Robot Wars is a British robot combat television series created by Tom Gutteridge and Stephen Carsey which aired from 1998 to 2004 and from 2016 to 2018. The series involves teams of amateur and professional roboteers operating remote-controlled robots to fight against each other in an arena, which features hazards and the heavier "House Robots" which are hostile to all combatants. The first two series also included assault and trial courses.
The original run of the show consisted of six series broadcast on BBC Two from 20 February 1998 to 4 October 2002 (though the fifth and sixth series originally aired on BBC Choice), followed by a seventh series broadcast on Channel 5 from 2 November 2003 to 7 March 2004. A celebrity special aired on BBC One in 2000, and the spin-off Robot Wars Extreme originally aired on BBC Choice for two series in 2001 and 2003, before also airing on BBC Two.
Jeremy Clarkson presented the first series, before being replaced by Craig Charles for the rest of the original run, with co-hosting duties taken by Philippa Forrester (1998–2000, 2002–2003), Julia Reed (2000–2001) and Jayne Middlemiss (2003–2004). The revival aired three series and five specials on BBC Two from 11 July 2016 to 7 January 2018, presented by Dara Ó Briain and Angela Scanlon. The announcer for the entirety of the series' run was Jonathan Pearce.
Contents
History
US Robot Wars events
Robot Wars was the brainchild of Marc Thorpe, a designer working for the LucasToys division of Lucasfilm. In 1992, Thorpe had the initial idea for robot combat sport after unsuccessfully attempting to create a radio-controlled vacuum cleaner. In 1994, Marc Thorpe created Robot Wars and held the first competition at the Fort Mason Center in San Francisco. Approximately one month prior to the event, Thorpe formed a partnership with New York-based record company Sm:)e Communications, later Profile Records, who provided additional funding.
Original television series
Gutteridge and one of his producers Steve Carsey created a television format based on the Robot Wars concept. They produced a live event opposite BBC Television Centre in Wood Lane, Shepherd's Bush, London and hired Derek Foxwell to build 3 combat robots, 2 of which were named The Mouse and Grunt who would eventually take part in the first UK series of Robot Wars, to take on three American robots, Thor, La Machine and The Master, all of which were veterans of the original American competition. The Controller of BBC Two, Michael Jackson, attended the event, which was not filmed and he promised to commission a series. However, it was not until 1998 that a subsequent Controller of BBC Two, Mark Thompson, fulfilled Jackson's promise and actually commissioned six episodes. Gutteridge and Carsey were producers and Foxwell was the technical supervisor and senior technical consultant. He drafted the rules and regulations and was in charge of the pit area and the technical team, which scrutinised the robots, got them on and off stage and helped the contestants prepare and repair their robots. Mat Irvine, initially a member of the technical team, served as a member of the judging panel in 2002 and 2003.
The three person judging panel consisted of Noel Sharkey (head judge on every series: 1998–2004, 2016–18), Eric Dickinson (1998), Adam Harper (1998–99), Martin Smith (1999–2004), Myra Wilson (2000–01), Mat Irvine (2001–04), Sethu Vijayakumar (2016–18) and Lucy Rogers (2016–18).
On the first day, I was in the dressing room and looking in the mirror and looking down at the arena. And they were pulling the robots into the arena on an invisible twine because nothing was working. And I was thinking: "Oh my God, what have I done with my career?" And you know, within the blink of an eye, it was the most watched show on BBC2.
Profile sought no input or consent from Thorpe before doing this, which aggravated the already troubled relationship between Thorpe and Profile Records and indirectly spurred legal disagreements surrounding the ownership of the Robot Wars concept. The legal proceedings surrounding these would last until 6 February 2002. Mentorn used Thorpe as a Consultant on the series, however and the initial series of Robot Wars in the UK was broadcast over six weeks in February and March 1998. It was an immediate hit, with more than two million viewers and a further 18 episodes were commissioned by the BBC that year. 155 episodes were produced in total and the show was seen in 26 countries. Two series were produced in the US for The National Network (now Paramount Network) and a version was also shown on Nickelodeon. TechTV (and later G4techTV/G4) in the US aired the UK series proper. Series were also produced in many European countries. Although the series had various directors and producers, all were produced in the UK by Mentorn and executive produced by Tom Gutteridge and Steve Carsey. The initial series were staged in various film studios around London but the stage and pit area became too large to fit into any of the conventional studios, so filming was later moved to an aircraft hangar at RAF Newton.
