Pussycat (robot)
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Robot Wars is a British robot combat television series that aired from 1998 to 2004 and was revived from 2016 to 2018. The show features teams controlling remote-operated robots in battles within an arena filled with hazards and powerful "House Robots." The original run aired on BBC Two, later moving to Channel 5, with spin-offs like Robot Wars Extreme. Hosts included Jeremy Clarkson, Craig Charles, Dara Ó Briain, and Angela Scanlon, with Jonathan Pearce as the announcer throughout. At its peak, Robot Wars attracted six million UK viewers and became a global success, airing in 45 countries. It also inspired live events and a successful toy range. Its merchandising was commercially successful, being one of the best-selling toy ranges of 2002. The show also inspired live events, with The Fighting Robot Association founded in 2003 and Roaming Robots acquiring the brand rights in 2013. Live shows continued under the name Extreme Robots from 2017 onward.


History


US Robot Wars events

''Robot Wars'' was the brainchild of
Marc Thorpe Marc Thorpe (9 November 1946 – 24 November 2023) was an American artist and designer known for creating the ''Robot Wars''. Early life and education Born in San Francisco, Thorpe studied at California State University, Hayward, and the Univers ...
, a designer working for the LucasToys division of
Lucasfilm Lucasfilm Ltd. LLC is an American film and television production company founded by filmmaker George Lucas in December 10, 1971 in San Rafael, California, and later moved to San Francisco in 2005. It is best known for creating and producing th ...
. 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 Fort Mason, in San Francisco, California is a former United States Army post located in the northern Marina District, San Francisco, California, Marina District, alongside San Francisco Bay. Fort Mason served as an Army post for more than 100 ye ...
in
San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...
. Approximately one month prior to the event, Thorpe formed a partnership with New York-based record company Sm:)e Communications, later
Profile Records Profile Records was one of the earliest hip hop labels. As well as hip-hop they released disco, dance, and electro records. History In 1980, Cory Robbins, who was 23 at the time and had worked briefly for MCA, wanted to start a record label ...
, 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 Television Centre (TVC), formerly known as BBC Television Centre, is a building complex in White City, London, White City, West London, which was the headquarters of BBC Television from 1960 to 2013, when BBC Television moved to Broadcasting H ...
in
Wood Lane Wood Lane ( A219; formerly A40) is a street in London. It runs north from Shepherd's Bush, under the Westway (A40) past Wormwood Scrubs where it meets Scrubs Lane. The road is wholly in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham ( W12 posta ...
,
Shepherd's Bush Shepherd's Bush is a suburb of West London, England, within the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham west of Charing Cross, and identified as a major metropolitan centre in the London Plan. Although primarily residential in character, its ...
, 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 Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Michael Jackson, one of the most culturally significan ...
, 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 6 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 A mat is a hard or soft floor covering that generally is placed on a floor or other flat surface. Mats serve a range of purposes including: * serving to clean items passed over it, such as a doormat, which removes dirt from the soles of shoe ...
, 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 Noel Sharkey (born 14 December 1948) is a computer scientist born in Belfast, Northern Ireland. He is best known to the British public for his appearances on television as an expert on robotics; including the BBC Two television series ''Robot W ...
(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 A mat is a hard or soft floor covering that generally is placed on a floor or other flat surface. Mats serve a range of purposes including: * serving to clean items passed over it, such as a doormat, which removes dirt from the soles of shoe ...
(2001–04), Sethu Vijayakumar (2016–18) and Lucy Rogers (2016–18). 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 Paramount Network is an American basic cable television channel and the flagship property of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global, who operates it through the MTV Entertainment Group. The network's headquarters are located a ...
(now
Paramount Network Paramount Network is an American basic cable television channel and the flagship property of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global, who operates it through the MTV Entertainment Group. The network's headquarters are located a ...
) and a version was also shown on
Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (nicknamed Nick) is an American pay television channel and the flagship property of the Nickelodeon Group, a sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on April 1, 1979, as the first ca ...
.
TechTV TechTV was an American cable television channel with a focus on technology. It was launched as ZDTV on May 11, 1998, by computer magazine publisher Ziff Davis, Ziff-Davis following two short-lived technology-based programs by the company. Init ...
(and later
G4techTV G4techTV was a short-lived American cable and satellite channel resulting from a merger between Comcast-owned G4 and TechTV. The network officially launched on May 28, 2004. History On March 25, 2004, Comcast announced its plans to purcha ...
/ 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 Thomas Michael Gillan Gutteridge (born 2 February 1952) is a British television director, producer and executive. He was formerly Chief Executive of FremantleMedia NA, having previously been founder and Chief Executive of Mentorn, from 1985 to ...
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 Royal Air Force Newton or more simply RAF Newton is a former Royal Air Force station located east of Nottingham, Nottinghamshire and south west of Newark-on-Trent, Nottinghamshire, England. It was used briefly as a bomber base for squadron ...
. Viewing figures dropped significantly in the early 2000s, reaching only 1.2 million in the sixth series - the final to be broadcast on BBC Two. It was cancelled by the BBC in March 2003, and
Mentorn The Tinopolis Group is an international TV production and distribution group with businesses based in the UK and US. It produces over 4,500 hours of television Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving ...
announced it was making 22 episodes for Channel 5, concluding with The Third World Championships broadcast in March 2004. Following its move to Channel 5 in November 2003, the show first began airing in a new Sunday night slot and launched with one million viewers; however ratings fell quickly to 800,000 resulting in the show moving to Saturday nights after just three episodes. Channel 5 later axed the show after one series due to low ratings. After Robot Wars ended, an edited half-hour version of this series aired on
Fox Kids Fox Kids (originally known as Fox Children's Network and later as the Fox Kids Network; stylized in all caps) was an American children's programming block and branding for a slate of international children's television channels. Originally a j ...
(later Jetix) from 2004, on
Bravo Bravo(s) or The Bravo(s) may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music Groups and labels * Bravo (band), a Russian rock band * Bravo (Spanish group), represented Spain at Eurovision 1984 * Bravo Music, an American concert band music publishing compa ...
from after 2004, on
Dave Dave may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Dave'' (film), a 1993 film starring Kevin Kline and Sigourney Weaver * ''Dave'' (musical), a 2018 stage musical adaptation of the 1993 film * ''Dave'' (TV series), a 2020 American comedy series * ...
from 2010 and on Challenge &
Sky History History (known as Sky History in the UK and Ireland) is a European Documentary film, documentary television channel which broadcasts programs related to History, historical events and persons. There are also reality television, ufology and para ...
from before 2016.


