James
These series somehow resemble the marvellous "Who do you think you are?" in using a simple idea to explain a very great deal. Just as "Who do...?" was able to cover much of the recent history of the UK (and hence the world) on the basis of the family trees of individual people, so "Toughest Place" does much to explain (or at least present in chilling detail) the world we live in today, by the simple expedient of getting an experienced practitioner of a given job from the UK to do the equivalent job in a Thi..., er..., developing country (by the end of most episodes, the viewer may feel inclined to return to the former term, rather than its more politically correct successor).Mainly men, only occasionally women, the people who do the given jobs - many in the London area - invariably think of themselves as tough, no-nonsense, well-organised individuals who have little space for sentiment as they work hard to do a given job as well as they can.And then they get transported into one of the megacities out there - in Indonesia, Bangladesh, India, Mexico or wherever, and in each case the reaction is more or less the same. The emotions so readily on display then are all the more poignant, given that our heroes come in several different colours, and are from several different backgrounds. Yet, touchingly, all are rapidly convinced as to how British, and how well-off, they are, once they confront the realities in which most of our planet's citizens still live! And since the people they learn a new version of their trade from are in some sense the success stories in the countries travelled to, given that they have a steadyish job and some kind of tiny "prospects" for that reason, the message is delivered all the more strongly. It's educational and gripping TV that should not - must not - be missed.
