Printable version of thread

Posted by: Martyn 13th January 2016, 03:29 PM

It's all over the interwebs. Teamed up with original production company Mentorn, it will return for 6 episodes (the smallest series 1) later this year airing on BBC 2.

I am beyond excited for this.

Posted by: Rachel Spadzten 13th January 2016, 03:31 PM

Oh wow I used to love watching this! I expect that (was it Big Hero 6 that had the kid's robot fight another robot or something) had something to do with its revival

Posted by: LexDANCE 13th January 2016, 03:37 PM

Yassss! (I suspect the short run is mostly to test the waters for a longer run at a later date)

Surprised at the sheer number of people who I've seen hyped about this, don't remember it being particularly popular towards the end of the original series but I guess I was wrong.

Posted by: Martyn 13th January 2016, 03:46 PM

It was a combo of the way BBC (especially BBC 2 treated it) and C5 treated it, towards the end of its run. It was fine on BBC Choice, it ran Monday-Friday all done in a month. BBC 2, it was off at every opportunity, yet repeats of The Simpson and Fresh Prince stayed on. C5 moved it about the schedule basically every week, it also felt like a much lower quality series.

Posted by: burbe 13th January 2016, 04:16 PM

Yes I used to love this - so excited to see it back!

Posted by: Mack 13th January 2016, 05:55 PM

Great to see this come back. I wonder if the original house robots will return and please have Jonathan Pearce as the commentator.

Posted by: Silas 13th January 2016, 06:30 PM

I am so far beyond excited for this there are not words.

Posted by: Martyn 13th January 2016, 07:49 PM

I imagine there will be new house robots, or new version of the original ones. As most were sold off. I know Matilda's beat up shell is used for exhibitions.

With only 6 episodes I think the format will be 4 heats and a grand final, with the 6th episode being a special, probably an annihilator.

Posted by: Juranamo 14th January 2016, 08:53 AM

Can't imagine it being the same without Sir Killalot, Matilda or Shunt (the other house robots are not so essential imo). This was BY FAR my favourite programme growing up and I loved the PS2 game too, so excited for its return!

Posted by: Bré 14th January 2016, 10:35 AM

Oh I remember this! *.* Probably won't watch the new series (don't really watch TV at all) but that's cool that they're bringing it back.

Posted by: Qween 14th January 2016, 03:31 PM

I looked this up late last year to find out what happened to it (I remember it sort of just vanishing, didn't even know it went to C5, perhaps mercifully).

Posted by: Brett-Butler 14th January 2016, 08:28 PM

Really excited about this. Hopefully some of the older robots will make a comeback, like Diotoir (which was always set on fire, given that they insisted on covering it with fur for some unknown reason), Wheely Big Cheese, which had the most powerful flipper ever seen on the show, and of course Hypnodisc, responsible for the most destructive bout ever -

Posted by: Mack 14th January 2016, 08:35 PM

Or hopefully Chaos 2, Panic Attack, Razor, Behmouth to come back.

Posted by: Juranamo 15th January 2016, 11:40 PM

I'd personally like to see Chaos 2, Typhoon, Roadblock Razer and Panic Attack back, as my top choices. Also Deotoir and Napalm for hilarities sake!

Posted by: Froot. 3rd February 2016, 10:39 AM

Dara ​Ó Briain and Angela Scanlon will be presenting and the original commentator Jonathon Pearce returning.

Posted by: Qween 3rd February 2016, 11:11 AM

Dara is definitely a good choice for it, well done Beeb.

Posted by: burbe 3rd February 2016, 04:45 PM

Dara is great - so definitely looking forward to this now!

Posted by: Brett-Butler 3rd February 2016, 08:45 PM

I'm worried that Dara O'Briain might try to make the show a little bit too "science-y" for my liking (which is something that they stressed in the original press release confirming its revival. Balderdash - we don't watch Robot Wars for its scientific explanations, we watch it to see metal machines knock seven bells out of each other), but I'll reserve judgement until I see the finished product. It's a pity they didn't ask Craig Charles back, especially given that he was up for hosting the revival.

Posted by: Dobbo 4th July 2016, 09:53 PM

I Am BEYOND excited for this, legitimately my favourite TV Show of all time & I expect to be so nostalgic when that first new episode airs!

I sure hope it can deliver

Posted by: Mack 4th July 2016, 10:00 PM

Is that Shunt on the thumbnail?

Posted by: Dobbo 4th July 2016, 10:06 PM

It is! It's been confirmed the returning house robots are Dead Metal, Matilda, Shunt & Sir Killalot.

( at the Sgt. bash snubbage)

Posted by: LexC 11th July 2016, 10:36 PM

If you're in the mood for a sneak preview, the new website has recently (I assume) been http://www.robotwars.tv/ including participant spoilers if you're desperate for them.

I like that they've got a mix of the old and the new ones including Razer, the best one EVAH *.*

Posted by: #00274E 11th July 2016, 10:38 PM

Matilda to slay my holes

Posted by: Doctor Blind 11th July 2016, 10:56 PM

Hypno-Disc was my fave.

Posted by: Ðøßßø 15th July 2016, 09:43 PM

Wow there's a surprisingly high number of returning robots then! Can't wait for this to start just a shame there's so few shows but hopefully it'll be the catalyst to perhaps continue with future series?