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 Dara Ó Briain ( , ; born 4 February 1972) is an Irish comedian and television presenter based in the United Kingdom. He is noted for performing stand-up comedy shows all over the world and for hosting topical panel shows such as ''Mock the Wee ...
and
Angela Scanlon Angela Marie Scanlon (born 29 December 1983) is an Irish television presenter and broadcaster for RTÉ and the BBC. She initially broadcast on Irish television, presenting a number of programmes on RTÉ including the documentary ''Oi Ginger!'' ...
with Jonathan Pearce returning as commentator. The first episode was broadcast on 24 July at 8pm, the same slot as ''
Top Gear Top Gear may refer to: * "Top gear", the highest gear available in a vehicle's manual transmission Television * ''Top Gear'' (1977 TV series), a British motoring magazine programme * ''Top Gear'' (2002 TV series), a relaunched version of the ori ...
''. Some robots from the original series returned, including Behemoth and Storm II, as well as four of the original
House Robots Robot Wars is a British robot combat television series that aired from 1998 to 2004 and was revived from 2016 to 2018. The show features teams controlling remote-operated robots in battles within an arena filled with hazards and powerful "Hous ...
, 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 Renfrew (; ; ) is a town west of Glasgow in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. It is the historic county town of Renfrewshire. Called the "Cradle of the Royal Stewarts" for its early link with Scotland's former royal house, Renfrew gaine ...
, Scotland. The first episode received about two million viewers and was the top trending topic on
Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...
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 Kadeena Cox (born 10 March 1991) is a parasport athlete competing in T38 para-athletics sprint events and C4 para-cycling and British television presenter. She was part of the 2015 IPC Athletics World Championships and the 2016 UCI Para-cyc ...
and
Alistair Brownlee Alistair Edward Brownlee (born 23 April 1988) is an English former triathlete. He is the only athlete to hold two Olympic titles in the individual triathlon event, winning gold medals in the 2012 and 2016 Olympic Games. He is also a four-time ...
and Jonny Brownlee, TV presenters
Suzi Perry Suzi Perry (born May 1970) is a British television presenter covering Grand Prix motorcycle racing for BT Sport. She is known for covering Grand Prix motorcycle racing for the BBC for 13 years, ''The Gadget Show'' on Channel 5 for eight years an ...
,
Neil Oliver Neil Oliver (born 21 February 1967) is a Scottish television presenter, author, and conspiracy theorist. He has presented several documentary series on archaeology and history, including '' A History of Scotland'', ''Vikings'' and ''Coast''. H ...
and
Maggie Aderin-Pocock Dame Margaret Ebunoluwa Aderin-Pocock (; born 9 March 1968) is a British space scientist and science educator. She is an honorary research associate of University College London's Department of Physics and Astronomy, and has been the chancello ...
, singer Jordan Stevens and radio presenters
Scott Mills Scott Robert Mills (born 28 March 1973) is an English radio DJ, television presenter and occasional actor. He is best known for presenting the '' Scott Mills'' show on BBC Radio 1 from 2004 to 2022 and since then, on BBC Radio 2, where he has be ...
and
Robbie Savage Robert William Savage (born 18 October 1974) is a Welsh former professional Association football, footballer who played as a midfielder, now a association football, football pundit and head coach at National League North club Macclesfield F.C., ...
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, and Robot Wars has been axed for the second time, the complete 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 Below may refer to: *Earth *Ground (disambiguation) *Soil *Floor * Bottom (disambiguation) *Less than *Temperatures below freezing *Hell or underworld People with the surname * Ernst von Below (1863–1955), German World War I general * Fred Belo ...
) 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. :In the original series, the Aggression, Damage, Control and Style points were weighted 3:4:2:1 respectively. In the 2016 series the weightings for Aggression, Damage and Control were 3:2:1, with "Style" no longer a judged criterion. Although the format changed several times over the years, these rules remained the same across all series and competitions.


