A Brief look at Robot Wars
Something a little different from me this time, I've decided to take a look at one of my favourite television shows from my Childhood. Robot Wars first aired on BBC Two; on the 20th of February 1998. The first season was hosted by Jeremy Clarkson, who many people will recognise from Top Gear and The Grand Tour. For the first series it was quite clear to the producers and roboteers that Robot Combat in the UK hadn't got to the point where two machines could battle it out at that be the basis for the entire show. Many of the robots seen in the first season were just boxes with wheels, some were even owned by the studio and had to pull out of the competition before the battle rounds. In order to make sure the show would stay interesting, the producers decided that instead of just battling one another, the teams would have to complete a series of challenge rounds, such as the Gauntlet, Pinball, Sumo, and Tug of War. The teams that did the worst in each round were eliminated, leaving only the best to compete in the combat rounds. However due to it being early days, the combat rounds still amounted to essentially two boxes bumping into each other until one stopped moving or got stuck on the grill. In order to liven up the fights the Producers decided they needed something bigger than the competitors, something that could deal real damage and make fights entertaining. This is where the Arena hazards came in, flamethrowers, pits, floor flippers, spikes and of course, the Iconic House Robots.
The House Robots were studio owned robots that were larger, heavier and could deal more damage than the competitors. However as the show progressed it began to become obvious that the competitor robots were getting to the stage where they could comfortabley take on and beat the House robots, as noted with the many times that Shunt, Sgt Bash and Matilda were flipped over. To combat this they were given powerful new upgrades to help maintain their status as a threat. Dead Metal recieved a Diamond Edged Saw to cut through opponents, Shunt got a Diamond Edged Axe to cleave robots apart, Sir Killalot got a Rotating Lance to twist about the insides of a defeated robot, (Though I hear this feature often didn't work) Sgt Bash got a set or powerful Clamping Jaws and Matilda recieved a devestating Fly Wheel. However these upgrades still weren't enough as competitors continued to get better and better. This prompted the producers of the show to comission more House Robots for construction. This lead to the creation of three new House Robots; Mr Psycho, Growler and Cassius Chrome. Mr Psycho was the heaviest House Robot yet and his devastating hammer could crumple a Robots Chassis. Growler and Cassius Chrome however relied on their speed to slam competitors against the wall, this also could cause massive chassis damage. In fact it seems that a lot of the later series focused on damaging a robots chassis, with Matilda's Flywheel, the Floor Flipper, Psycho, Growler and Cassius, the Drop Zone. This proved to be an issue for teams on a tight budget as Chassis damage can be very hard to repair. This meant that some teams were forced out of the competition as they couldn't fix the damage the House Robots had inflicted in time for their next bout.
The original series of the show ran for seven series, as well as two 'Extreme' series that featured a variety of different competitions seperate from the main one. the BBC owned the show for six seasons as well as one of the Extreme series. While Channel 5 owned the show for series 7 and Extreme 2. the BBC sold the show to Channel 5 after series 6 as ratings had begun to dip. Unfortunately, Channel 5 didn't treat the show very well, constantly changing the time slots that it aired in and showing spoilers in the opening titles, there were also accusations of fixing fights at several points. This lead to a further decline in views and in 2004, having aired just 2 seasons of the show; Channel 5 pulled the plug. For many it seemed like this might be the end of UK robot combat however when Team Roaming Robots, who competed in the seventh series of the show partnered with Robot Wars LLC. Previously the team had help live competitions across the country for Robot Combat, however their partnership with Robot Wars meant they could use a brand name with some real weight behind it which helped sell tickets for their events. It was thanks to this that interest in Robotic Combat remained in the UK and which eventually lead to the BBC reviving the series in 2016, though for liscencing reasons John Findlay, the owner of Roaming Robots, was not allowed to compete in the reboot.