Posted by: Mack 16th July 2016, 09:55 AM

His first fight was properly my favourite:

Posted by: Silas 16th July 2016, 10:45 AM

I'm praying that Hypno-disc will be back as that was also my favourite. I'm really looking forward to the return of Robot Wars, key part of my childhood

Posted by: Brett-Butler 16th July 2016, 03:25 PM

Hypno-Disc isn't taking part as the team didn't have enough time to get ready for the new series, although they have expressed an interest in returning if a 2nd series of the reboot is made.

Can't wait for this to start back next week.

Posted by: Silas 16th July 2016, 05:42 PM

I'm both happy and sad at that news.

Fingers crossed for a second series

Posted by: Mack 16th July 2016, 08:20 PM

I really hope it does get a second reboot.

Favourite ever robot?

Posted by: Ðøßßø 17th July 2016, 10:20 AM

I'd have to say Hypno-Disc too overall but towards the later series I really LOVED Gravity - that flipper was unreal.

Posted by: dandy* 17th July 2016, 11:49 AM

What was the robot that was covered in red and black fur and was absolutely useless?

Posted by: Ðøßßø 17th July 2016, 11:55 AM

That would be Diotoir! Loved the hilarity of it catching fire practically every single fight & they made sure Sgt. Bash was always a house robot when it battled

It did beat future champions Tornado in one series though!

Posted by: Martyn 17th July 2016, 07:37 PM

I am so pumped for this.

I am going to do a little preview of the robots in each heat leading up to each heat. Lots of new comers to the TV series although veterans of the live circuit. A lot of the veterans didn't have battle ready robots as there was a short time frame between the series being announced and filming starting. If there is a series 2 expect more veterans to show up.

A new format this year too for after the first round, means we will see lots of battles in each heat.

Posted by: Ðøßßø 17th July 2016, 07:47 PM

1 week today! It can't come quickly enough

Posted by: Silas 23rd July 2016, 05:13 PM

26 hours to go!!

Posted by: Mack 23rd July 2016, 09:27 PM

Who was the robot who turned up in an limo and with cheerleaders?

Posted by: Brett-Butler 23rd July 2016, 09:51 PM

That was Sir Chromalot, the team were definitely more entertaining than the quality of the robot - perhaps the only team to wear tuxedos whilst competing.

Posted by: Martyn 24th July 2016, 11:31 AM

Sir Chromalot, was much better is Series 6, it was unfortunate to meet S3 in the second round really.

Posted by: Ðøßßø 24th July 2016, 11:32 AM

Watching some classic series 5 on Challenge right now!

Posted by: Martyn 24th July 2016, 03:22 PM

Anyway on to my preview of Series 8.

So some spoilers about the competing robots and format of the show ahead.

So lets get some general bits out of the way first. We've lost Sgt Bash, Growler, Mr Psycho, Cassius Chrome (thank god for that shit heap) and Refbot from the House Robots team. I would have kept Growler and Sgt Bash. Refbot was useful at times too, particularly after he got the count down clock.

As for the four we've kept Shunt and Dead Metal, look basically the same as they did in Series 7, just bigger and badder than before. Matilda looks shorter and her whole face now flips up rather than just the tusks. Sir Killalot looks the most different from Series 7. They seems to have combined Sir Killalot, Mr Psycho and the live shows House Robot Major Damage into one killing machine.

The arena floor is now steal instead of wood, so that should be less easily damaged by spinners and axes than before.

The heats will be different this Series too. They retain the four way round 1 melees from Series 6 and 7, however after that it all changes. The four qualifying robots will face of against each other 1 on 1 in a round robin, even fighting again against the robot in it's round 1 melee. With points award for a win by KO (including pitting and flipping out the arena, basically anything that stops the opponent from continuing) or a win by a judges decision. I think you will get a point if you lose by judges decision and nothing if you lose by KO. The two robots with the most points meet again in the heat final. This will be the same for all 5 heats. The 6th finalist will be decided by the judges (one would assume it would be a losing heat finalist but who knows.)

Anyway let's get on to Heat A. (Click the names for a photo of the robot)

We have a nice mix of newcomers and veterans here.
http://vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/robotwars/images/b/bf/Behemoth_2016.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20160707152106

(DNE is standing for Did Not Enter or Did Not Qualify)

Robot Wars History
Series 1: DNE
Series 2: Semi Finalist (Lost to Killertron (4))
Series 3: Heat Finalist (Lost to Pitbull)
Series 4: (Seeded 6th) Heat Finalist (Lost to X-Terminator 2 (22))
Series 5: (Seeded 15th) Round 2 (Lost to Crushstachien)
Series 6: Round 2 (Lost to Bigger Brother)
Series 7:(Seeded 10th) Round 2 (Lost to Mute)

Other notable achievements: First World Championship Runner up.

Behemoth retains it's main shape pf a box with scoop it's had since series 3 for the 8th war. The main difference is they have ditched the over head axe for this war and the side self righting arms have been beefed up. It's had reliability issues in the past, notably in Series 7 when the robot went insane after Mute self-righted over it and damaged the ariel.

http://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/robotwars/images/5/56/Bonk_2.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20140716154345
Robot Wars History (As Mute)
Series 1-6: DNE
Series 7: Semi Finalist (Lost in the last 16 to Firestorm 5)

Other notable achievements: Extreme 2 New Blood runner up.

