (a black box with two pulleys and a fold-out step that can be used as an aide to a variety of exercises.) Nice idea. In theory. It certainly trumped Ben's earlier suggestion for a personal "sex-exerciser" couples can use while having intercourse. A part of me longed for that idea to have been taken seriously by the group, if only to see Sir Alan's reaction to whatever spring-loaded contraption fell out of Ben's imagination. The mind boggles. I dare say Margaret would have smuggled it away after filming, though -- she looks the type.
Debra led team Ignite, who had a much simpler idea: a variation on a Swiss Ball they christened the "Body Rocka". Basically, this was a small plastic platform stuck to a half-dome, that you sit on and rock about with. It helps firm up your abdominal muscles, they say. We'll just have to take their word for that! I think rolling around on the floor kicking your legs, whilst trying to twist the lid off a jar, would actually burn more calories.
The pitches went relatively smoothly, but this task was always going to fly or die on the quality of the product. Assembled in the boardroom, Sir Alan informed Empire that their "Home Multi Tone" failed to impress any of the retailers, but John Lewis ordered 500 out of pity. On the other hand, Ignite got decent orders from all three retailers for their "Body Rocka", totalling 10,180 sold units! To celebrate, they were sent home for a private recital by the lovely Katherine Jenkins. The losers got to cry into their milky tea's at that greasy café (who owns that place in real life?), before Project Manager James brought Ben and Majid into the boardroom to face Sir Alan's wrath.
James was the obvious target; it's only the third week and he's been in the boardroom twice, and he was the leader of this task. It was also the biggest failure in The Apprentice's history (Ignite won by a 20:1 margin). But, big-faced James insists that he went along with a bad idea because the alternative was disrupting team morale . He blames Ben for coming up with the whole idea, but Ben points out that his idea was the only one on the table. Poor Majid was a non-entity throughout the task (purely because he was given a low-visibility role, he persists), but Sir Alan thinks otherwise. The finger is pointed at Maj, who takes the cab ride of shame to chat with Adrian Chiles on BBC2.
So, did the right man go? It's always a tricky one in these early weeks. So many personalities jostling for attention, etc. Maj may have proven himself in later weeks, but that's the game. Ben survived purely because, without him, Empire would have been selling thin air. James survived thanks to Margaret putting a good word in to Sir Alan about his leadership skills – and, sure, he wasn't actually that bad. If Ben hadn't inspired everyone to make their initially simple design into a multi-faceted black box of wonder, Empire would have fared better.
8 April 2009
BBC1, 9pm
