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. 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.

Episodes

Series 1

Episode No.AirdateTitleLocationTotal viewersWeekly channel ranking
113 February 2011Toughest Place to be a ParamedicGuatemala City, Guatemala2.16m16
220 February 2011Toughest Place to be a Bus DriverManila, Philippines2.06m17
327 February 2011Toughest Place to be a MidwifeMonrovia, Liberia1.79m26

Series 2

Episode No.AirdateTitleLocationTotal viewersWeekly channel ranking
129 January 2012Toughest Place to be a Bin ManJakarta, Indonesia2.68m4
25 February 2012Toughest Place to be a FishermanMania, Sierra Leone2.02m21
312 February 2012Toughest Place to be a Train DriverCerro de Pasco, Peru2.86m4

Series 3

Episode No.AirdateTitleLocationTotal viewersWeekly channel ranking
119 August 2012Toughest Place to be a MinerMongolia1.56m18
226 August 2012Toughest Place to be a FerrymanDhaka, BangladeshUnder 1.39mOutside top 30
32 September 2012Toughest Place to be a NurseCiudad Juárez, Mexico1.64m14

Series 4

Episode No.AirdateTitleLocationTotal viewersWeekly channel ranking
110 March 2013Toughest Place to be a Taxi DriverMumbai, India2.02m9
217 March 2013Toughest Place to be a FarmerKenya1.38m22
324 March 2013Toughest Place to be a FirefighterBrazilUnder 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 DriverManila, Philippines1.19m27
27 April 2013Toughest Place to be a FishermanMania, Sierra Leone1.22m25
321 April 2013Toughest Place to be a Bin ManJakarta, Indonesia1.73m12

Response

In the episodes, the plight of the difficult situation faced by the hosts 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. 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.