Format


Domestic


Extreme

There were also two series made for the UK, ''Robot Wars Extreme'', which did not focus on a single championship. Bold text indicates robot wars extreme events that debuted ahead of the actual debut series. ''Bold Italic text'' indicates robot wars extreme events that made separate debuts ahead of the added event of the second series of robot wars extreme.


Presenters

The first series of ''Robot Wars'' was presented by
Jeremy Clarkson Jeremy Charles Robert Clarkson (born 11 April 1960) is an English television presenter, journalist, farmer, and author who specialises in Driving, motoring. He is best known for hosting the television programmes ''Top Gear (2002 TV series), T ...
and co-hosted by Philippa Forrester. In keeping with his edgy persona established on ''
Top Gear Top Gear may refer to: * "Top gear", the highest gear available in a vehicle's manual transmission Television * ''Top Gear'' (1977 TV series), a British motoring magazine programme * ''Top Gear'' (2002 TV series), a relaunched version of the ori ...
'', 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 Craig Joseph Charles (born 11 July 1964) is an English actor, comedian and radio presenter. He is best known for his roles as Dave Lister in the science fiction sitcom ''Red Dwarf'' and Lloyd Mullaney in the soap opera ''Coronation Street'' (2 ...
. Charles, well known as playing the character
Dave Lister David Lister, commonly referred to simply as Lister, is a fictional character from the British science fiction situation comedy ''Red Dwarf'', portrayed by Craig Charles. Lister is characterised as a third-class technician (the lowest ranking ...
in the
science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...
-themed
sitcom A sitcom (short for situation comedy or situational comedy) is a genre of comedy produced for radio and television, that centers on a recurring cast of character (arts), characters as they navigate humorous situations within a consistent settin ...
''
Red Dwarf A red dwarf is the smallest kind of star on the main sequence. Red dwarfs are by far the most common type of fusing star in the Milky Way, at least in the neighborhood of the Sun. However, due to their low luminosity, individual red dwarfs are ...
'', 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. In comparison to Charles' background in science fiction, Philippa Forrester was best known as co-host of the
science Science is a systematic discipline that builds and organises knowledge in the form of testable hypotheses and predictions about the universe. Modern science is typically divided into twoor threemajor branches: the natural sciences, which stu ...
and
technology Technology is the application of Conceptual model, conceptual knowledge to achieve practical goals, especially in a reproducible way. The word ''technology'' can also mean the products resulting from such efforts, including both tangible too ...
programme ''
Tomorrow's World ''Tomorrow's World'' is a British television series about contemporary developments in science and technology. First broadcast on 7 July 1965 on BBC1, it ran for 38 years until it was cancelled at the beginning of 2003. The ''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 Pregnancy is the time during which one or more offspring gestation, gestates inside a woman's uterus. A multiple birth, multiple pregnancy involves more than one offspring, such as with twins. Conception (biology), Conception usually occurs ...
, 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 Jayne Middlemiss is an English television and radio presenter. She began presenting music television shows including '' The O Zone'' and ''Top of the Pops'' in the mid-1990s, as well as other television and radio shows, including on BBC Radio 6 ...
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 Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
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. In 2016,
Dara Ó Briain Dara Ó Briain ( , ; born 4 February 1972) is an Irish comedian and television presenter based in the United Kingdom. He is noted for performing stand-up comedy shows all over the world and for hosting topical panel shows such as ''Mock the Wee ...
and
Angela Scanlon Angela Marie Scanlon (born 29 December 1983) is an Irish television presenter and broadcaster for RTÉ and the BBC. She initially broadcast on Irish television, presenting a number of programmes on RTÉ including the documentary ''Oi Ginger!'' ...
were announced as the hosts of the eighth series, with Jonathan Pearce returning as commentator. They reprised their roles in the ninth and tenth series.