Robot Wars was a massive hit back when it first launched and soon became a cultural icon of the UK in a similar way that Thunderbirds did. Its cancellation back in 2004 left many anxious to see it grace our screens again. It was a surprise then, 12 years later, when many had written the show off as dead for good; that the reboot was announced (One team had even scrapped their robot the year prior to the announcement, thinking the show would never make a return) While it faced troubles towards the end of its run, it was still a massively entertaining show and influenced an entire generation of engineers and mechanics. The show so far has had 3 new seasons thanks to the reboot, though it's unknown if a 4th season is in production. The lack of an announcement thusfar could be down to either the fact that the co-presenter had to take maternity leave after the 3rd season had finished or down to dwindling viewership; however I think the latter point is unlikely as the show had still been doing pretty well ratings wise by the BBCs standards, and that's only counting viewership from the BBC IPlayer.
The House Robots were studio owned robots that were larger, heavier and could deal more damage than the competitors. However as the show progressed it began to become obvious that the competitor robots were getting to the stage where they could comfortabley take on and beat the House robots, as noted with the many times that Shunt, Sgt Bash and Matilda were flipped over. To combat this they were given powerful new upgrades to help maintain their status as a threat. Dead Metal recieved a Diamond Edged Saw to cut through opponents, Shunt got a Diamond Edged Axe to cleave robots apart, Sir Killalot got a Rotating Lance to twist about the insides of a defeated robot, (Though I hear this feature often didn't work) Sgt Bash got a set or powerful Clamping Jaws and Matilda recieved a devestating Fly Wheel. However these upgrades still weren't enough as competitors continued to get better and better. This prompted the producers of the show to comission more House Robots for construction. This lead to the creation of three new House Robots; Mr Psycho, Growler and Cassius Chrome. Mr Psycho was the heaviest House Robot yet and his devastating hammer could crumple a Robots Chassis. Growler and Cassius Chrome however relied on their speed to slam competitors against the wall, this also could cause massive chassis damage. In fact it seems that a lot of the later series focused on damaging a robots chassis, with Matilda's Flywheel, the Floor Flipper, Psycho, Growler and Cassius, the Drop Zone. This proved to be an issue for teams on a tight budget as Chassis damage can be very hard to repair. This meant that some teams were forced out of the competition as they couldn't fix the damage the House Robots had inflicted in time for their next bout.
The original series of the show ran for seven series, as well as two 'Extreme' series that featured a variety of different competitions seperate from the main one. the BBC owned the show for six seasons as well as one of the Extreme series. While Channel 5 owned the show for series 7 and Extreme 2. the BBC sold the show to Channel 5 after series 6 as ratings had begun to dip. Unfortunately, Channel 5 didn't treat the show very well, constantly changing the time slots that it aired in and showing spoilers in the opening titles, there were also accusations of fixing fights at several points. This lead to a further decline in views and in 2004, having aired just 2 seasons of the show; Channel 5 pulled the plug. For many it seemed like this might be the end of UK robot combat however when Team Roaming Robots, who competed in the seventh series of the show partnered with Robot Wars LLC. Previously the team had help live competitions across the country for Robot Combat, however their partnership with Robot Wars meant they could use a brand name with some real weight behind it which helped sell tickets for their events. It was thanks to this that interest in Robotic Combat remained in the UK and which eventually lead to the BBC reviving the series in 2016, though for liscencing reasons John Findlay, the owner of Roaming Robots, was not allowed to compete in the reboot.
Robot Wars was a massive hit back when it first launched and soon became a cultural icon of the UK in a similar way that Thunderbirds did. Its cancellation back in 2004 left many anxious to see it grace our screens again. It was a surprise then, 12 years later, when many had written the show off as dead for good; that the reboot was announced (One team had even scrapped their robot the year prior to the announcement, thinking the show would never make a return) While it faced troubles towards the end of its run, it was still a massively entertaining show and influenced an entire generation of engineers and mechanics. The show so far has had 3 new seasons thanks to the reboot, though it's unknown if a 4th season is in production. The lack of an announcement thusfar could be down to either the fact that the co-presenter had to take maternity leave after the 3rd season had finished or down to dwindling viewership; however I think the latter point is unlikely as the show had still been doing pretty well ratings wise by the BBCs standards, and that's only counting viewership from the BBC IPlayer.
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