Ah the team who beat Behemoth in Series 7 and here they meet again. Sadly Mute was not battle ready, so they return with Bonk, a box shaped robot with a powerful Hammer/Axe weapon. Hopefully the axe will act as a better self-righting mechanism than Mute's flipper, which provided some amazing gymnastics but was not great at putting Mute back on it's wheels.

Bonk won't be the only former rival of Behemoth in tonight's hear... More on that later though.

http://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/robotwars/images/d/df/Carbide.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20160707152141
We'll call this a newcomer, although parts of the team were members of the Tiberius team, the Razer-esq robot wasn't that sucsessful, reaching one Heat Final between Seires 4 and 7. It did manage to win the University Challenge episode of Extreme 2.

Carbide looks impressive. Invertible with from the preview clips shown on BBC 2 what looks like an incredibly powerful spinning bar at the front. This robot is one to watch, and in a heat full of very successful past robots, could cause a few shocks tonight. Particularly as the live circuit does not have many spinners at all, as the live circuit arenas don't usually permit spinners.

http://vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/robotwars/images/6/69/Kill-E-Crank-E.png/revision/latest?cb=20160707135634
Built by Robin Herrick, who designed former finalists Body Hammer and Pussycat as part of Team Cold Fusion, this robot looks incredibly like Series 5 and 6 Semi-Finalist S3. It has a long wheel base, with a front spinner, it is just much shorter than S3 with a smaller disc. The builder has good pedigree will that be enough?

http://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/robotwars/images/9/91/Nuts_2016.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20160707152336
An actual complete newcomer now. A three part cluster bot (A first for Robot Wars I think), who is clearly making use of the increased weight limit for this series. As 2 parts of the robot are completely tiny wedges. I am not sure how the cluster bot rule works for series 8, in the past it has varied from 50% of the robot being immobile to 100%, that could really impact on Nuts. The robot itself reminds me a bit of Stinger, although it is not an axle bot. The arms with chains flail and thwack around trying to cause as much damage to opponents as possible. The cluster wedges are designed to get under robots and impede their movement to allow the main robot to do damage. I am intrigued to see how this works out.

http://vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/robotwars/images/f/f5/Terrorhurtz_2016.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20160707152550
Series 1: DNE
As Killerhurtz
Series 2: Heat Semi-Final (Lost to Road Block)
Series 3: Round 1 (Lost to Cerberus)
Series 4: (Seeded 16th oddly) Round 2 (Lost to Splinter
As Terrorhurtz
Series 5: Round 2: Lost to Fluffy
Series 6: 4th (Lost to Razer (1) in the Grand Final eliminators and then to Firestorm 4 (3) in the third place playoff.)
Series 7: The robot was not ready in time, but since so many semi-finalists from series 6 dropped out prior to filming (rule changes are to blame) they were shown on screen being disqualified for not being ready or something really ridiculous.

Other notable achievments. As Killerhurts, they came second in the first ever pay-per-view Battle Bots competition. They competed to differing levels of success all the way up to season 4.0.

Terrorhurtz has such a powerful axe, the robot lifts itself off the ground and shakes violently when the axe is fired. Reliability problems have hurt it in the past, but I wouldn't want to have my robot on the end of the axe when it hits right. Terrorhurtz have won the Live Shows "UK Championship" whilst the show has been off air and they are not the only former finalist in tonights show BUT more on that later.

And now a comeback that is really odd.
http://vignette1.wikia.nocookie.net/robotwars/images/7/70/The_General.png/revision/latest?cb=20160707130548
Series 2 (As Spartacus) Entered and lost the Light Weight battle.
Series 3: Football Side Competition- Finalist

Then nothing... till now. This invertible box is equipped with a front vertical spinning disc, the disc is heavy and powerful. However it's got rather exposed wheels, and it's thin armour doesn't look safe, with some powerful looking spinners in this heat, as well as Terrorhurtz's axe and also the last robot in our heat...

ARE YOU READY?
http://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/robotwars/images/1/10/Razer_2016.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20160707132713
Series 1: DNE
Series 2: Heat-Semi Finalist (Lost to Inquisiter)
Series 3: Heat-Semi Finalist (Lost to Aggrobot)
Series 4: (Seeded 3) Heat Finalist (Lost to Pussycat (19))
Series 5: (Seeded 4) Champion
Series 6: (Seeded 1) Runner Up (Lost to Tornado (12))
Series 7: DNE

Other notable achievements, winner of All Stars 1 and All Stars 2, First and Second World Champion, Southern Annihilator Winner, Killed Matilda among many other mini-tournaments and end of Series awards.

THEY'RE BAAAAACK!

Yes one of the most destructive (and in the past unreliable) robots in the history of The Wars is back and with a point to prove. Razer has won pretty much everything at one point or another. They missed series 7 and the robot does't appear much changed from when we last saw it in Extreme 2, if they haven't changed it much will Razer keep up with this new breed of Robot? They have had major reliability issues in the past (see their loses in Series 2, 3 and 4 as well as their vengeance loss in Extreme 1) will Razer be the first former champion to take back a crown they've lost, or will we be in for a shock exit for the former champions? Having controversially beaten Behemoth on more than one occasion in the past, they will be out for revenge tonight.

