Last night BBC One offered up feverish fans of loosely business-related game shows a chance to witness yet another cull of ‘bright’ young things on The Apprentice (9pm).

The Missing drew to a close as viewers across the country prayed to the TV gods in the hope that the finale could actually deliver and finally answer the question on everyone’s lips – what happened to Olly Hughes?

Monday night brought the end to Richard Hammond’s latest solo venture outside of the safety of Top Gear as his dramatic series about weather wrapped up after three exciting instalments.

The past weekend finally brought some relief for right-thinking TV viewers across the country as The X Factor’s (ITV) eleventh series finally rattled to an inconspicuous end.

Wednesday night saw BBC One’s panicked blagging show The Apprentice (9pm) reclaim some of its lost strength after three long weeks of being continuously battered by ITV.

Tuesday night saw BBC One’s highly successful eight-part thriller, The Missing (9pm), lurch towards its no doubt devastating conclusion, with last night’s episode offering viewers a tantalising promise of some actual answers.

The festival of lighter-than-hydrogen assortment of entertainment that makes up The Royal Variety Performance 2014 kicked off at 7:30pm on the commercial broadcaster and aimed to keep viewers gripped.

The past weekend finally brought an end to one of ITV’s longest-running and highly successful reality shows while tantalisingly teasing the end of another – although both suffered at the hand of BBC One’s runaway dancing hit.

Wednesday night saw the hits keep coming for Lord Sugar’s band of merry marketers as the tenth series of The Apprentice (9pm) continued to slog it out with ITV’s runaway jungle hit.

Tuesday night saw punishing thriller, The Missing (BBC One, 9pm), hurtle towards its finale as James Nesbitt’s tortured journey continued.