Robot Wars (TV series)
A British robot combat series with global reach.
Robot Wars is a British robot combat television series created by Tom Gutteridge and Stephen Carsey. The show became a worldwide success, airing in 45 countries, and was known for its knockout battle rules including immobilisation, the pit of oblivion, and removal from the arena.
Quick Facts
- Genre
- Robot competition
- Creator
- Tom Gutteridge / Stephen Carsey
- Presenter
- Jeremy Clarkson / Craig Charles / Dara Ó Briain / Angela Scanlon
- Starring
- Philippa Forrester / Julia Reed / Jayne Middlemiss
- Judges
- Noel Sharkey / Eric Dickinson / Adam Harper / Martin Smith / Myra Wilson / Mat Irvine / Sethu Vijayakumar / Lucy Rogers
- Narrator
- Jonathan Pearce
- Language
- English
- Country
- United Kingdom
- Num Series
- 9 (Original) / 3 (Revival) / 12 (Overall)
- Num Episodes
- 155 (Original) / 22 (Revival) / 177 (Overall)
- Location
- London Docklands (1998–1999) / Elstree Studios (1999–2000; 2001–2002) / Park Street Studios (2000–2001) / RAF Newton (2002–2004) / Westway Park (2016–2018)
- Runtime
- 30 minutes (1998–1999) / 45 minutes (1999–2003) / 60 minutes (2003–2018)
Facts from the source article.
Lore & Background
Gutteridge and Carsey developed a television format based on the concept, producing a live event in London. The original run consisted of six series on BBC Two (series 1–6) and one series on Channel 5 (series 7), with a celebrity special on BBC One in 2000 and the spin-off Robot Wars Extreme. The revival was cancelled after the 10th series, met with backlash from fans.
Reader's Guide
Robot Wars was a pioneering television format that popularized robot combat as entertainment. It began as a live event inspired by Marc Thorpe's US competitions and grew into a BBC hit, peaking at six million UK viewers in the late 1990s. Despite cancellations, Robot Wars remains a touchstone in television history, influencing later robot combat shows and maintaining a dedicated fan base.
Did You Know?
- The first series was presented by Jeremy Clarkson, replaced by Craig Charles for the rest of the original run.
- The show's announcer for the entire run was Jonathan Pearce.
- The revival series was filmed in a warehouse at Westway Park in Renfrew, Scotland.
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