Ep 5. Sleepless Cities

As the sun sets over cities around the world, Night on Earth takes viewers on a journey through the bustling urban landscape and into the hidden lives of the nocturnal creatures that call these metropolises home. In episode 5 of season 1, titled "Sleepless Cities," the focus is on the animals that have adapted to survive and thrive in the man-made environments that never sleep.

From New York City's Central Park to the streets of Tokyo and Paris, the episode showcases the incredible resilience of animals in the face of constant human activity. Viewers are taken on a tour of the city at night, watching as nocturnal predators like raccoons and coyotes prowl the streets in search of food. Meanwhile, urban foxes in London's bustling West End are seen darting through the crowds of late-night revelers, unperturbed by the chaos around them.

Along with the more familiar city dwellers, Night on Earth also introduces viewers to some of the lesser-known nocturnal species that make their homes in the urban jungle. In Toronto, for example, the show highlights the city's huge population of cormorants, which have taken to nesting on skyscrapers as a way to escape their natural predators. Meanwhile, in Paris, the camera crew captures the incredible sight of a colony of bats swooping through the city's famous Montmartre district, feasting on the insects that thrive in the warm glow of streetlights.

As always, Night on Earth's stunning visuals are a major draw, with high-tech camera equipment capturing every detail of the nocturnal world. From the glowing red eyes of raccoons caught in the beam of a flashlight to the ethereal glow of bioluminescent fish in Tokyo Bay, the show offers a unique perspective on the creatures that share our cities.

At the same time, however, the show doesn't shy away from the darker side of urban life for animals. In New York City, for example, feral cats are shown struggling to survive in a world that doesn't always have room for them, while in Paris, the program highlights the plight of rats that have become addicted to the poison used by the city's pest control services.

Taken as a whole, Night on Earth's "Sleepless Cities" is a fascinating exploration of the ways in which nature and urban life can coexist, even in the most unlikely of settings. The show's mix of cutting-edge camera technology, stunning visuals, and engaging storytelling make it a must-watch for anyone interested in the natural world and the extraordinary animals that inhabit it.