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 weight limit or weapon rules that contestant robots had to adhere to, the most notable example of this was Sergeant Bash's
flamethrower A flamethrower is a ranged incendiary device designed to project a controllable jet of fire. First deployed by the Byzantine Empire in the 7th century AD, flamethrowers saw use in modern times during World War I, and more widely in World W ...
. 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 in weight and Sir Killalot now weighs . 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 . 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 Hypno-Disc was a contestant entry in the ''Robot Wars Robot Wars may refer to: Film and television * ''Robot Wars'' (film), 1993 ** ''Robot Wars'' (soundtrack) * ''Robot Wars'' (TV series), a British TV competition, 1998–2004 and 2016– ...
in Series 3 – as well as arena hazards prompted producers to enclose the arena entirely in a perspex box 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 Royal Air Force Newton or more simply RAF Newton is a former Royal Air Force station located east of Nottingham, Nottinghamshire and south west of Newark-on-Trent, Nottinghamshire, England. It was used briefly as a bomber base for squadron ...
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 Renfrew (; ; ) is a town west of Glasgow in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. It is the historic county town of Renfrewshire. Called the "Cradle of the Royal Stewarts" for its early link with Scotland's former royal house, Renfrew gaine ...
, on the outskirts of
Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...
, for use in the rebooted series. This arena is square, with a 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. *The Side Patrol Zones (commonly known as SPZs (Pinball Only)) - The Second Wars to The Fourth Wars - the House Robots guard three tyre targets in the sides of the arena during the Pinball Warrior Tournament (Two of the side tyre targets score 50 points and one scores 75 points if any tyre target is pressed). *The Pit of Oblivion - The Second Wars onwards - Arguably the arena's most iconic feature, this was a square hole in the arena floor, painted black on the inside and partially filled with old tyres. If a robot drove, fell, or was pushed into the Pit, it would be instantly eliminated. In The Second Wars, pits were added to both lanes of The Gauntlet. For The Third Wars the Pit was open during the first two rounds of each heat, then covered during the heat final and following matches. In The Fourth Wars, the Pit was redesigned, with a yellow-and-black
chevron Chevron (often relating to V-shaped patterns) may refer to: Science and technology * Chevron (aerospace), sawtooth patterns on some jet engines * Chevron (anatomy), a bone * '' Eulithis testata'', a moth * Chevron (geology), a fold in rock la ...
-tape outline and was covered until halfway into a battle, whereupon it would "descend". From its very first appearance in The Second Wars, the Pit included a small
pyrotechnic Pyrotechnics is the science and craft of creating fireworks, but also includes safety matches, oxygen candles, explosive bolts (and other fasteners), parts of automotive airbags, as well as gas-pressure blasting in mining, quarrying, and demol ...
"explosion" that formed a large ball of white smoke. This would activate when a robot fell into the Pit, primarily used to show that a competitor had fallen in. This was changed to a small firework explosion for The Third Wars but the smoke returned for The Fourth Wars and remained until the end. From Extreme 1 onwards there was a device on the arena wall that competitor or house robots could use to activate the pit opening. In Extreme and The Fifth Wars that device was a tyre. For The Sixth Wars the tyre was replaced by a metal bumper. The tyre returned in Extreme 2 and remained for the remainder of the shows' run. The pit was enlarged and given an LED decoration on the inside for the eighth series, with the pyrotechnic no longer used. Since Series 9, the pyrotechnics have returned to the Pit. *Flame Pit - The Second Wars onwards - A large square grill located close to the right bottom corner of the arena resembling a kitchen stove. Used to set fire to flammable robots and damage electronics. For the eighth series, this was moved to the upper left corner of the arena. (similar to the floor