The Apprentice

With a life-changing £250,000 investment in their business up for grabs, the stakes are high for the candidates, who must impress Lord Sugar week in, week out if they are to avoid the dreaded “you’re fired” finger point.

As always there are big characters in the boardroom of all ages, experiences and personalities, all united by a fiercely competitive streak and seemingly boundless confidence. We’ll just have to see who has the business acumen to back it up.

Toast of Tinseltown

Tuesday

BBC Two, 10.00pm

Matt Berry’s flamboyant thespian Steven Toast is back and bumbling but this time in pursuit of film stardom.

Drama: Sticks and Stones

Monday

ITV, 9pm

ITV’s new three-part psychological drama will explore the power plays and politics of office life in this cautionary tale of workplace bullying.

Lord Alan Sugar will be joined by Baroness Karren Brady and Claude Littner as they test the new candidates in a series of challenges that relate to the world of business.

The 18 candidates will battle it out each week in the hopes of winning an investment prize of £250,000 and a business partnership with Lord Sugar...and to avoid one of his famous firings.

Here are this year’s ambitious entrepreneurs.

The Apprentice: You’re Fired is the companion show to The Apprentice, during which the most recently fired candidate is joined by comedians, celebrity fans and business gurus to discuss their recent elimination.

Each week, Allen will attempt to find out what went wrong for the unsuccessful candidates, giving his own unique take on events with his signature acerbic wit.

A self-confessed Apprentice super-fan, Allen and the panel will look at the week’s biggest wins and fatal mishaps in front of a live studio audience.

The award-winning show will up the ante this series, with challenges sending contestants all across the UK and overseas. 

Their first task begins with the contestants jetting off to Malta, to purchase nine items for the cheapest prices. “Remember, this is NOT a holiday,” Lord Sugar warned the contestants, “expect the unexpected."

Comedy: Curb Your Enthusiasm

Monday

Sky Atlantic, 10pm

Curb Your Enthusiasm is back after a six year absence. We last saw Larry David in Paris after being driven out of New York by his neighbour (Michael J. Fox) and the mayor. 

Now Larry is back in LA, where he manages to offend Jeff's (Oliver Hardy) barber and land himself in trouble over a new project. 

Eighteen candidates will compete to win a life-changing £250,000 investment for their individual businesses. 

Lord Sugar is back with Baroness Karren Brady, one of the most influential female business leaders in the UK and Claude Littner, successful entrepreneur and businessman with over 50 years experience. They will be closely observing the candidates' every move across the 12 weeks.

This year, the series has attracted applicants from a range of business sectors, including fashion, construction and floristry.

For the first time in the history of the American republic, one of our own is in the Oval Office. His day job may have been running a property empire but, as a successful reality star who still retains an executive producer credit, the 45th President of the United States is unquestionably a TV guy.

That experience gives Donald Trump an “attack is the best form of defence” confidence in his handling of the media. He banned from his campaign those publications that he claimed were reporting on him unfairly.