With a former champion, a finalist and two semi-finalists in this heat there is some great pedigree in this heat, so we are in for a great opening show.

Posted by: Mack 24th July 2016, 03:42 PM

Robot Wars really did decline when Channel 5 showed it, I felt.

Posted by: Ðøßßø 24th July 2016, 04:03 PM

I'm expecting Razer to walk this (would LOVE to see a Razer Vs Storm battle in the final) but there is some pretty strong experience in this heat so it should prove challenging!

Not sure what to make of the new robin round style, will have to just watch & see how it pans out.

Ahhh yes I remember S3 well, a very good robot that was difficult to flip out due to its unusual shape!

Posted by: Silas 24th July 2016, 07:12 PM

RAZER OUT

Posted by: Brett-Butler 24th July 2016, 07:19 PM

Really surprising. Nuts should have been eliminated first though, as 2/3 of the clusterbot seemed to have been immobilized, but the rules must have been updated since the original series.

Posted by: Silas 24th July 2016, 07:24 PM

Yeah that was a little shocking! Hopefully nuts should get hammered in the next round. Awful looking robot

I'm really enjoying this new series so far. Forgot just how much I enjoyed it

Posted by: Brett-Butler 24th July 2016, 07:51 PM

I was unsure at first, but the Carbide vs Nuts fight is the moment it finally clicked, it felt like a real classic battle, plus the complete destruction of Nuts was a joy to watch. Carbide could be the new Hypno-Disc.

Posted by: Martyn 24th July 2016, 08:03 PM

Great heat! I love the new format. There are few teething issues but I'm sure that will get worked out overtime. Looking forward to heat 2 I'll put my preview up in the week for that.

Posted by: Ðøßßø 24th July 2016, 09:14 PM

Okay I am LOVING this new format. It means not only does a robot who has one bad fight end up going home but we get more battles per episode (9 now as opposed to 7).

Gutted for Razer though but that's what it's always been about not just causing damage but driving well too & they misjudged it! Carbide looks phenomenal, very much like Hypno-Disc in its first battle way back when.

I also like how they've pretty much made it impossible to be flipped out the arena as towards the end of the original run it was happening too often & battles were so short. Jonathan Pearce is absolutely crucial though it just wouldn't be Robot Wars without his commentary.

Big thumbs up from me

Posted by: Silas 24th July 2016, 09:17 PM

Unlike another remake BBC2 recently put their hand to, this is an absolute triumph!!

I completely agree!! It was the stand out fight of the night.

Posted by: Martyn 24th July 2016, 09:29 PM

My only bug bear, I wish they had shown more of what the arena can do and the house robots before the battles started. I also think it would have been nice to have a little history of the winners of the show a bit of a history lesson to the newcomers to the show.

Digital Spy have (oddly) said the new format is better because now it is easy to follow who is going through. I do prefer the new format, but it is more complicated than anything before. Even Series 1 and 2 with The Gauntlet and The Trials was simple. The only ever slightly complicated thing was Series 5 and 6 losers melee.

On twitter it seems to have gone down really well, other than the usual people who complain about everything, oh I don't like that show how dare they bring it back, even though millions of other people enjoyed it. That and people who claiming they love Razer and then spelling it Razor.

Posted by: Ðøßßø 24th July 2016, 09:33 PM

Yeah for the arena itself the floor flipper didn't really do a great deal & I preferred it when the pit descended slowly rather than instant like now (minor thing I know ) glad the spikes are there they remind me of the really old school series like Series 3.

The house robots on the whole didn't have much participation other than Matilda but I imagine with more fights to get through there's less time to toy around with immobilised robots so that's fine.

Posted by: Juranamo 25th July 2016, 10:48 AM

Absolutely loved the first episode. Gutted Behemoth didn't make it through though, the spinner on Carbide is seriously formidable!

One nag is that in the league rounds, I think the 'loser' from a tie should get the spare 1 point as it did well to make it to the end of the battle.

Posted by: Ðøßßø 31st July 2016, 09:37 PM

So not quite such an explosive show tonight but I'm making sure to love every second as it'll be over before we know it.

Shame about Mr Speed Square that looked fantastic in Round 1 but did next to nothing thereon. Wanted Thor to win it though definitely deserved it as Shockwave got a bit lucky & won't be any match for Carbide in the final whereas Thor stood a chance.

Posted by: Silas 31st July 2016, 09:42 PM

Omg I forgot about this. Will watch tomorrow on iPlayer.

Posted by: Martyn 31st July 2016, 10:48 PM

WARNING SPOILERS IN MY NEXT POST!

Posted by: Martyn 31st July 2016, 10:50 PM

Heat 2.

Sorry I didn't do a preview. But here for a review.

Round 1
Eliminator 1
Tough As Nails V Disconstructor V Thor V Shockwave.

Disconstructor did about as well as I expected, not very. The tilted spinning disc wasn't very effective in series 7 and didn't have much impact here. OUT.
Tough As Nails, I am shocked. They appeared to have problems from the offset, normally they have great pushing power. However that is the second heat in a row a Series 7 semi-finalist has gone out in the first round in the reboot.
Thor looked impressive, but despite the axe not having much impact. The preview for this robot leads me to belive it will get to atleast the heat final. They have never done much in the past, will they get further this year?
Shockwave was by far the most impressive in this opening battle. Proving sometimes simple is the way foward.

