Everything about Robot Wars totally explained
Robot Wars was a US based robot competition from 1994-1997, and is a
British game show broadcast on
BBC Two from 1997 until 2002, with a final series broadcast on
Five in 2003. The show ran for 12 series, including two 'Extreme' series & 3 World Championships. There were additional series filmed for specific sectors of the global market, including two seasons of
Robot Wars Extreme Warriors with U.S. competitors for the
TNN network (hosted by
Mick Foley), and two seasons of Dutch Robot Wars for distribution in the
Netherlands.
Robot Wars was shown on BBC Two at 6:45PM on Friday evenings then repeated on Sunday Mornings. The Seventh series seen on
Five was shown on Sunday evenings. The
UK Sci Fi channel shows double repeats of Robot Wars every Saturday and Sunday at 6am, and
Challenge has recently (September, 2007) shown Series 3, with Series 4 due to have started in December, 2007.
In 2003, the roboteers themselves formed The Fighting Robot Association and, with their associated event organisers, carry on participating in competitions for new audiences.
History
Origins
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. In keeping with his 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 "Scarab" 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
situation comedy Red Dwarf, was seen as taking the programme and its contestants more seriously than Clarkson, and was visibly enthusiastic whilst presenting. 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 since Forrester was unable to participate in the programme due to
pregnancy, and when the programme moved to
Five for the seventh series was replaced with
Jayne Middlemiss.
Shunt, centered around pushing power, was equipped with a plough, lifting scoop and 'diamond-edged' pickaxe;
Sgt. Bash, a military themed robot with a ramming blade, circular saw and flamethrower Gun turret
Dead Metal, a scorpion-like robot with pneumatic pincers and a circular saw mounted on an overhead arm.
Series Two
The original four house robots were joined by,
Sir Killalot,
No new house robots were introduced, The Sentinal disappeared, and the remaining five were improved.
Matilda's tusks and chainsaw were strengthened.
Shunt was given a larger and more powerful axe.
Sgt. Bash's ramming blade was replaced by a pair of hydraulically powered pincers and lighter fibreglass armour to replace his original steel hide.
Dead Metal had the biggest makeover. He was given a larger saw and the arm was completely redesigned so that it essentially came out of the robot.
Sir Killalot's weapons were enlarged.
Series Four
One new robot joined the team.
Refbot, this robot, like Sir Killalot, was designed as a semi-humanoid robot, but much taller and with ploughs at the front and rear, a pincer and a fire extinguisher. As his name suggests, his role was to be the referee of the matches, although his role never really advanced until the next season.
Most of the original house robots were fine-tuned, most noticeably Sir Killalot and Sgt. Bash, who both had their pincers enlarged and made stronger than before.
Series Five and Extreme Series One
No new house robots were introduced, but two robots were changed:
Refbot had a new electronic counter installed into his chest, which counted from 00 to 10, to declare that another robot had been immobilized. If the robot wasn't moving by the time the counter hit ten, then it was technically out. The pincer also held a 'Light Indicator System' (as described by the Robot Wars Extreme official guide), which had a variety of purposes.
- A green light signalled the beginning of a fight.
- A yellow light acted as the equivalent of a yellow card. If a House Robot attacked a robot who wasn't in the CPZ (Corner Patrol Zone), or a Contestant robot got a bit overaggresive with the House Robots, Refbot would display the yellow card as a warning.
- A red light acted as the equivalent of a red card If a House Robot (or occasionally a contestant robot) continued to attack illegally, Refbot would issue the robot the red card. In the case of the House Robots, it would then have to return to the CPZ and wouldn't be allowed out for the remainder of the fight. The red card was also displayed to a contestant robot who had just been counted out, to show it was out of the match.
Matilda's chainsaw was replaced with a 27 kilogram vertical flywheel, which proved to be much more destructive than her chainsaw. Although designed to be interchangeable with the flywheel, the chainsaw was never used again.
Series Six
Two new house robots were added:
Mr. Psycho - An even larger Killalot based robot that ran on tracks, with a gigantic claw for picking up competitors, and a 30 kilogram pneumatic hammer for causing percussive damage. Mr. Psycho was reported to weigh 650 kilograms, but some esitimates place that higher.
Growler - A dog like robot with four tonne pressure hydraulic jaws, and a flame jet built into the back. This house robots main weapon was its speed and power, which it used to ram and drag competitors around the arena. Growler weighed in at 375KG.
Series Seven
The last series to be filmed, a final House Robot was added
Cassius Chrome was a robot equipped with two punching arms. Although it didn't have much in the way of weaponry, it was still rather effective in the capacity of pushing other robots.
See also: House robots.Further Information
Get more info on 'Robot Wars'.
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