Ian Hyland On last night’s telly

Karren Brady wasn’t impressed – it must take a lot to shock a woman whose day job is working for a couple of ex-porn purveyors at West Ham

The Apprentice, BBC1 ★★★★

As any keen observer of Alan Sugar’s MO could tell you, we reached a key stage in this process last night.

Namely? The bit where we start to predict which of the candidates’ business plans have caught his eye.

Let’s be honest, there can be no other explanation for Camilla and/ or Daniel escaping Sugar’s pointy finger of doom in the boardroom.

Poor old Sarah Ann was completely hung out to dry. Then again, given the amount of cider and rum she put away while she was “tasting” the ingredients for their Christmas chocolates, a spot of drying out was probably in order.

However, she had nothing to do with her team coming up with a concept – Santa’s Choo Seduction – that would not have looked out of place in an Ann Summers window.

No wonder Sugar compared it to something out of a Carry On film.

Karren Brady wasn’t impressed either – and it must take a lot to shock a woman whose day job is working for a couple of former porn purveyors at West Ham. But the most shocking thing of all was Camilla and Daniel wasting their time learning how to be Santa’s elves so they could add a little festive flavour to their sales pitch.

Guys, the Wise Old Elf of Essex was twiddling his thumbs all day in his big chair in Brentwood. You should have given him the costume and offered him a tenner an hour.