I like how the floor flipper is rouge now and flips by it self.

Eliminator 2
Draven V Foxic V Mr Speed Squared v Chimera
Mr Speed Squared as Trouble and Strife have always looked good but not done well.
Chimera is one of a few robots in this series that look like they have escaped from Series 3 and not in a good way. This would have struggled back then, so it was no surprise to see it go out now. I suspect the others like it will quickly follow.
Draven have never looked solid, in their appearance in the show and live show appearances (when I have seen them)
Foxic, very lucky that Mr Speed Squared took the other two out. A bit like Nuts from last week. I suspect it might do better than Nuts did in the second round.

Round 2
Thor V Mr Speed Squared

Can I just say I hate the bars for stats instead of actual words and numbers.

I love how Mr Speed Squared has an arrow on it to show which way is forwards. However this fight for them is going very much the way of they previous attempts, started well going wrong fast. This is the most effective I have seen Thor's axe. Another robot pitting itself?

Foxic V Shockwave

Probably the two most similar robots in this heat. Foxic is like a smaller version of this robot. I am quite liking the invertible flippers. With it's new lifter Foxic reminds me of SMIDSY.

Really impressive Foxic can push Dead Metal. Shockwave really reminds me of Vlad The Impalor 2 from Battle Bots. Shockwave is the most impressive so far.

Thor V Shockwave
Shockwave's new scoop was shit. They should have tried to flip it. They didn't even really push it into Matilda. Thor a deserved winner even if they couldn't finish Shockwave off.

Mr Speed Squared V Foxic
I suspect Foxic will be too low for Mr Speed Squared.

I really don't know why Foxic didn't try and pit Mr Speed Squared. Not that the spinner was working, but Foxic was too low to be hit by it. So could have easily pushed it around. Considering that fight was edited down to about 30 seconds that was pathetic.

Foxic V Thor
So Foxic are out, as even if they win, they will only be on 3 points, and they lost to Shockwave so wouldn't get through.

Anyway, Foxic more impressive here, but not great. Thor somehow on 8 points, it's been good, but not great so far. Foxic, I think representative of the lack of time people had to prepare for this series. If we get another televised series hopefully the quality will improve.

Mr Speed Squared V Shockwave
A decider for the heat final!
Shockwave, put on a better scoop please, thanks! Also losing a chain again?
For Mr Speed Squared, it has gone the way it has for them with Revenge and Trouble of Strife in series 6 and 7.

Shockwave also reminds me of Panzer Mk 4.

Heat Final
Shockwave V Thor

Let's hope for a better Heat Final than last week.

Well! At least Thor didn't pit itself. Thor seemed to kill it's own drive with the power of the axe. I am glad Shockwave used a decent scoop this time.

However it's going to get taken apart when it meets Carbide in the final.

Next week see's the return of a previous runner up, two former series semi finalists, a world championship runner up a winner of the UK Championship (when the series was off the air, does it count? Erm.... no?), another robot that looks like it's escaped from Series 3 (at least this one was a semi finalist) and what could be one of the most annoying children since the Bigger Brother team, they own New Blood heat finalist Edge Hog (who went out twice in round 1 in the actual series) and their robot looks a lot like them. However since they are the previous runner up returning, and they have a new child tagging along I suspect it will be a battle to see who can be the most annoying. More to come when I go into my actual preview though.

Posted by: Mack 2nd August 2016, 06:56 PM

Shockwave certainly got lucky there.

Posted by: Martyn 7th August 2016, 03:35 PM

Heat C preview.

Dantomkia
Series 1-5 DNE
Series 6: Semi Final- Round 2 (Lost to Razer [1])
Series 7: (Seeded 5) Semi Final Round 1 (Lost to Gravity)

Other notable achievements: All Stars 3 Runner Up.

For the third series in a row Dantomkia is in Heat C. The spiked box wedge? Yeah that about covers the shape, with flipper returns looking very similar to how we have seen it in the past and is in-fact unchanged from Series 7. In Series 7 they were involved in the two quickest battles in the history of the show, defeating IG-88 in its Heat Final in 8 seconds, before losing to Gravity in the first round of the Semi Final in just 6 seconds.

I can see them getting through the first round tonight, but with throwing out of the arena much harder this year I can’t see how it will win fights.

King B Remix
Series 1: DNE
Series 2: Semi Finalist (Lost to Road Block [1])
Series 3: Heat Finalist (Lost to 101)
Series 4: Seeded 17 Heat Semi Finalist (Lost to Atomic)
Series 5: Heat Semi Finalist (Lost to Dominator 2 [11])
Series 6: DNE
Series 7: Heat Semi Finalist (Lost to IG 88)

Other notable achievements: Series 4 Tag Team Terror Champions (With 101)

King B Remix is an invertible box with front lifting forks. The rear spinning disc it has sported in the past appears to be gone, there is now a concaved rear end, I assume to deflect spinners. The wheels look tasty for spinners, of which there are a couple in this heat.

Glitterbomb
NEWCOMER

First of all, this child in this team could be one of the most annoying children in the history of this show.

