As the camera pans over the London skyline and the familiar music reaches a tense crescendo, we hear the silky tones of Lord Sugar’s receptionist and know it can only be one thing: the return of Young Apprentice. A spin-off of Sugar’s contest which aims to find the best business minds in Britain, this is the third series of the programme which exclusively showcases the talents of 16 and 17-year-olds. Following several weeks of tasks, tantrums and a hefty dose of teenage hormones, the notoriously picky business tsar will pick one winner to whom he will pledge £25,000 to help them set up their own company.

Twelve hungry hopefuls file into the boardroom to hear about their assignment for the coming week, discovering that they will be sorting through unwanted clothes from which they have to select items to customise and sell on at a profit, in the aptly named ‘Rags to Riches’ challenge. From then on, it is up to the candidates to take the reins, and various grating soundbites of wisdom so far include contestant Maria Doran comparing herself to a firework, and David Odhiambo’s admission that power “just gravitates” towards him.

The next day marked the beginning of the task for the candidates. Budding fashionista Patrick McDowell was hoping to lead the boys’ team Odyssey to victory, and Ashleigh Porter-Exley at the helm of the all-female Platinum. The two groups are split, with three members of each team getting to grips with the less glamorous side of money-making –hunting through one tonne of discarded clothes for the sartorial gem that may save them from Lord Sugar’s death-stare in the boardroom.

Highlights included the Platinum ladies almost breaking tumble-dryer after pouring an industrial quantity of washing powder into it, and one of the team members telling a punter’s girlfriend that it wasn’t a problem if she didn’t like his jacket, because someone else would. This was all accompanied by Nick Hewer’s tell-tale pouts and wry eyebrow raises that communicate a thousand words. The boys were also struggling to shift their stock, which including a creation fashioned out of a wetsuit and vintage kimono. This was declined by a vintage outlet in favour of anything “more saleable,” and the group was later asked by Lord Sugar whether it could have been used as suitable attire for “a cocktail party on the Titanic.”

All too soon, it was time for the final showdown in the boardroom. The girls were declared the task’s winners despite David asserting that males perform better than women in general, “even in laundry, as they are the better sex”. The amazingly named Maximilian Joseph Antony Semesco Grodecki was shown the door, for selling £14 worth of the clothes and for his ‘rubbish’ selling skills.

Banish those mid-term blues, ladies and gentlemen. While the search for the next Lord Sugar-in-the making continues, what we have in store over the next eight weeks promises to be finest-quality, guilty-pleasure television.