The Apprentice: How does the show stay fresh after 15 years? bbc.com

Desperate Housewives, Strictly Come Dancing, Lost, Entourage, House and Peppa Pig might not look like they have much in common, but all were launched in the same year – 2004.

It was, safe to say, a significant year for television.

But in addition to the US dramas, TV talent shows and preschool pigs, 2004 also happened to be the year a business show called The Apprentice began on BBC Two.

"Some of this year's [candidates] were five years old when we first started this programme," points out Lord Sugar ahead of the show's 15th series. "Youngsters I speak to every day of the week who stop me in the street love the programme and say they're inspired by it."