The BBC yesterday pre-viewed the first episode of The Apprentice, its version of the US reality television show in which Donald Trump selects an employee by subjecting young wannabes to a series of tests, then sacking them one by one until he finds a winner.

Sporting a hairstyle decidely more convincing than his counterpart on the US show and displaying teeth decidely less dazzling, the star of the BBC show, Sir Alan Sugar, told the group of journalists invited to the preview what he wanted to achieve through the series.