Young Apprentice: The final

Thousands applied, extensive interviews ensued, a dozen were chosen and 11 were fired. Only one candidate could win. In the final episode, James was left to fight Zara in the ultimate battle of the sexes. The task: to create, advertise and promote an online video game.

Karren Brady, Lord Sugar, Nick Hewer

I always think of video games as a bit of a male past time, but despite the stereotype, James let the boys down as a clear exception to the rule considering he “never plays” them, putting him at an immediate disadvantage.

But viewers were left no time to fear his downfall as we saw the return of lippy Lewis who thought a seagull game would be fantastic, it’s a shame that so few people understand him because I think somewhere within him is an incredibly productive individual. After aborting this wondrous idea, it was decided that their game would be called “crazy cabinet”. The idea pivoted on black humour and government insults. A personal highlight was the concept of “selling Scotland” to solve the debt crisis, ironically not James’ homeland Ireland. The advert was simple, but effective, making fun of parliament.

It was, to my knowledge, Zara who was in the final and should have been controlling the team, but I was clearly mistaken: Harry M was back. He proactively dictated the team (once again), but it didn't take long for Zara to step back up and confirm her authority. Their gaming concept revolved around a pig escaping from a butcher- in my eyes “piggy panic” was hugely appealing. This task may have played favourably into Zara’s hands because she directs films professionally, but she did hasten to mention that she has never made anything comic before. This didn’t seem to phase her or cause her team any issues, thus reassuring the viewer (can you see where this is going?). Nick described the advert as “dreamlike” as he was transported into this comically natural cartoon world. In my opinion the advert had all the valid components for a good advert, including catchy theme music.

When it came to the pitch James was solid and humorous, if not slightly reliant on some dubious political jokes. For me the low point was “from Westminster to bestminster” and it was this spoof humour that hinted he had great potential, but he was a candidate that you either loved or hated (I'll let you develop your own opinion...). The barrage of political humour made me wonder whether he was actually targeting a certain Lord who was watching the pitch? Would he sink that low?

Despite the title “Piggy Panic”, Zoe showed no signs of faltering as she remained calm and engaged the audience, creating a vibrant atmosphere. Her failure to price the product made the audience doubt her momentarily, but this was a minor blip and she recovered with a sharp response when questioned.

So the time had come for the remaining two to face Lord Sugar for the final time... the tension was mounting. As the final minutes of this year's Apprentice rolled on I thought to myself that this is not a programme about business acumen, likeability or profit margins, it's all about what you can do with the talent you possess. Remove James' arrogance and strip Zara of her eloquence and we are left with two 17-year-olds who are incredibly capable, determined and intelligent. Yet after a reflection on past actions and potential future actions, it was concluded that zealous Zara was the winner of the Young Apprentice 2011.