The Apprentice (British TV series) series 4
The fourth series of British reality television programme The Apprentice was broadcast in the UK on BBC One, from 26 March to 11 June 2008. Over 20,000 applications were submitted, with the fourth series being the only one to date to feature more than two finalists moving forward beyond the Interviews stage. Alongside the standard twelve episodes, four specials were aired that year – "The Worst Decisions Ever" on 3 April; "Motor Mouths" on 18 April; "The Final Five" on 2 June; and "Why I Fired Them" on 8 June.
Sixteen candidates took part in the fourth series, with Lee McQueen eventually winning. Excluding the specials, the series averaged around 7.29 million viewers during its broadcast.
Series overview
Applications opened in late spring 2007, towards the end of the third series' broadcast. The number of applications topped 20,000, leading to auditions and interviews being conducted regionally across London, Glasgow, Manchester and Bristol during the first two weeks of July. Once the sixteen candidates for the series were finalised, filming took place between September and October 2007. Although no major changes were made to the programme's format, the fourth series saw the introduction of another of Alan Sugar's close business associates, Karren Brady, as a fourth member of the interviewing panel, prior to her future role as Sugar's aide.For the first task, the men named their team Renaissance, while the women named their team Alpha. Series winner, Lee McQueen, went on to initially work for Sugar's company AMSHOLD, and then for AMSCREEN as development director, under the employment of Sugar's son, Simon Sugar. He would eventually leave in 2010 to establish his own recruitment agency.
Performance chart
'''Key:'''Episodes
Ratings
Official episode viewing figures are from BARB.| Episode no. | Airdate | Viewers | BBC One weekly ranking |
| 1 | 26 March 2008 | 6.73 | 8 |
| 2 | 2 April 2008 | 6.73 | 9 |
| 3 | 9 April 2008 | 7.32 | 6 |
| 4 | 16 April 2008 | 7.43 | 5 |
| 5 | 23 April 2008 | 7.85 | 5 |
| 6 | 30 April 2008 | 7.28 | 5 |
| 7 | 7 May 2008 | 7.17 | 5 |
| 8 | 14 May 2008 | 7.11 | 6 |
| 9 | 21 May 2008 | 5.73 | 9 |
| 10 | 28 May 2008 | 6.84 | 6 |
| 11 | 4 June 2008 | 7.94 | 4 |
| 12 | 11 June 2008 | 9.29 | 1 |
Specials
| Episode | Airdate | Viewers | BBC Two/One weekly ranking |
| The Worst Decisions Ever | 3 April 2008 | 2.07 | 15 |
| Motor Mouths | 18 April 2008 | 1.73 | 25 |
| The Final Five | 2 June 2008 | ||
| Why I Fired Them | 8 June 2008 |