Revival
On 13 January 2016, the BBC confirmed that it would be rebooting the show for a six-part series. The revived series was hosted by Dara Ó Briain and Angela Scanlon with Jonathan Pearce returning as commentator. The first episode was broadcast on 24 July at 8pm, the same slot as Top Gear. Some robots from the original series returned, including Behemoth and Storm II, as well as four of the original House Robots, which were upgraded to be heavier, faster, better armed and with new looks. The 2016 series was filmed in a warehouse at Westway Park in Renfrew, Scotland.
The first episode received about two million viewers and was the top trending topic on Twitter with over 20,000 tweets.
A second rebooted series was commissioned with a first celebrity special in 16 years, in which celebrities, such as Olympians Kadeena Cox and Alistair Brownlee and Jonny Brownlee, TV presenters Suzi Perry, Neil Oliver and Maggie Aderin-Pocock, singer Jordan Stevens and radio presenters Scott Mills and Robbie Savage had bespoke robots designed for them by eight major roboteers, who mentored them during the specials.
During its original airing, the first rebooted series was sometimes referred to as "Series 1", presenting itself as a completely new show. Starting in 2017, however, the BBC began referring to it as Series 8, with the following second series appropriately dubbed Series 9, acknowledging itself as a continuation of the original show. Following the 10th series, it was revealed that the BBC had decided not to renew the show for an 11th, axing Robot Wars for the second time. The cancellation was met with backlash from fans.
Battle rules
A robot could lose a match in several ways during the knockout format of the show:
Immobilisation: A robot that is unable to move is counted out. In the original series 30 seconds of immobility were necessary, in later series this was reduced to 10 seconds.
Pit: One of the arena hazards is the pit of oblivion, a large square hole in the arena. A robot that falls or is pushed into this is eliminated.
Removal from arena: If a robot is ejected from the arena – typically by the flipper or vertical flywheel of an opponent, it is eliminated. In the original series the perimeter of the arena was a short barrier, in later series the wall was higher, making this type of elimination harder. In the rebooted series, only certain areas of the arena were not fully walled off. This meant that removal from the arena was only practical in certain areas.
If none of the above conditions were satisfied, a panel of three judges (listed below) scored the competitors on style, control, damage and aggression.
The judges' decisions are based on the following categories:
Aggression: The extent to which the robot was on the 'front foot' against the opposing robot as opposed to staying out of trouble.
Damage: The amount of damage inflicted on the opposing robot.
Control: The ability of the driver to push opposing robots, avoiding the arena hazards and if they're attacking how they're meant to.
Style (original series only): The extent to which the robot demonstrated its abilities such as self-righting. For the revived series, the style category was omitted.
Format
Extreme
There were also two series made for the UK, Robot Wars Extreme, which did not focus on a single championship.
Bold text indicates events that debuted ahead of the actual debut series.
Bold Italic text indicates events that made separate debuts ahead of the added event of the second series.
Presenters
The first series of Robot Wars was presented by Jeremy Clarkson and co-hosted by Philippa Forrester. In keeping with his edgy persona established on Top Gear, Clarkson frequently made tongue-in-cheek jokes about competitors and their robots, such as remarking that a contestant robot called "Skarab" looked like "cheese on toast".
Clarkson left Robot Wars after the first series and was replaced with Craig Charles. Charles, well known as playing the character Dave Lister in the science fiction-themed sitcom Red Dwarf, was seen as taking the programme and its contestants more seriously than Clarkson and was more enthusiastic while presenting it. He was also often known as the "Master of Mayhem" when introduced at the start of episodes from Extreme 1 onwards. Charles would close each episode with a four line poem ending with the words "Robot Wars". Charles presented Robot Wars until it ceased production in 2004.
"My son, Jack, was a fan of the first series and said I should get involved. So I made a few phone calls and the rest is history."
In comparison to Charles' background in science fiction, Philippa Forrester was best known as co-host of the science and technology programme Tomorrow's World. Her role on Robot Wars was as the pit reporter who would speak to contestants about their robots before and after battles. Forrester was pit reporter for six of the show's nine series; Julia Reed took the role for Series 4 and Extreme 1 since Forrester was unable to participate in the programme due to pregnancy, but Forrester returned for Series 5, Series 6 and Extreme 2. When the programme moved to Channel 5 for the seventh series, Forrester did not return for unknown reasons, so Jayne Middlemiss took over the pit reporter duties.
Jonathan Pearce was the show's commentator throughout its entire run, becoming one of only two people (the other being judge Noel Sharkey) to appear in every episode of the programme; he commentated in the same loud and enthusiastic manner as his football commentaries. The programme was well known for phrases such as "Roboteers, stand by", "3. 2. 1. Activate" and "Cease!". These phrases were announced by the director, Stuart McDonald and became a recognisable part of the series for the entire duration of its run.
