The second series debut of UK version of 'The Apprentice', starring self-made millionaire Sir Alan Sugar, brought in an impressive 3.6m or 16% of the total audience to BBC Two last night. The figure was a healthy gain on the first episode of the debut series, which brought in 1.9m.
The show, featuring 14 contestants trying to impress the boss to win a six-figure salary job at the millionaire's Amstrad company with one of them being fired each week, was a huge hit for the BBC last year, bringing in almost 4m viewers an episode.
Gerard O'Donovan, the Daily Telegraph's TV critic, called it "terrific and instantly addictive television".
Over the next 12 weeks, Sugar will sack 13 hopeful contestants with the line, first used by Donald Trump in the US original, "you're fired".
Thomas Sutcliffe, writing for The Independent, had nothing but praise for the show and the gender-dividing issues it raised last night. "You know where you can find me for the next 12 weeks," he wrote.
However, the news for Davina McCall and her new chatshow just got worse. The second outing was a ratings disaster for BBC One, as its attempt to turn Davina into the new Parkinson seemed way off the mark.
Last night's show, which featured former Bond Pierce Brosnan, Irish comedian-turned-presenter Patrick Kielty and 'Judge John Deeds'' Martin Shaw, lost a quarter of its audience, down to 2.7m of the available audience from 3.5m last week.
The show attracted half the audience of 'The Bill' on ITV1, which attracted 6.8m or 28% in the same 8pm-9pm slot.
'Davina' is set to run for another six weeks.
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