grills which only appeared in the first wars) *The Corner Patrol Zones (commonly known as CPZs) - The Third Wars onwards - the House Robots were now confined to the four corners of the arena much like in The First Wars. Which house robot was used in which battle was defined by a rota system but would also sometimes depend on if a house robot was being repaired. In The Fourth Wars, the house robots switched to a rota system of Shunt, Matilda, Sgt. Bash and Dead Metal. Sir Killalot consistently appeared every round excepting battles 3 & 4 of the War of Independence when the original 4 house robots occupy all the CPZs. From The Fifth Wars and Extreme 1 onwards only two house robots were allowed in the arena at a time and this moved in a rota through all of the machines. However some House Robots did not appear in a show or on some occasions missed several shows before making an appearance. For Series 8, the CPZs are larger and L-shaped. The house robots no longer attack competitors who enter any CPZ, but stick to guarding their own and can still attack robots that have been immobilised. *The Floor Flipper - The Third Wars onwards - A powerful pneumatic flipper set into the floor resembling an aircraft carrier catapult, capable of throwing a robot across the arena. It was generally only used on robots that had already been defeated, but was occasionally fired during events such as the House Robot Rebellion. When originally introduced, it just looked like a part of the arena floor. For The Fourth Wars the flipper was given a yellow/black paint scheme similar to the redesigned Pit of Oblivion. For Extreme 1/Series 5 the power of the flipper increased, allowing it to hurl even the heaviest robots into the air and flip featherweight robots out of the arena. For Series 8, this is no longer used as a coup de grace for defeated robots, but fires independently during a fight. It is positioned diagonally on the floor and is capable not only of launching robots into the air but also trapping robots as it closes. *Red & Blue Perimeters (Sumo & Tag Team Terror only) - The Fourth Wars only - The Red Perimeter zone is for two robots in the red tag team and the Blue Perimeter zone is for two robots in the blue tag team. *Angle Grinders - The Third Wars and Extreme 1 to The Seventh Wars - Abrasive grinding wheels built into the arena railings. The grinders were replaced with small pneumatic spikes in The Fourth Wars but brought back from Extreme 1 onwards. *Pneumatic Spikes - The Fourth Wars only - As mentioned above, they replaced the Angle Grinders but proved ineffective so were omitted after one series. * CO2 geysers - The Fifth Wars and Extreme 1 onwards - High pressure CO2 outlets designed to cause internal damage to robots, but were more useful for extinguishing fires. *The Drop Zone - The Fifth Wars and Extreme 1 to The Seventh Wars - A square on the arena floor where heavy objects (television sets, ocean buoys, refrigerators, washing machines, etc.) fell from the top of the arena. Like the Floor Flipper, it was only used on robots that were already immobile. It was actually first used in Series 6 and Extreme 2, although the spot where the object would fall, a black square with a yellow 'X' shape across it, although it first appeared in The Fifth Wars and Extreme 1. Viewers did not know the purpose of this at the time. It is believed it was due to be used in Extreme 1 and The Fifth Wars Semi-Finals and Grand Final but technical difficulties meant it was abandoned. *The Disc of Doom - The Sixth Wars and Extreme 2 only - A circular spinning panel set into the arena floor activated by a buffer similar to the pit release. This trap was used to disrupt a robot's driving and worked well on lighter competitors, but proved ineffective against Heavyweight robots. It first appeared in both The Sixth Wars and Extreme 2 but was removed for The Seventh Wars to be replaced by The Dial of Doom in the near future. *The Dial of Doom/Doom Dial - Series 9 to Series 10. A dial that will activate when the arena tyre is pressed. If the dial swings left, it will open up the pit and if the dial swings right, it will activate "Rogue House Robot" which allows a house robot to leave the CPZ and attack a competitor robot for up to 10 seconds. Additionally, from the Tenth Wars, swinging right may trigger "The Fog of War" in which the arena is filled with CO2 for 10 seconds, obscuring the robots from view.


