My qualm is not that Hewer is leaving. As excellent as Nick was, I am totally fine with him being replaced; he had a great run and I'm sure he'll pop up in the interviews in a similar fashion to Margaret Mountford in series six. My issue is that Claude Littner works best when he's in the minor role of an interviewer. Littner is a fan favourite because he is terrifying and has a hugely confrontational manner, both of which suit the interview process perfectly. Having Claude in a room with an already nervous candidate and letting him rip him apart like a wolf tearing into a dead chicken is so satisfying because the situation is perfectly set up for a man with Claude's approach. This is radically different to the position Claude will be in come series eleven. Like Nick, Claude's duties will consist of following the candidates round on tasks, occasionally talking to camera, giving advice to Lord Sugar and then interjecting every now and then in the boardroom. There are two clear problems with this. Firstly, Claude will not be able to talk to the candidates when they're on task, instead being limited to the occasional piece to camera. This is hugely different to his interview role where his entire role is to confront the candidates on their mistakes. In his new role, he won't be able to do this because it could change the outcome of the task to have big scary Claude Littner come up and yell about how shit the pricing structure for the mediocre cherry and chili ice cream is.
Nick would just raise his eyebrow and wait until the very last moment to say something
Secondly, Claude Littner is a fan favourite and threatens to outshine Lord Sugar himself. As professional as Littner is, the producers will be sure to try to cash in on his reputation as an intimidating businessman. Nick Hewer struck a very natural balance between being outwardly cynical during the tasks and then hanging back in the boardroom, only occasionally interjecting when prompted. Claude might not have a choice and if he is encouraged to be more vocal in the boardroom then it is highly likely that he will take a lot of attention away from Lord Sugar. Part of the reason why the boardroom scenes works is because they reflect a semi-omniscient Lord Sugar; we barely see him for the majority of the episode so when the boardroom tends to focus on him and his reactions, he seems like an omnipotent figure who has all the answers and insight. Claude threatens that.
Finally, I think the biggest problem with having Littner take over Hewer's role is that it ignores the main reason why Littner is so successful. The man is only in one episode per series with less than twenty minutes screen-time and that is critical to his popularity. You can have too much of a good thing and I'm not entirely sure Littner will be able to match the expectations of the fans. It's like giving a child a bowl of vanilla ice cream once a month covered in sprinkles and chocolate sauce with cookie dough pieces and marshmallow and then telling them that they can have the same bowl of ice cream every day but without the extras. That child would get bored pretty fast and it wouldn't take long for them to crave the good old days when they had their perfect bowl of ice cream with the marshmallow and the chocolate sauce.
And the tendency to destroy their egos
I know what some of you must be thinking, that the Claude we see in the interviews isn't necessarily the real Claude. That's true, from what I've seen of him on You're Fired! (2006-Present) Claude is actually a very amicable guy, but that's totally irrelevant. If series eleven begins and Claude is subdued than it won't be nearly as popular as if he were confrontational. The producers of the show aren't stupid, they know why Claude is popular and that's why the chose him. Lord Sugar may have a lot of power when it comes to major show decisions but there's really no way this will end as well as some of the fans seem to think. Either Claude is quieter and fans are disappointed that he isn't the Claude they know from interviews or he'll be confrontational in which case we'll have too much of a good thing and get bored. Littner belongs in the interview stages because that's the format where he works best.
I really like Claude but there are so many better choices for Hewer's replacement. Bordan Tkachuk is recognisable enough to be popular, direct enough to be effective and has none of the potential problems as Claude. Personally, I would like to see one of the old candidates take over, Ricky Martin, a man memorable only for a name and an eerie resemblance to a shark, was one of the interviewers in series ten and knows the process well. Tim Campbell not only has the distinction of being the very first winner but shares Lord Sugar's interest in promoting business and helping young entrepreneurs, having founded the Bright Idea's Trust. I'm not saying that Claude won't be a capable adviser but there's so much that can go wrong and his popular style is only really suitable for the interviews. Regardless, I'll still watch the next series of The Apprentice, who knows, I may be wrong. Besides, it could be worse; at least its not Katie Hopkins.
I am 100% sure she would eat a live baby if it meant even five minutes of air time
Benny4700
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