The Apprentice: those who haven't made the grade

Nicholas de Lacy-Brown: In the first episode, the 16 'tycoons of tomorrow' attempted to sell fish to the people of London, who all managed to fleece them and their fish, until they returned with almost less cash than the fish were bought for wholesale. In the boardroom, Nicholas de Lacy-Brown expressed his inability to get on with the common man as the reason for his poor performance, and the very rich self-professed common man on the other side of the table fired him Photograph: Talkback Thames Pictures /BBC

Shazia Wahab: Week two, and some of the finest business minds in the country were washing other people's dirty laundry in public. Or rather 'in a laundry'. The episode was marked by fierce arguments on Alpha, the women's team, mainly between Jenny and Lucinda - but Shazia got fired for simply not speaking up for herself in the boardroom. The nation disagreed with Surallun's choice Photograph: Talkback Thames Pictures /BBC

Ian Stringer: A themed restaurant tested the creative powers of the teams for the first time. The all-boy Renaissance team were torn - should their Italian theme pub have cod Mediterranean accents AND fake moustaches? Kevin, a hamster-like bank manager playing head chef, had a shaky grasp of both maths and food, but miraculously survived. Responsibility-shirking (and quite slimy) Ian got ousted instead Photograph: Talkback Thames Pictures /BBC

Simon Smith: What could the people of Essex want more while shopping than to lie down on a Chaise Longue or be fondled by a Beckham lookalike and then have the results printed (upside down) on a mug? Well, that's what they got in week four. Simon, perhaps the last genuinely nice person in the competition, couldn't control the team and thus got fired. Nice guys finish, if not last, certainly twelfth Photograph: Talkback Thames Pictures /BBC

Lindi Mngaza: Creating exciting new flavours of ice cream and hawking them around London. Issues of exclusivity (you can't really offer it to everyone, and not without checking with your client, apparently) almost scuppered Jennifer - but Lindi got fired. Lindi's best moment - her determination to set up a 24-hour hotline for people getting their shirts washed - is worth mentioning even though it was in episode 2. Brilliant Photograph: Talkback Thames Pictures /BBC

Kevin Shaw: Six weeks in, and the teams, now thoroughly mixed male and female, had to create brand new greetings cards for brand new special days. The winning team managed to scrape by with Singles'/Single's/Singles Day (no one could decide) - but Kevin, the least prepared team leader in the history of team, went Photograph: Talkback Thames Pictures /BBC

Jenny Celerier: The teams went to Morocco to try to buy a list of things as cheaply as they could - bad haggling, bribery and massive cultural ignorance ensued. In the first of a double firing - and about time too - Jenny Celerier got thrown from the train for trying to scupper the other team in Marrakech, for not knowing what Kosher meant ... and generally for lying her chin off every week to save herself in the boardroom Photograph: Talkback Thames Pictures /BBC

Jennifer Maguire: After Jenny got kicked to the curb, another Moroccan firing - Jennifer couldn't control her team, and thus had to go (even though she was the 'Best Salesperson In Europe'). It was the first week Michael Sophocles, a man who was discovered not to know his halal from his elbow or his kosher from his knees - stayed when he really should have gone. It was the first of many Photograph: Talkback Thames Pictures /BBC

Sara Dhada: The teams picked out dresses and cakes and special underpants, and whipped them all up to Birmingham, where they attempted to sell them to brides-to-be at the country's biggest wedding show. Weirdly, their hard sell failed, and so did doe-eyed Sara, who couldn't sell cupcakes to Brummies and got sent home. Almost everyone agreed it should have been Michael Sophocles instead, but no, somehow, he stayed Photograph: Talkback Thames Pictures /BBC

Raef Bjayou: Week nine: Take one unbranded box of tissues, brand it, then build a television avertising campaign for it. Raef's film may have been a work of art, but - unfocused, not showing the brand name once and, weirdly, employing weatherperson Sian Lloyd as an actress then basically cutting her out - it wasn't a very good advert. It could have been Sophocles or gentle toff Raef on the chopping block. It was Raef. Not Michael. A nation mourned Photograph: Talkback Thames Pictures /BBC

Michael Sophocles: Given a set of luxury cars and the run of London, week 10 saw the teams trying to flog day-long rentals of penismobiles to City workers. Lee triumphed, due to his risky decision-making paying off and his shouty management style cutting down all comers - and finally, finally, Michael Sophocles was fired, for being a general bad egg - as well as for making some horrendous decisions in this task Photograph: Talkback Thames Pictures /BBC

Lucinda Ledgerwood: The penultimate episode, and the five remaining candidates are called in for tough personal interviews. Lee is found to have lied on his CV, Alex is over-defensive about his intellect and Claire wants to snog the interviewers - but it is Lovely Lucinda, Loopy Lulu, Lady Ribenaberet, who gets fired. Partly because she's good at managing but the stroppiest team member ever - mainly because no one thinks she wants the job anyway Photograph: Talkback Thames Pictures /BBC