Alan Sugar has gone from being a child selling cabbages to football chairman, to TV superstar to government advisor! All this, despite the fact he looks like a sweaty apple that's been rolled around in iron filings. Well, it's his latest gig, the government one, that's seen people calling for him to quit The Apprentice. That's right. The Conservatives want him to stop making the show because we won't be politically neutral if he's working for The Man as enterprise tsar. The shadow culture secretary Jeremy Hunt (rhyming slang?) sent a letter to the BBC Trust chairman Sir Michael Lyons, saying Sugar's roles were "totally incompatible". So, do you think he should leave?

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So it's all over bar the six-figure salaried job with Sir Alan Sugar. Another series of The Apprentice is done and dusted, leaving a gaping void in the Wednesday night viewing schedule. And after 12 long weeks which seem to have lasted a lot longer, the eventual winner came as something of a surprise. For faced with the choice of the ever so slightly predictable winner Kate or the riskier Yasmina, Sir Alan opted for the latter, persuading the restaurateur to give up her business and come and work for him.

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Yes, it was the final of The Apprentice last night (BBC One, Sunday 7 June, 9pm) and there will be plenty of chat about who won, why and why not. I've actually really enjoyed this series after not enjoying so much the previous series. Why? I can't really say. I think it's one of those shows that just reels you in whether you like it or not. And because of that there will be people out there that are already mourning it. So, with that in mind, here's a compilation of this series' best bits. Have a look after the jump...

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The Apprentice (BBC One, Sunday, 7 June, 9pm) has been a TV titan this year, consistently pulling in the viewers, showcasing faintly ludicrous tasks and the idiots that try to impress whilst doing them. And so, the final of the show is upon us and it's been quite a build up. Noel Fielding/Rocky Dennis/A Cartoon Iron lookalike Debra has been splashed in the rags in her knickers, Lorraine has been in the papers for being a swinger and Alan Sugar's been in Downing Street presumably putting himself forward to lead Britain as PM.

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Is it just me or has this series of The Apprentice seemed to last for ever? It feels like years ago that we were first introduced to the likes of Lorraine, Ben, Phillip and Kate, so much so that Wednesday nights pre-Apprentice are already becoming a distant memory (and what I'll be watching at that time when it's over, I have no idea). As series go, it's had some memorably unpleasant personalities, some vintage tasks (who could forget 'Pantsman?') and plenty of moments which will be talked about long after Sir Alan has done his final bit of hiring and firing.

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There's just two weeks to go now until the final of The Apprentice, and I am already beginning to get withdrawal symptoms - what shall I do without it on a Wednesday evening? (er, watch something else probably, but anyway.....) All of which means that candidates are starting to run a bit thin on the ground - we've said goodbye to some of the dullest contenders (Noorul - anybody remember him?), some of the biggest personalities (the show is a poorer place for no longer having Philip and Ben) and others who I still maintain never had the chance to show their true potential (Paula for example could have been a contender if she hadn't come a cropper so early).

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With The Apprentice trundling on at full creak, I thought I'd direct your attentions to a fun little video that I stumbled across (ie stole from a Twitter link from MissCay) which made me smile. In essence, Alan Sugar's various ramblings (which are often quite surreal) have been hacked up and pieced back together in a way that is often very odd and occasionally, very very sarcastic. Obviously, I like it a lot! Click over the jump to watch it.

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Having talked about the idea for years, it seems that Sir Alan Sugar is going to preside over a junior version of The Apprentice next year, with five girls and five boys aged 16 and 17 getting the chance to show off their entrepreneurial skills in a series of tasks. The only difference this time is that the winner doesn't actually get to work for Sir Alan, instead going away with a prize worth up to £25,000, tailored to suit their career needs.

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Just to prove it's not only Mof who can jump on the Apprentice bandwagon, here's a question that exercises us every year, but every year the answer is even more puzzling than the year before. Because, after all, if you're interested in applying for this "incredible opportunity" with Surallen, surely you'll have watched a few episodes to give yourself a clue what he's looking for, and the sort of tasks he'll be setting? No? That too simple for you? Yet again, it seems the phrase "too simple" is all too apposite for this latest crop of "candidates."

