Toughest Place to be a...

Last updated

Toughest Place to be a...
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
No. of series4
No. of episodes15
Production
ProducerSimon Davies
Running time60 mins
Original release
Network BBC Two
BBC HD
ReleaseFebruary 13, 2011 (2011-02-13) 
April 21, 2013 (2013-04-21)

Toughest Place To Be A... is a BBC Two television documentary which offered various working or retired professionals in the United Kingdom a different and more challenging working environment in the same profession they worked in. [1] These individuals travel to a foreign country to learn and work under the new environment for ten days. First broadcast in February 2011, a total of fifteen episodes were produced since. In the United States the programme is aired on Al Jazeera America.

Contents

Episodes

Series 1

Episode No.AirdateTitleLocationTotal viewersWeekly channel ranking
113 February 2011Toughest Place to be a Paramedic Guatemala City, Guatemala 2.16m16
220 February 2011Toughest Place to be a Bus Driver Manila, Philippines 2.06m17
327 February 2011Toughest Place to be a Midwife Monrovia, Liberia 1.79m26

Series 2

Episode No.AirdateTitleLocationTotal viewersWeekly channel ranking
129 January 2012Toughest Place to be a Bin Man Jakarta, Indonesia 2.68m4
25 February 2012Toughest Place to be a Fisherman Mania, Sierra Leone 2.02m21
312 February 2012Toughest Place to be a Train Driver Cerro de Pasco, Peru 2.86m4

Series 3

Episode No.AirdateTitleLocationTotal viewersWeekly channel ranking
119 August 2012Toughest Place to be a Miner Mongolia 1.56m18
226 August 2012Toughest Place to be a Ferryman Dhaka, Bangladesh Under 1.39mOutside top 30
32 September 2012Toughest Place to be a Nurse Ciudad Juárez, Mexico 1.64m14

Series 4

Episode No.AirdateTitleLocationTotal viewersWeekly channel ranking
110 March 2013Toughest Place to be a Taxi Driver Mumbai, India 2.02m9
217 March 2013Toughest Place to be a Farmer Kenya 1.38m22
324 March 2013Toughest Place to be a Firefighter Brazil Under 1.22mOutside top 30

The Return

The workers from the first two series return to the countries that challenged them, revisiting the hosts that accommodated them and testing the skills they learned from their past experiences.

Episode No.AirdateTitleLocationTotal viewersWeekly channel ranking
131 March 2013Toughest Place to be a Bus Driver Manila, Philippines 1.19m27
27 April 2013Toughest Place to be a Fisherman Mania, Sierra Leone 1.22m25
321 April 2013Toughest Place to be a Bin Man Jakarta, Indonesia 1.73m12

Response

In the episodes, the plight of the difficult situation faced by the hosts (who housed and gave on-job training to the British professional) in the foreign countries can be noticed. For the case of fishing, the episode's broadcast has led to a supportive response from the UK fishing industry and the setting up of a fundraising charity for fishing communities in Sierra Leone. [2] Joshua West's experience with Rogelio Castro, a jeepney driver whom he stayed with in Manila, led to him starting a charity effort to provide for the education of Castro's grandchildren as well as other impoverished children in the city. [3] [4]

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References

  1. Wollaston, Sam (5 February 2012). "TV review: Toughest Place to Be a … Fisherman; Being Human; The Cricklewood Greats". The Guardian . Retrieved 25 March 2012.
  2. "'Phenomenal' response to fisherman's TV challenge". Cornish Guardian . 7 March 2012. Retrieved 25 March 2012.
  3. "Joshua West's quest to educate Manila's street children - part 2 - danceaid" . Retrieved 6 May 2017.
  4. "BBC Two - Toughest Place to be a..., The Return, Bus Driver, Eat Bulaga". BBC Online . Retrieved 6 May 2017.