24 hours: Down the Market
Mike: It's seven in the morning and I've been up all night. I guess it would be OK if I hadn't started with a hangover, but I feel sick - very sick. I also feel like I ate something that really didn't agree with me in the sushi bar and feel very nauseous. My last trip of the night was to see a couple of junior doctors at Smithfield Market. They were cool, and told me about the kind of shifts they worked and how it could affect their body clock. I drank coffee while they had a 6am pint of Guinness with their dinner/breakfast or whatever you call it. We then filmed a piece to camera in the market where the crew had to walk backwards, through the early morning hustle and bustle, so they were facing me with the camera as I walked towards them. Difficult stuff! Next stop: our flat and more blood tests. My arm is already sore and bruised.

25 hours: Rude awakening
Zeron: Mike crashes into my bedroom at 8am and wakes me from a really good dream that I can't write about here (put it this way, there were foxy ladies). He tells me through bleary eyes what he has been up to all night. I shower and meet him downstairs for breakfast by which time the "day" camera crew have arrived and set up (we had a "day" crew and a "night" crew - only Mike had to stay awake all through this). Mike has been in and out of the toilet a few times with a dodgy stomach. We shave again for the doctor and she takes more of our blood. Our arms are decidedly sore by now and she is taking pity on us - but not much!

30 hours: Fitness
Mike: It's one in the afternoon on day two and I'm feeling more nauseous than I would have thought possible without the aid of alcohol. In a few minutes, I have to go through a PE lesson with our own personal trainer, Jackie Porgeous. I couldn't believe that missing one full night's sleep would make me feel this ill. Perhaps it's a two-day hangover. Perhaps it's because I had trouble with the sushi. I can't believe that it's just sleep deprivation because I go to 'Homelands' each year to party and have driven through many sleepless nights as a support mechanic on classic rallies with only minor sleep-related problems, but to be honest I've always managed to get the odd five minute nap.

Zeron: Jackie arrives ready to go and makes training fun. I really feel for Mike as we workout. The idea is to compare what we did the day before and see if there's any loss in general fitness. From the word go, I had real concerns for my buddy. He was looking very grey so I made sure he drank a lot of water. In the end it was obvious that today's training session was going to come to a premature end.

Our producer never included this section in the show because he wasn't sure if it was lack of sleep or something do to with the food that Mike had eaten the night before so the science wasn't clear.

36 hours: Game Show Rematch
Mike: Tonight looks as if it will be boring. The PE session was OK, but I'm already under par after one night without sleep. Zeron encourages me and helps me through. I felt like keeling over. I face 'clever boy' again and it doesn't make me feel any better.

Zeron: More of the same in the brain alert test. I want to see if Mike has lost some of his sharpness now that he has gone a whole night without sleep. He does well, but I can see some frustration building between him and the kid - who wants to jump around and rub Mike's face in it every time he gets it right and Mike doesn't. I can see tears are about to flow so I declare the second round a dead heat and hustle the kid away from Mike before he explodes.

Mike: All I have to do today is walk about in the rain. As we try to film, people appear from nowhere. A typical example is when we were filming with a taxi office in the background. As soon as the drivers notice us they come out and start sweeping the pavement in the back of our shot. We have to walk away and try another place. I'm getting more tired and can't be bothered with all the hassle. Normally I would have lost my temper but I just don't have the energy.

Zeron: I offer to go out with the runner and buy a curry for our evening meal. Typical London - we get stuck in traffic, but eventually turn up with a fantastic Indian meal. Mike (being Mike) finishes his even though he complains throughout about how hot it is!

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Content last updated: 25/08/2005