Did you get home early this week? Did you set the video? If not, you may have missed the first episodes of a cracking television series, The Apprentice, freshly arrived on BBC2 from the US. Though certainly to be regarded as a specimen of "reality TV", The Apprentice does not require contestants to eat locusts or bury their heads in goo. Instead, they perform tasks familiar to any entrepreneur: selling on street corners, creating advertising campaigns, all that.

The first episode, on Monday, started with 16 contestants. At the close, the American business phenomenon Donald Trump - presenter of the show and resident sage - barked at the least promising candidate: "You're fired!" The prize, for the winner of the series: a highly paid job with Trump.