Fortunately, it all turned out to be a pleasant surprise. So before you could say Kiss Me Kwick, the teams settled down to work out who should project manage. Howard and Debra both wanted to lead Empire, and Debra emerged from that tussle victorious. On Ignite, Yasmina took the lead, and off everyone went. I must admit, I thought Empire’s idea of rebranding Margate to appeal to the gay market was quite a good one, whatever Nick’s eyebrows had to say on the matter. Howard stepped up convincingly for arguably the first time in the series, and the team duly got down to work. Ignite, meanwhile, went with the more predictable family market, and were thuddingly dull to watch as a result. We then followed Empire on the research trail, which seemed to be edited in a way that was quite disingenuous to Mona. Whether she was in a gay club or awkwardly questioning the locals of Margate, she’d made clear her displeasure with the concept, and little evidence that had evaporated made the final broadcast. Even with her monologue about people of Kent and how they’d react, I did have a little sympathy for how she came across. Ignite, by comparison, was quite dull. They were busy taking some fairly tired shots of the town, that looked dull as dishwater, and eventually converting them into text-heavy visuals that at least had a constant message to them. I’m not sure the town of Margate will be particularly appreciative though, either for the visuals produced or the hour of prime time television it had devoted to it. I like Margate, but it looked drearier than a night talking politics with the dullest of MPs. All claimed on expenses, of course. The teams pitched their work to both marketing and tourism experts, and a panel of Margate’s finest (including Superman, who appeared to be sitting in the back), and it was the latter group who proved particularly adept at cutting through the bull and saying what they thought. Sadly, thanks to shoddy execution, it was Empire’s riskier approach that failed, and Ignite’s safe as house non-existent re-brand that won. Sralan actually nailed this: Empire had a bold concept, and then was shy about backing it up. You might even call it a fatal error… Apparently, the treat for the winners this week involved driving some cars. I can’t tell you more about it for two reasons. Firstly, I don’t care. And secondly, you can’t account for the call of nature. Sorry about that. The boardroom was fairly uninteresting by comparison with the events preceding it, and also compared to earlier weeks. As soon as Sralan gave his speech about how he was having to think about who he might be taking on, he may as well have reached for a lever to pull a trap door from underneath Mona. She’d been living on borrowed time for weeks, it seemed, and as it was, she was fired. Debra meanwhile – who also managed to squeeze in this week’s argument with Lorraine earlier in the show – survived for now. Same too for James, who Sralan gives the impression is living on borrowed time, but you can’t help but think that the old growler quite likes him really. Next week? It’s off to the baby show, which if it mirrors the wedding show episode of last year, will be worth watching. Let’s hope too it’s as much of a pleasant surprise, and comedy treat, as this week’s. Last week’s review is here.
