Toughest Place to be a...
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.
Toughest Place To Be A... | |
---|---|
Country of origin | United Kingdom |
Original language | English |
No. of series | 4 |
No. of episodes | 15 |
Production | |
Producer | Simon Davies |
Running time | 60 mins |
Release | |
Original network | BBC Two BBC HD |
Picture format | 1080i (HDTV) |
Original release | February 13, 2011 – April 21, 2013 |
Episodes
Series 1
Episode No. | Airdate | Title | Location | Total viewers | Weekly channel ranking |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 13 February 2011 | Toughest Place to be a Paramedic | Guatemala City, Guatemala | 2.16m | 16 |
2 | 20 February 2011 | Toughest Place to be a Bus Driver | Manila, Philippines | 2.06m | 17 |
3 | 27 February 2011 | Toughest Place to be a Midwife | Monrovia, Liberia | 1.79m | 26 |
Series 2
Episode No. | Airdate | Title | Location | Total viewers | Weekly channel ranking |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 29 January 2012 | Toughest Place to be a Bin Man | Jakarta, Indonesia | 2.68m | 4 |
2 | 5 February 2012 | Toughest Place to be a Fisherman | Mania, Sierra Leone | 2.02m | 21 |
3 | 12 February 2012 | Toughest Place to be a Train Driver | Cerro de Pasco, Peru | 2.86m | 4 |
Series 3
Episode No. | Airdate | Title | Location | Total viewers | Weekly channel ranking |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 19 August 2012 | Toughest Place to be a Miner | Mongolia | 1.56m | 18 |
2 | 26 August 2012 | Toughest Place to be a Ferryman | Dhaka, Bangladesh | Under 1.39m | Outside top 30 |
3 | 2 September 2012 | Toughest Place to be a Nurse | Ciudad Juárez, Mexico | 1.64m | 14 |
Series 4
Episode No. | Airdate | Title | Location | Total viewers | Weekly channel ranking |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 10 March 2013 | Toughest Place to be a Taxi Driver | Mumbai, India | 2.02m | 9 |
2 | 17 March 2013 | Toughest Place to be a Farmer | Kenya | 1.38m | 22 |
3 | 24 March 2013 | Toughest Place to be a Firefighter | Brazil | Under 1.22m | Outside top 30 |
The Return
The workers from the first two seasons 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. | Airdate | Title | Location | Total viewers | Weekly channel ranking |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 31 March 2013 | Toughest Place to be a Bus Driver | Manila, Philippines | 1.19m | 27 |
2 | 7 April 2013 | Toughest Place to be a Fisherman | Mania, Sierra Leone | 1.22m | 25 |
3 | 21 April 2013 | Toughest Place to be a Bin Man | Jakarta, Indonesia | 1.73m | 12 |
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]
References
- Wollaston, Sam (5 February 2012). "TV review: Toughest Place to Be a … Fisherman; Being Human; The Cricklewood Greats". The Guardian. Retrieved 25 March 2012.
- "'Phenomenal' response to fisherman's TV challenge". Cornish Guardian. 7 March 2012. Retrieved 25 March 2012.
- "Joshua West's quest to educate Manila's street children - part 2 - danceaid". Retrieved 6 May 2017.
- "BBC Two - Toughest Place to be a..., The Return, Bus Driver, Eat Bulaga". BBC Online. Retrieved 6 May 2017.