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 Hexbug is a brand of infrared and automaton toys developed and distributed by Spin Master. HEXBUG uses many elements found in BEAM robotics. First piloted in the US through RadioShack, HEXBUG is now sold in most major retail stores. The original ...
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 Hypno-Disc was a contestant entry in the ''Robot Wars Robot Wars may refer to: Film and television * ''Robot Wars'' (film), 1993 ** ''Robot Wars'' (soundtrack) * ''Robot Wars'' (TV series), a British TV competition, 1998–2004 and 2016– ...
and
Panic Attack Panic attacks are sudden periods of intense fear and Comfort, discomfort that may include palpitations, otherwise defined as a Tachycardia, rapid, Arrhythmia, irregular Heart rate, heartbeat, Hyperhidrosis, sweating, chest pain or discomfort, s ...
. 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 VHS (Video Home System) is a discontinued standard for consumer-level analog video recording on tape cassettes, introduced in 1976 by JVC. It was the dominant home video format throughout the tape media period of the 1980s and 1990s. Ma ...
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 Chaos 2 is a combat robot from the UK television series ''Robot Wars'', designed and built by self-employed mechanic George Francis, from Ipswich, and operated by Team Chaos. Twice winner of the UK Robot Wars Championship and the only robot w ...
,
Hypno-Disc Hypno-Disc was a contestant entry in the ''Robot Wars Robot Wars may refer to: Film and television * ''Robot Wars'' (film), 1993 ** ''Robot Wars'' (soundtrack) * ''Robot Wars'' (TV series), a British TV competition, 1998–2004 and 2016– ...
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 DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...
. 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 The (GBC or CGB) is an 8-bit handheld game console developed by Nintendo. It was released in Japan on October 21, 1998, and to international markets that November. Compared to the original Game Boy, the Game Boy Color features a color TFT scre ...
in 2000. It was followed in 2001 by '' Robot Wars: Arenas of Destruction'' on
PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October, in Europe on 24 Novembe ...
and
Microsoft Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...
and '' Robot Wars: Advanced Destruction'' on
Game Boy Advance The (GBA) is a 32-bit handheld game console, manufactured by Nintendo, which was released in Japan on March 21, 2001, and to international markets that June. It was later released in mainland China in 2004, under the name iQue Game Boy Advanc ...
. After the first three titles sold over 250,000 copies, a fourth and final game, released on
Game Boy Advance The (GBA) is a 32-bit handheld game console, manufactured by Nintendo, which was released in Japan on March 21, 2001, and to international markets that June. It was later released in mainland China in 2004, under the name iQue Game Boy Advanc ...
,
Microsoft Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...
and
Xbox Xbox is a video gaming brand that consists of four main home video game console lines, as well as application software, applications (games), the streaming media, streaming service Xbox Cloud Gaming, and online services such as the Xbox networ ...
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 ''Robot Arena 2: Design and Destroy'' is a robot combat action video game developed by Gabriel Entertainment and published by Infogrames. It is the sequel to ''Robot Arena'', in the Robot Arena videogame series. Compared to its predecessor, it h ...
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 Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...
.


