Robot Wars (television show)
| Robot Wars | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Also known as | Robot Wars Extreme |
| Genre | Robot competition |
| Created by |
Tom Gutteridge Steve Carsey |
| Presented by |
Jeremy Clarkson (1998) Craig Charles (1998–2004) Dara Ó Briain (2016–18) Angela Scanlon (2016–18) |
| Starring |
Philippa Forrester (1998–2000, 2002–03) Julia Reed (2000–01) Jayne Middlemiss (2003–04) |
| Judges |
Noel Sharkey (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) Lucy Rogers (2016–18) |
| Narrated by | Jonathan Pearce |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| No. of series | 10 (Domestic) 2 (Extreme) 12 (Overall) |
| No. of episodes | 147 (Domestic) 30 (Extreme) 177 (Overall) |
| Production | |
| Camera setup | Multi-camera |
| Running time | 30 minutes (1998–99) 45 minutes (1999–2003) 60 minutes (2003–04, 2016–18) |
| Production company(s) | TV21 (1998–2001) Mentorn (2001–04, 2016–18) |
| Distributor | Passion Distribution |
| Release | |
| Original network |
BBC Two (1998–2001, 2016–18) BBC Choice (2001–03) Five (2003–04) |
| Picture format |
4:3 (1998–2001) 16:9 (2001–04, 2016–18) |
| Original release |
Original series: 20 February 1998 – 28 March 2004 Revived series: 24 July 2016 – 7 January 2018 |
| External links | |
| Website | |
Robot Wars is a robot combat competition that was broadcast on British television from 1998 to 2004 and again from 2016 to 2018. The series, centred on the sport of robot combat, involves teams of amateur and professional roboteers operating their own constructed remote controlled robots to fight against each other, whilst also avoiding arena hazards and more powerful "House Robots", which were not bound by the same weight or weapon limits as the contestants. Earlier series included assault and trial courses for competing robots before they were ceased from the first "Extreme" series onwards.
The show was first broadcast on BBC Two from 20 February 1998 to 23 February 2001, on BBC Choice from 8 October 2001 to 7 February 2003 (later repeated on BBC Two), on Channel 5 from 2 November 2003 to 28 March 2004 before being revived in 2016 and broadcast on BBC Two from 24 July 2016 to 7 January 2018. To date, the show has been broadcast as 10 main series each centred around a single competition, two "Extreme" series with several unconnected events and several special episodes.
Jeremy Clarkson presented the first series, with Craig Charles taking over for the second to seventh series. Philippa Forrester co-hosted the first three series, the fifth and Extreme 2. Forrester also hosted the spin-off series Robot Wars Revealed from 1998 to 1999. The fourth series and Extreme 1 were co-hosted by Julia Reed and the seventh by Jayne Middlemiss. Jonathan Pearce provided commentary for all series. The revived series were hosted by Dara Ó Briain and Angela Scanlon.
Additional series were filmed at the UK venue for specific sectors of the global market, including two series of Robot Wars Extreme Warriors with American competitors for the TNN network (hosted by Mick Foley with Rebecca Grant serving as pit reporter), two of Dutch Robot Wars for distribution in the Netherlands and a single series for Germany. The fourth series of the UK Robot Wars was shown in the US on TNN as Robot Wars: Grand Champions in 2002 and hosted by Joanie Laurer.
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