House Robots
Throughout the series, House Robots acted as obstacles to competing robots in battles and challenges. House Robots were permitted to attack robots that were in the Corner Patrol Zones at the corners of the arena or upon the submission of a competing robot. The House Robots were an intrinsic part of the programme's success and merchandising of these robots was highly successful. Furthermore, the House Robots were not subject to the 100 kg (220 lb) weight limit or weapon rules that contestant robots had to adhere to, the most notable example of this was Sergeant Bash's flamethrower.
From the Fourth Wars, a non-competitive "Refbot" was present during fights. This robot conveyed officiating signals (such as counting out immobile competitors) on the arena, gave occasional nudges to help battles along and could deploy a fire extinguisher where necessary.
For Series 8, new versions of Matilda, Shunt, Dead Metal and Sir Killalot were constructed. They are considerably heavier with improved weaponry. All the house robots are over 300 kg (661 lb) in weight and Sir Killalot now weighs 741 kg (1,634 lb). Visually, all four look similar to their predecessors, but with significant differences: Dead Metal's head has been enlarged with glowing eyes, Matilda's back-mounted fins have been replaced with smaller crocodilian scales, spikes appear on her frill, her eyes are now red and her whole head section now flips up; Shunt has enlarged wheel protectors and metal chimneys replacing the smokestack; and Sir Killalot's armour and helmet has been entirely redesigned. This was said to be to show the actual shape of Sir Killalot's head, rather than the helmet he is wearing. The other house robots did not return for this series.
Bold text indicates house robots that returned for the new series.
Arena and hazards
Arenas
There were numerous arena incarnations used during the original run of Robot Wars on the BBC. These arenas were also used by international versions such as Robot Wars: Extreme Warriors in the United States. The arena was approximately 32 by 48 feet (9.8 by 14.6 m). For Series 1 to 3 the arena was not enclosed as such, as the audience were raised above the arena. The increasing sophistication of weaponry from contestant robots – most notably demonstrated by Hypno-Disc in Series 3 – as well as arena hazards prompted producers to enclose the arena entirely in a perspex box 20 feet (6.1 m) high from Series 4 onwards, to protect the audience and production team from debris.
In early 2004, the Robot Wars arena was purchased from the television production firm Mentorn by a company called Robot Arenas Ltd., based in the UK, an organization set up by a past competitor in Robot Wars to continue the sport of robot combat in the UK. The arena – valued originally at £11,000 – was sold for scrap in 2005 for £250 by the new owners of the former RAF Newton air base, where the arena was housed. A suit filed against RAF Newton by Robot Arenas Ltd. found that RAF Newton had acted reasonably in the matter and owed no compensation to Robot Arenas Ltd.
In 2016, a new arena was constructed in a warehouse in Renfrew, on the outskirts of Glasgow, for use in the rebooted series. This arena is 15 metres (49 ft) square, with a 6 mm (0.24 in) steel floor and higher bulletproof walls, making it harder for robots to be thrown out of the arena.
Hazards
Throughout Robot Wars' run, arena booby-traps were introduced and amended. Generally, traps which proved ineffective were omitted in later series, however some traps proved to be a success (such as the Pit of Oblivion, Floor Flipper and the Drop Zone) and were retained. The assorted traps in the arena that changed from one series the next included:
Arena Sidebars – The First Wars Only – These were parts of the arena side fence that were on the floor. These trapped robots and potentially immobilised them if they could not drive off.
The Patrol Zone (commonly known as PZs) – The First Wars only – Four large squares in the corners of the arena marked with striped tape, each occupied by one House Robot and a booby-trap. Once a competitor robot entered one of these zones, it was open to attack by the House Robot within. The Patrol Zones were much like the CPZ's that appeared in later series but were much larger.
Floor grilles – The First Wars Only – Grille floor panels that, like the arena sidebars mentioned above, were designed to trap robots and not allow them to drive off. Proved much more effective than the sidebars. (similar to the flame pit introduced in the second wars)
Floor spikes – The First Wars to The Third Wars and Series 8 onwards – These were pneumatic spikes located in several positions on the arena floor that came up whenever a robot drove over them. They trapped robots and on occasion flipped them. They were removed for Series 4 after causing many upsets during The Third Wars, where robots currently winning battles would be overturned and then lose. This most notably happened during Heat B when Behemoth was flipped, could not self-right and its opponent Pitbull won by default. For Series 8, a group of five large spikes form one of the four main traps of the arena. They are powerful and large enough to lift and trap robots for a brief moment (as happened to Bonk in the opening episode), but are not as fast as their predecessors. In theory, this will avoid the sort of upsets seen in Series 3. One spike 'hole' is capable of emitting sparks.