Basically the team now owns the robot Edge Hog which wasn’t very successful and this robot bares more than a vague resemblance too. The axe mechanism even comes from Edge Hog. When this robot goes out, I suspect there will be tears. I would be certain it would be going out in the first round if it wasn’t for…

Overdozer
I said last week, there are a few “WTF?” qualifiers. This is one of them. Once again looking like it has escaped Series 3, at least this time it looks like a sequel to Semi Finalist Blade.

I really don’t know what to say about this. It’s the only robot this series to use a petrol engine, which powers the rear spinning brushcutter blade. No idea what that is, but it looks like it won’t be very effective, like series 3’s Blade it looks like a lawn mower blade. I must clarify despite my references to it, it is not related to Blade.

Despite the frame being metal, Overdozer’s armour is wood. Very lucky the main spinner is not in its battle. Overdozer consentrates on pushing power, however its front scoop appears to not reach the floor, it has massive ground clearance at the sides and back, especially around the large rear castor wheel. Oh it can’t selfright and is only 86KG.

It was originally supposed to be in Heat 2, but broke down so was swapped with DisConstructor.

Or Te
My previous annoying kids have grown up, so I have another one. Yes that’s right, we have a Bigger Brother replacement.
Series 1: DNE
Series 2: DNE
Series 3: Semi Final Round 1 (Lost to Mace 2)*
Series 4: Seeded 14 Heat Semi Final (Lost to Bulldog Breed 2)
Series 5: Runner Up (Lost to Razer [4])
Series 6: Seeded 2 Semi Final Round 2 (Lost to Terrorhurtz, also lost in the first round to Dominator 2 [6] but won the losers melee over Hypno Disc [4] and Spawn Again [10]
Series 7: Seeded 4 Heat Semi Final [Lost to Iron Awe 2.1]

Other Notable Achievements: Winner of Extreme 2’s Minor Meltdown beating Lambsy.

*Actually lost in its Heat Final on a judge’s decision to Ultor, however the Ultor team decided that Big Brother decided to go through over them. In reality they had to go back to work so couldn’t film the Semi Final.

Looking very similar to Bigger Brother, Or Te is white/silver instead of brown. It is heavily armoured and the flipper looks powerful. It has a tough opening round but if it gets through the first round it could go far. However like Dantomkia it may struggle with limited ability to flip an opponent out of the arena.

TR 2
NEWCOMER

Despite not having appeared on our TV screens before, this is a robot to watch. TR 2 won the UK championship in 2015. It’s a classic design, a wedge shaped rear hinged flipper. However TR 2 has added bite, if attacked from behind when the flipper flips, the back of the flipper is an axe, giving a rear end protection most flippers don’t have. It faces three veterans of Robot Wars in round 1, will their 2015 win be enough to see them through here?

Supernova
Series 1: DNE
Series 2: (As Oblivion) Heat Final (lost to Mortis [2])
Series 3: (As Oblivion 2) Pinball Warrior only- 6th Place
Series 4: (As Oblivion 2) Round 1 (Lost to Saw Point and Aggrobot 2 [20])
Series 5: Round 1 (Lost to Behemoth [16])
Series 6: Heat Final (Lost to Spawn Again [10]
Series 7: Round 1 (Lost to Storm 2 [16] and Rhino)

Other notable achievements: Third World Championship runner up. (Lost to Storm 2)

So much potential, with so little to show for it, Supernova has never quite got it right when it mattered. It’s a simple invertible box design with a powerful spinning disc at the front. The disc has done major damage in the past and as other spinners have proven this year. When you haven’t had to face them for a long time a lot of teams are not prepared for them. It has three pretty heavily armoured robots to compete against in round 1, so I think they might be in trouble here.

Big Nipper
Series 1-4: DNE
Series 5: Round 1 (Lost to Razer [4])
Series 6: DNE
Series 7: Heat Final (Lost to The Grim Reaper)

Other notable achievements: Big Nipper has been rather successful outside of Robot Wars, it’s won two UK titles and has proven difficult to defeat.

I do like me some interchangeable weapons. Big Nipper is an invertible U shaped robot, with the “dip” of the U being the weapons bay. Unlike most invertible robots, Big Nipper has different wheels on each invertible side. For this series its weapons are its classic horizontal crusher which is on the end of a lifting arm, so it can crush and flip as well as a powerful looking vertical spinner.

Round 1 Predictions
Dantomkia and King B Remix
Or Te and Big Nipper

Heat winner Big Nipper

Posted by: SevenSeize 7th August 2016, 04:36 PM

Been enjoying seeing this show again the last two weeks <3 looking forward to tonight's ep

Posted by: Brett-Butler 7th August 2016, 07:15 PM

Overdozer will probably go down as one of the worst ever entrant to Robot Wars. Not a good bot at all.

Nice to see a few older names in this week - Dantomkia was one of the most impressive robots of the later original series, and King B have been mainstays of Robot Wars more or less since the start.

Posted by: Mack 7th August 2016, 07:20 PM

Awful amount of waste was Overdozer.

Posted by: Martyn 7th August 2016, 07:26 PM

Hopefully next series the builders will get more notice, so the quality will increase and more veterans will return.

The second fight was more impressive, hard like for Supernova getting dragged into the pit by the power of their own disc.