Transmissions

All episodes were announced by Jonathan Pearce.


Domestic series


Extreme series

All Extreme episodes premiered on
BBC Choice BBC Choice was a British digital television channel which was owned by the BBC and was launched on 23 September 1998. It was the first United Kingdom, British TV channel to broadcast exclusively in Digital television, digital format, as well as t ...
.


Specials


See also

*
Robot combat Robot combat is a type of robot competition in which custom-built machines fight using various methods to incapacitate each other. The machines have generally been Radio-controlled car, remote-controlled vehicles rather than autonomous robots. ...
- includes types of robots *''
BattleBots ''BattleBots'' is an American robot combat television series and company. The show is an adaptation of the American Robot Wars competitions hosted in the mid–late 1990s by Marc Thorpe, in which competitors design and operate remote-controlled ...
'' *''
Robotica (TV Series) ''Robotica'' is a robot combat show (similar to the early seasons of ''Robot Wars'') produced for the American television cable channel TLC, a subsidiary of the Discovery Channel, from April 4, 2001, to November 16, 2002. Ahmet Zappa and Tanya ...
'' *''
Robot Combat League ''Robot Combat League'' (''RCL'') is a U.S. television show on the Syfy network about robot fighting competitions. On the show, teams use exosuits to control fighting robots. The series is hosted by Chris Jericho and was first shown on Februa ...
'' * Robot Fighting League - competitions in the U.S., Canada and Brazil. *''
Techno Games ''Techno Games'' is a robot competition television programme that aired on BBC Two from 20 March 2000 to 28 March 2003. It is a spin-off from the hugely successful ''Robot Wars''. Format Schools, colleges, individuals and technology clubs com ...
'' * ''Robot Wars'' grand finalists *
Survival Research Laboratories Survival Research Laboratories (SRL) is an American performance art group which pioneered the genre of large-scale machine performance. Founded in 1978 by Mark Pauline in San Francisco the group is known in particular for performances where custo ...
*'' Airmageddon''


Notes and references


Notes


References


External links

* * * *
List of Major Combat Robotics Tournament Winners
{{Spike (TV network) programming 1998 British television series debuts 2018 British television series endings 2000s British television series BBC television game shows 1990s British game shows 2000s British game shows 2010s British game shows Channel 5 (British TV channel) original programming British English-language television shows Robot combat competitions Robotics competitions Robotics in the United Kingdom Television series about robots Sports entertainment British television series revived after cancellation Tinopolis