The Perimeter Patrol Zones (commonly known as PPZs) – The Second Wars only – A narrow band around the perimeter of the arena that replaced the Patrol Zones. A competitor robot that entered this area was open to attack by any or all of the House Robots stationed there.
Competitors and results
Note: After THE BASH was found to be irreparable in the World Series after its first and only battle, it was directly replaced by Tough As Nails.
Merchandise
Toys (from Logistix Kids & Hexbug)
Pullback and Friction toys were made of all the House Robots, with the exception of Cassius Chrome as the toys from Logistix Kids had stopped production when it was introduced for The Seventh Wars and the toys would have resumed production by Series 8, 9 or 10, but this did not happen until Hexbug took over and did so rather late in 2018 after Series 10 ended. There were also pullback and ripcord toys of the Series 3, 4, 5, 6, Extreme 1 and Extreme 2 Competitor Robots, with the exception of Apollo, Behemoth, Carbide, Eruption, Kronic the Wedgehog, Mute, Road Block, Storm 2 and Typhoon 2 as Hexbug took over from Logistix Kids which are Chaos 2, Dantomkia, Firestorm, Hypno-Disc, Panic Attack, Pussycat, Razer, Stinger, Tornado, Wheely Big Cheese and X-Terminator 2. Each came with an accessory.
There were remote controlled versions of Shunt, Matilda, Sir Killalot and Growler. There were also smaller remote control battlers, which had "immobilisation spots" on the rear of the toy. Sgt. Bash and the competitor robot Tornado were the only two made. These were smaller than the other remote control robots mentioned above.
There were customisable kit toys of the House Robot Matilda and competitors Hypno-Disc and Panic Attack. A Sergeant Bash pitstop kit was prototyped but never released.
Minibots were a series of small die-cast replica robots. The range included all of the Series 3, 4, 5 and Extreme 1 House Robots along with competitor robots Chaos 2, Dominator 2, Firestorm, Gemini, Hypno-Disc, Mega Morg, Panic Attack, Plunderbird 5, Pussycat, Razer, Suicidal Tendencies, Tornado, Wheely Big Cheese, Wild Thing and X-Terminator 2. They had an interactive replica arena and two additional playsets.
Home media
Several VHS videos were released of the show. These included "The First Great War" a look at the making of Series 1, "The First World Championship" which was released exclusively on video and the "Ultimate Warrior Collection" featuring exclusive access to the teams of Chaos 2, Hypno-Disc and Razer, along with footage of their battles. Along the same lines an "Ultimate Archive Collection" was released showing exclusive footage of the House Robots and their operators along with some of their greatest battles and most embarrassing moments.
The Ultimate Warrior Collection and Ultimate Archive Collection were also released on DVD. The footage and content remained the same as the VHS releases. Series 8 was released on DVD and Blu-ray on 29 August 2016, making it the first full series of Robot Wars to be released on home media. It was later released digitally. The Complete Compendium 2017 contained Series 9 and 10, along with the "Battle of the Stars" specials, were released on 11 December 2017 as a 5-disc DVD box set.
Video games
Robot Wars: Metal Mayhem is the first game based on the show, released on Game Boy Color in 2000. It was followed in 2001 by Robot Wars: Arenas of Destruction on PlayStation 2 and Windows and Robot Wars: Advanced Destruction on Game Boy Advance. After the first three titles sold over 250,000 copies, a fourth and final game, released on Game Boy Advance, Windows, and Xbox in 2002 was called Robot Wars: Extreme Destruction.
Other
A large array of other merchandise was produced due to the success of the show. Items available included mugs, glasses, mobile phone covers, toiletries, stationery, clocks, watches, bedding, curtains and clothing. The show even produced an unsuccessful single, which peaked at number 51 in the UK singles charts in December 2000, called "Sir Killalot Vs. Robo Babe – Robot Wars (Android Love)". A custom made game officially licensed under Robot Wars LLC was started on in October 2013, using the Robot Arena 2 video game as the base engine. It featured many robots from the TV series as well as robots competing in the newer live events. It also included the original Robot Wars arena and various live arenas. It was released to the public in September 2015 and an updated version which included more robots was released in February 2016. A smaller update was released in January 2017, adding two new robots. Another update came in August 2017 which added the new Robot Wars arena from the current series and another new arena as well as some unreleased robots from the beta and robots that were due to be released in a cancelled expansion. It is only available for Microsoft Windows.
Transmissions
All episodes were announced by Jonathan Pearce.
Extreme series
All Extreme episodes premiered on BBC Choice.