The Worst Jobs in History

Being a fan of historical fiction, and a frequent patron of Ren Faires, I always had a deep respect for the historical "daily grind", but never has such programming really brought that to life like The Worst Jobs in History. Tony interviews experts and gets his hands dirty to show you what people used to have to go through to do simple tasks that are taken for granted today, in all sorts of historical and locational settings. He puts a real-world human touch on a subject that too often just gets boiled down to reciting boring facts. Entertaining, informative, and funny as all get out, this show should be a staple of every history class! Please, please, PLEASE release this to DVD or iTunes in the US! I have a few teachers in my family who I know would adore this program!

I am a history teacher and have long felt that most history books and shows do a lot to kill any interest in history in kids. After all, too often they are packed full of irrelevant details and are devoid of interesting tidbits and excitement. It's as if there's a consensus that history MUST be boring and be taken like medicine! It's in light of this that I say that "The Worst Jobs in History" series is a wonderful breath of fresh air. In this lovely short series, Tony Robinson ("Baldrick" from the "Black Adder" TV series) takes us on an unforgettable journey through the ages as he explores the utterly disgusting and dangerous jobs done by the common people. In fact, as history often ignores these common folk, the series also does a great job of making history about people--not just kings and presidents.

I've shown a couple episodes to teens and all of them loved it and paid complete attention throughout. When the shows finished, many asked if I would show them more! That's the sort of thing kids need--to feel a hunger for history and disgusting history is just as valid and important as any other type of history.

Wonderfully made and fascinating throughout. While not always great to watch on a full stomach, the show can't be beat when it comes to making history interesting to kids.

I just caught the middle of "Worse Jobs in Maritime History," this morning and instantly knew that voice! Then I really knew the face. (I own the DVD sets of "Blackadder" (starring Robinson, Rowan Atkinson, and Hugh Laurie) Robinson is serious and sometimes humorous in presenting the program that makes British History interesting. He explains and participates in doing these actual jobs and it is fascinating. In "Maritime," they also show photos of women gutting fish. Of course people still do that today. But the most overlooked and dangerous jobs are those of the "stokers" in the ships boilers and the ones of people who actually built the lighthouses.

In the USA we have the program "Dirty Jobs," so we can certainly appreciate what people do to earn a living. It's also sobering to those of us who have lousy, low-paying jobs but don't also have to soil our hands or risk our lives to do them.

Clever, fun, informative, and frequently disgusting, The Worst Jobs in History is a terrific series of documentaries that looks at history not thru the eyes of aristocrats and generals, but thru the eyes of the lowest of the low on the social ladder. For those who remember him fondly from Blackadder, Tony Robinson is the perfect presenter for the downtrodden, and tries everything himself, smelling, touching, and even tasting the worst jobs since the Norman invasion. Each episode is confined to a specific time period, with each job getting successively worse. Often humorous but occasionally quite poignant, the show allows you to really feel for the people who lived in those times and suffered the squalor and indignity of scraping a living from medieval and early modern life.

One of the finer documentaries of recent years. Robinson's chummy, honest style of presenting makes the history real and accessible. I've seen three episodes, and hope there are more out there. There's an element of "Fear Factor" (Tony gags as he trods on wool cloth in a vat of stale human urine), and also some really revealing emotional moments, as in the "egg-gathering", and the "headsman".

Most "history-rich" documentaries tend to leave a lot of viewers cold, being all facts, dates, and places. This series humanizes the history, and affords us an insight into the day-to-day struggle of common folks, such as ourselves.

No matter how bad your job may be, I think it's easy to say that it doesn't compare to "The Worst Jobs in History".