Both the annoying children are gone. I was surprised Or Te didn't have the solid build quality of it's predecessor.

Posted by: Martyn 7th August 2016, 08:06 PM

NEXT WEEK:

Series 7's Top 2 return, one modified slightly. The other a completely new robot from the captain.

We also have an annihilator champion who has never won a battle in the main draw.

Someone who is clearly using the weight limit change to their advantage as they stick a mini cluster bot onto their previously eh robot.

One of the most impressive looking updates to a robot I have seen.

Two new comers who look similar to tonight's winner.

and The lightest robot in the main draw since series 1. It looks like it escaped from there too. Another WTF qualifier.

More detail to come.

Posted by: Ðøßßø 8th August 2016, 11:41 AM

TR2 looked very impressive there, think it's the first robot to earn 9 points in the head to head stage?

Having a more classic Chaos 2-like flipper across the whole front body proved more effective than say Dantomkia's with just the narrow rectangular shape but it had extremely good drive too which is proving to be one of the most crucial facets this series!

Posted by: Ðøßßø 8th August 2016, 11:43 AM

Agreed, however I don't think anyone could ever look past Granny's Revenge as the all time worst:

Posted by: Martyn 14th August 2016, 05:29 PM

Apollo

NEWCOMER!

A simple wedge shaped robot. Based on Kronic 2 whom the team bought after the series ended. I don't know how to predict this one. It will probably do well, as it is very similar to last weeks winner TR2.

Eruption

Newcomer

Another newbie! Eruption is a curving box wedge, with flipper and gripper. Aiming to get those damage points as well as pinning opponents onto the flipper. This robot has enjoyed success in the live events during the off TV years, twice winning the FRA UK Championship.

Kan-Opener
Series 1-4 DNE
Series 5 Round 1 lost to Atomic (22)
Series 6 Round 1 lost to Fluffy and Double Trouble
Series 7 Round 1 lost to Big Nipper and The Grim Reaper

Other notable achievements: Winner of the Extreme 2 and Series 7 Annihilators (Defeating Typhoon 2, Raging Reality, Revenge of Trouble and Strife, Major Tom and Thermidor 2 in EX 2 and Robo Chicken, Flippa, Ewe 2, Raging Knightmare and Ripper)/

Kan-Opener returns for the fourth time, hoping to avoid a fourth round 1 defeat. Despite it's like of success in the UK Championship it has proved a worthy competitor in the past winning 2 annihilators. Kan Opener returns this time with a more boxy design than in the past, and this time no protection around the sides of the wheels, will that cost them? The horizontal crusher has caused trouble for others in the past, and now with 12 tonnes of crush, if it gets a grip of you that would be one of the most powerful crushers in the history of Robot Wars.

PP3D
Series 1-6 DNE
Series 7 (As Typhoon 2) Champions

Ok so the link to Typhoon is vague, builder of PP3D was the driver (and I think helped build the Typhoon family of robots) Gary Cairns, built PP3D. Named PP3D as parts of the robot were created using a 3D printer. (There is advertising involved here but I ain't giving out free adverts).

PP3D is a Long horizontal box, with a horizontal flywheel underneath and a flipper on the back (or perhaps front.) The combination of flipper and spinner could be deadly, however it does have lovely exposed wheels. This has been put in the same heat as Storm 2 for a reason (which I will explain later) so I suspect this will be getting to the next round.

Sabertooth
Series 1-4 DNE
Series 5 Round 1- Lost to Evolution
Series 6 Round 1- Lost to Terrorhurtz and A-Kill
Series 7 DNE

This is one of the most impressive returns I have seen in Robot Wars. The jump from Series 6 to here is so impressive. (Although the robot they had for Series 7 but was too powerful looked great.) It returns as a box, with front lifting wedge and crushing/clamping claw and rear spinning drum. Oddly, given its past form, it was one of the competitors selected for the preview videos for the series. This looks really promising, however it has a tough opening battle and Sabertooth doesn't appear to have a srimech.

Storm 2
Series 1-6 DNE
Series 7 Seeded 16 Runner Up.

Other achievements. New Blood Winner, Third World Championship Winner.

Ok, so where do I begin. I am really surprised Storm 2 is here. After series 7 finished on Channel 5 they posted a MASSIVE rant about how it was fixed so a boring robot like their's couldn't win. I am sure in the final fight there may have been some manipulation for the sake of continuity and excitement, however I agree with the producers adding an active weapon rule for Series 7. After that long there was no need to not have some kind of offensive weapons. Anyway, if they don't win this expect Ed to go on a massive rant about how the world hates him. One of his comments was about Typhoon 2 withdrawing from the Third World Championship, as the batteries were shared with middle weight Typhoon (the defending middle weight champion) The middle weight and World Championship was filmed at around the same time. So the Typhoon team knowing they could only do one, chose to defend their middle weight crown. The Storm 2 team didn't understand this, saying why enter a "side show" than a main competition.

Anyway on to the robot.

It's basically the same as Series 7, a box with front wedge and sloping sides. A lifting arm very similar to that of multiple BattleBots champion Biohazard. This time it has actually got the interchangeable weapons, it can replace the arm with a front vertical spinning disc like the one seen on Big Nipper last week.

