A series which lifts the pavement and peels back the concrete to reveal how technology has shaped the modern city. How has the most sophisticated machine on earth has been designed to counter disease, stress, congestion and fear?

A glittering new tower will soon be scraping the skies over Paris. Transparent and thin as a pencil, it will challenge the laws of nature. But will it snap in a storm, or collapse like a house of cards? Engineer Tony Fitzpatrick draws on our 4000-year quest to build to the heavens as he struggles to defy wind and gravity.

From top engineer to larger-than-life London Cabbie: follow Robin Das, as he cruises through the streets and centuries exploring the age-old battle between the city and its traffic.

The series even takes us to the humble WC, and the sewers built to cope with it. Once the wonder-cure, the magnificent flushing machine may yet prove dangerous in its convenience.

Metropolis concludes with a look at the still hot topic of surveillance. Our cities are being gripped by fear, the streets increasingly seen as dangerous and insecure. The all-seeing eye of the surveillance camera seems to offer an answer. But are there hidden dangers to the rapid rise of mass surveillance?