The Apprentice is still going great guns. It's still got loads of viewers and seemingly, everyone tunes in just to get really agitated for an hour. Of course, heading up the show is Alan Sugar, former Tottenham Hotspur chairman and owner of Amstrad (who gave us the lovely CPC 464, techheads). He's as prickly as ever, pointing his hand (that resembles a monkey paw back scratcher) and saying "You're fired!". With that, it's funny how many things Alan Sugar reminds of. I mean, every single time I look at him, a thousand images flash across my mind... so seeing as our Rebecca does the reviews, I figured I'd jump aboard and show you the top 5 things that I think of when I see Alan Sugar.

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So, we're halfway through this series of the Apprentice, and that means the competition is hotting up, tasks are getting harder, scheming candidates are getting bitchier by the minute and Sir Alan is becoming ever more astute in his opinions of the remaining hopefuls. Which brings us nicely on to this week and the farewell to the Pants Man, as he will be now know forever (whether he likes it or not)...

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After the sheer brilliance of last week's Apprentice, it seems only fair that this week we were brought back down to earth with a bump - Pants man was, after all, always going to be a hard act to follow. Sad to say, then, that this week's task was probably the dullest one so far this series, although the ensuing boardroom storm - complete with furrowed brows, shocked expressions and over-zealous bitching from some very unlikely quarters - ultimately made the preamble worthwhile.

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Every so often, you get the sense that a classic Apprentice is in the offing, and Wednesday night's edition was just one of those, the kind of show that in Apprentice terms will be talked about for days, weeks, nay years. You know the kind we mean - one on a par with the pub-running task when Matt Lucas lookalike Kevin turned chef for the day, or when nice Jewish boy Michael Sophocles totally failed to comprehend the meaning of the words 'kosher chicken'. Wednesday's edition, for its sheer gut-busting, cringe-making, watch from between your fingers in disbelief brilliance, will doubtless soon be joining them in the Apprentice hall of fame. And it was all because of some misplaced pants.

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The Apprentice is massive, we all know that, mainly because it features some of the brightest and intuitive minds in the country. What I really meant to say was: it features some stupidest showers of shite anyone can ever hope to see on a television screen. But that's the fun of the show, right? Anyway, we've teamed up Sir Alan Sugar himself to offer you the chance to win five best-of Apprentice DVDs, which include loads of entertaining bits from series one-to-four and some audition footage for this year's show. All you have to do to win one is take a dive over the jump and answer the really easy question. Good luck!

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Week four of The Apprentice, and now things are really starting to hot up and the strong personalities beginning to shine through. Over the past few weeks we have learned the following: that Debra is, er, formidable, Phillip is at times incomprehensible, Ben doesn't have a good word to say about anyone and Yasmina - well just don't get me started, but am beginning to think that she may never love anybody as much as she loves herself. But anyway, on to this week's task....and it was one that ventured into new Apprentice territory.

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Now that the new candidates in the latest series of The Apprentice have gotten themselves established, I feel as though it may be time to deliver my verdict on who's hot and who's, well, not (especially after Majid got the boot last night). Let's start from the top...

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Just two weeks into the new series of The Apprentice, and already I am being forced to ask the question 'Are these really the finest business brains Britain has to offer? And if they are the best, can we even begin to contemplate what the worst must be like?' That said, it's the sheer uselessness of some of the candidates which is once again making this series such compelling TV. Wednesday night's instalment saw them having to cater for business people, offering both lunch and canapes for a champagne reception. Sandwich shop owner Rocky should have found this a breeze, right?

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Here we go then for episode two of The Apprentice. Last week's opener got straight down to business in exposing how stupid this current lot of wannabe entrepreneurs were (the car cleaning task), and this week it's time for the teams to take on the roles of caterers. This can only mean one thing - cock-ups galore. There's a trailer after the jump, and you can see the full episode on Wednesday 1 April on BBC One at 9pm.

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