Menu
Home
People
Places
Arts
History
Plants & Animals
Science
Life & Culture
Technology
Reference.org
Toughest Place to be a...
open-in-new
<h2 id="episodes">Episodes</h2> <h3>Series 1</h3> <table><tbody><tr><th>Episode No.</th><th>Airdate</th><th>Title</th><th>Location</th><th>Total viewers</th><th>Weekly channel ranking</th></tr><tr><td>1</td><td>13 February 2011</td><td>Toughest Place to be a <a href="/facts/Paramedic/crUNVATd">Paramedic</a></td><td><a href="/facts/Guatemala_City/nTSb65wM">Guatemala City</a>, Guatemala</td><td>2.16m</td><td>16</td></tr><tr><td>2</td><td>20 February 2011</td><td>Toughest Place to be a <a href="/facts/Bus_driver/DtNzackJ">Bus Driver</a></td><td><a href="/facts/Manila/1jLySodG">Manila</a>, Philippines</td><td>2.06m</td><td>17</td></tr><tr><td>3</td><td>27 February 2011</td><td>Toughest Place to be a <a href="/facts/Midwifery/vdh9DMEK">Midwife</a></td><td><a href="/facts/Monrovia/XuFRoldL">Monrovia</a>, <a href="/facts/Liberia/U99yfl2k">Liberia</a></td><td>1.79m</td><td>26</td></tr></tbody></table> <h3>Series 2</h3> <table><tbody><tr><th>Episode No.</th><th>Airdate</th><th>Title</th><th>Location</th><th>Total viewers</th><th>Weekly channel ranking</th></tr><tr><td>1</td><td>29 January 2012</td><td>Toughest Place to be a <a href="/facts/Waste_collector/Xh9fkG3s">Bin Man</a></td><td><a href="/facts/Jakarta/HwQk9xHT">Jakarta</a>, Indonesia</td><td>2.68m</td><td>4</td></tr><tr><td>2</td><td>5 February 2012</td><td>Toughest Place to be a <a href="/facts/Fisherman/x3dl630X">Fisherman</a></td><td>Mania, <a href="/facts/Sierra_Leone/gWP9YL0v">Sierra Leone</a></td><td>2.02m</td><td>21</td></tr><tr><td>3</td><td>12 February 2012</td><td>Toughest Place to be a <a href="/facts/Railroad_engineer/P0IjXLTu">Train Driver</a></td><td><a href="/facts/Cerro_de_Pasco/Repzx7fB">Cerro de Pasco</a>, Peru</td><td>2.86m</td><td>4</td></tr></tbody></table> <h3>Series 3</h3> <table><tbody><tr><th>Episode No.</th><th>Airdate</th><th>Title</th><th>Location</th><th>Total viewers</th><th>Weekly channel ranking</th></tr><tr><td>1</td><td>19 August 2012</td><td>Toughest Place to be a <a href="/facts/Miner/ewaqBgr0">Miner</a></td><td><a href="/facts/Mongolia/ogQzUcQb">Mongolia</a></td><td>1.56m</td><td>18</td></tr><tr><td>2</td><td>26 August 2012</td><td>Toughest Place to be a <a href="/facts/Ferryman/5ysqHULA">Ferryman</a></td><td><a href="/facts/Dhaka/8IYAkBh9">Dhaka</a>, Bangladesh</td><td>Under 1.39m</td><td>Outside top 30</td></tr><tr><td>3</td><td>2 September 2012</td><td>Toughest Place to be a <a href="/facts/Nursing/xbmA4GNC">Nurse</a></td><td><a href="/facts/Ciudad_Ju%25C3%25A1rez/HofCcQYd">Ciudad Juárez</a>, Mexico</td><td>1.64m</td><td>14</td></tr></tbody></table> <h3>Series 4</h3> <table><tbody><tr><th>Episode No.</th><th>Airdate</th><th>Title</th><th>Location</th><th>Total viewers</th><th>Weekly channel ranking</th></tr><tr><td>1</td><td>10 March 2013</td><td>Toughest Place to be a <a href="/facts/Taxicab/BfFU6MIY">Taxi Driver</a></td><td><a href="/facts/Mumbai/BdoEc10R">Mumbai</a>, India</td><td>2.02m</td><td>9</td></tr><tr><td>2</td><td>17 March 2013</td><td>Toughest Place to be a <a href="/facts/Farmer/Jv8f2VwP">Farmer</a></td><td>Kenya</td><td>1.38m</td><td>22</td></tr><tr><td>3</td><td>24 March 2013</td><td>Toughest Place to be a <a href="/facts/Firefighter/483TlnYB">Firefighter</a></td><td>Brazil</td><td>Under 1.22m</td><td>Outside top 30</td></tr></tbody></table> <h3>The Return</h3> <p>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. </p> <table><tbody><tr><th>Episode No.</th><th>Airdate</th><th>Title</th><th>Location</th><th>Total viewers</th><th>Weekly channel ranking</th></tr><tr><td>1</td><td>31 March 2013</td><td>Toughest Place to be a Bus Driver</td><td><a href="/facts/Manila/1jLySodG">Manila</a>, Philippines</td><td>1.19m</td><td>27</td></tr><tr><td>2</td><td>7 April 2013</td><td>Toughest Place to be a Fisherman</td><td>Mania, <a href="/facts/Sierra_Leone/gWP9YL0v">Sierra Leone</a></td><td>1.22m</td><td>25</td></tr><tr><td>3</td><td>21 April 2013</td><td>Toughest Place to be a Bin Man</td><td><a href="/facts/Jakarta/HwQk9xHT">Jakarta</a>, Indonesia</td><td>1.73m</td><td>12</td></tr></tbody></table> <h2 id="response">Response</h2> <p>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.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:2" href="#fn:2"><sup>2</sup></a> 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.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:3" href="#fn:3"><sup>3</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:4" href="#fn:4"><sup>4</sup></a> </p> <h2 id="external-links">External links</h2> <ul><li><a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01bmtfq"><i>Toughest Place to be a...</i></a> at <a href="/facts/BBC_Online/BVorSKrg">BBC Online</a> </li></ul> <h2 id="references">References</h2> <ol> <li id="fn:1"><p>Wollaston, Sam (5 February 2012). "TV review: Toughest Place to Be a … Fisherman; Being Human; The Cricklewood Greats". The Guardian. Retrieved 25 March 2012. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2012/feb/05/toughest-place-be-fisherman-review" target="_blank">https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2012/feb/05/toughest-place-be-fisherman-review</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:2"><p>"'Phenomenal' response to fisherman's TV challenge". Cornish Guardian. 7 March 2012. Retrieved 25 March 2012. <a href="http://www.thisiscornwall.co.uk/Phenomenal-response-fisherman-s-TV-challenge/story-15421318-detail/story.html" target="_blank">http://www.thisiscornwall.co.uk/Phenomenal-response-fisherman-s-TV-challenge/story-15421318-detail/story.html</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:3"><p>"Joshua West's quest to educate Manila's street children – part 2 – danceaid". Retrieved 6 May 2017. <a href="http://danceaid.org/joshuawest-2/" target="_blank">http://danceaid.org/joshuawest-2/</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:4"><p>"BBC Two – Toughest Place to be a..., The Return, Bus Driver, Eat Bulaga". BBC Online. Retrieved 6 May 2017. <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0170dzf" target="_blank">https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0170dzf</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> </ol>