Aristotle believed that sleep resulted from warm air rising from the stomach, while Nobel Prize winner, Francis Crick, suggested sleep allowed the brain to 'take out the trash', removing events and information not needed for long-term memory.

Scientists continue to argue over precisely why we need our Z's, but in simple terms, we need sleep to survive and spend a third of our lives under the duvet to prove it.

In the 'Up All Night' programme, science maverick Dr. Mike Leahy will be staying awake for over 60hrs. He'll be subjected to a number of experiments to discover how lack of sleep affects his driving, brain power and sex drive. His buddy, Zeron Gibson, will measure the chemical, physical and mental indicators of Mike's condition, hour by hour, as the grind of his never ending day rolls on and on and on.