The Apprentice: The Final

(BBC1)

Who says nice guys finish last? Incredibly, the mad inventor – who many wrote off as a red herring – won the day and clinched the £250,000 deal to become Lord Sugar’s apprentice and business partner.

Throughout this series Tom Pellereau has been almost the plucky comic relief, the kind-natured smiling buffoon who gets the inevitable “bumbling clown” music played while he goes about his tasks.

He was the Jonah of every team, jinxing the projects to fail even though he didn’t necessarily cock things up himself.

But against the backdrop of Jim Eastwood’s cliches, Susan Ma’s crass comments about people shopping in Merry Hill being “poor” and Natasha Scribbins saying “yeah” at the end of every sentence, Tom was a breath of fresh air. As he walked out of the boardroom and gave a little cheer it was plain that he appreciated the opportunity he’d been given.

The interview episode of each Apprentice series is usually the penultimate one but it is always the most gripping. Most finals usually look like an anti-climax after the candidates have sweated and had their overblown egos popped like balloons.

To go back to an ordinary task aided by all the failed candidates who are more desperate than ever to look good rather than to help out a former opponent always seemed a bit flat. The candidates actual business plans were where they all came unglued.

Susan Ma had guessed the figures for the cosmetics venture and didn’t know the difference between profit and turnover.

Helen Milligan spoiled her reputation as a winner and a grafter by coming up with a “concierge service” that was completely naff.

Anyone with money already has premier banking and those who do have the cash to blow have personal assistants that can do all the booking and diary management.

The funniest bit was seeing Margaret Mountford rip Jim Eastwood apart. Quite apart from his e-learning idea, the self-proclaimed “Irish bulldozer of charm” was a walking cliche.

The Apprentice has been a poorer show ever since Margaret stopped being Lord Sugar’s aid. Karen Brady does a decent job as her replacement but she just doesn’t have that sour expression that Margaret carries off so well.

Faced with an egotistical fool Margaret looks like a cat that’s eaten a coffee Revel by mistake. Primetime TV needs her back.

By Dan Wainwright