Sweeney Todd
NEWCOMER

Winner of my WTF of the week and the series. Basically an invertible desktop looking computer. It has a front spinning disc that looks like a CD. The robot itself weights just 45kg, which is lighter than the old Middle Weight limit. It has special wheels so it can move anyway without turning, it will need that maneuverability. How this qualified I don't know.

Terror Turtle
Series 1-6 DNE
Series 7 Round 1 lost to Atomic and S.M.I.D.S.Y. [13]

Another strange return. This time as a cluster bot. Like Nuts from Heat A this has a much smaller second robot as a cluster part. This is bigger than Nuts though at nearly 25kg and is an invertiable wedge. The Terror Turtle itself, looks largely unchanged from Series 7. Although its insides have had a much needed upgrade so it should be less slow and sluggish.

Personally I don't see this going far, especially as it's in the same opening fight as Storm 2, Eruption and Sabertooth. However this series has had a few shocks, and if the little clusterbot can get under an opponent it will potentially cause problems.

Posted by: Ðøßßø 14th August 2016, 08:08 PM

Very happy with Apollo winning it, reminded me of an old favourite Wheely Big Cheese or even Gravity which was one of the best robots of Series 7, especially taking out 3 different house robots!

Storm on the other hand were really disappointing, seemed to have lost that mega speed & pushing power they had before & did practically nothing weapon-wise. Eruption were quite unlucky there possibly a consideration for the Wild Card perhaps?

Posted by: Martyn 14th August 2016, 09:16 PM

Don't read if you don't want major spoiler Well one of the preview clips shown at the start of the episodes includes Eruption fighting a robot from Heat 5 called Infernal Contraption, this is not from the pilot shoot either. So I am wondering if there will be a special event, or if these are the wild card and Heat 5 winner. Although Infernal Contraption has always been a bit shit in the past.

I believe that it is supposed to be between the losing Heat Finalists, which means so far the choices are Behemoth, Thor, Dantomkia and Storm 2. I would say since Behemoth took some serious damage and then pitted itself that eliminates them. Thor was very unlucky, in its heat final so at the minuet I would say it was them in prime position.

Posted by: #00274E 14th August 2016, 09:21 PM

l o v i ngggg this

behemoth is a BEAST

Posted by: LexC 14th August 2016, 09:42 PM

Great heat this week, glad we finally got to see some old style flying out of the arena at last.

Posted by: Martyn 21st August 2016, 06:42 PM

Didn't get a chance to do a preview today, so I will do a review after. Expect spoilers.

Tonight look out for the return of 2x semi finalist Thermidor 2, promising newcomer Pulsar and the very interesting looking Gabriel, who will either be really good or really awful.

Also look out for Ironside 3, the new robot from the team who brought you Velocirippa and Mighty Mouse in the past. This looks much more destructive than those ever were.

Posted by: Ðøßßø 21st August 2016, 08:28 PM

So glad Pulsar were given a second chance, thought in the first battle they had the most potential & so it proved! Fair play to Gabriel up against 2 strong spinners & barely seeming to take much damage at all.

Definitely put Carbide or Apollo as my favourites & rooting for either of them to win.

Posted by: LexC 28th August 2016, 06:47 PM

15 minutes to go, backing my boys Carbide and Apollo.

Posted by: Martyn 28th August 2016, 07:01 PM

Sorry for the lack of preview. Been having a life.

I think the winner will be one of the heat winners over the wildcard. Gotcha

I am suspecting the top 2 will be Carbide and one from Apollo and TR2.

Posted by: Martyn 28th August 2016, 07:07 PM

Predictions for elimination

Thor and Shockwave.

Posted by: Martyn 28th August 2016, 07:21 PM

Wow, I know the Area wall got damaged in Series 6 and 7, but that was insane damage to the wall by Carbide.

Posted by: Mack 28th August 2016, 07:21 PM

I've never see a robot damage the arena at all.

Posted by: Martyn 28th August 2016, 07:30 PM

Did you see Series 7 (the one on Channel 5). Typhoon 2 destroyed the arena wall on more than one occasion including the Final against Storm 2 (which resulted in the filming being suspended for a day) Gravity also destroyed it by flipping Hydra onto it.

In Series 6 or Extreme 2 S3 was smashed into the arena wall buckling it.

Posted by: Mack 28th August 2016, 07:56 PM

No I've never seen it.

This is a turn up for the books with Apollo. Is this a great final. Carbine not out of it yet. Great battle there.

Posted by: Martyn 28th August 2016, 08:01 PM

The best two robots in the series made the top 2. It was by no means a classic final, but it was decent. I am hoping we will be back for another series. People will know it's back so we should get some more returning teams from the original series. Now spinners can be used the teams will prepare for them so they aren't so easily taken out by them in the future too.

Posted by: Brett-Butler 28th August 2016, 08:10 PM

Surprised that Carbide didn't win, but Apollo were worthy winners. Fingers crossed for a series two. If we get one, here's what I'd like to see differently -

- Differentiate the clocks between the time for battles & the 10 second count-out, it gets confusing using the same clock for each.
- Return to the Series 6 format without the round robin format - whilst it does mean more battles, a really good robot could lose out due to damage sustained.
- Use one consistent camera style throughout - the camera style changes format for the backstage clips & home building scenes, I would prepare they kept to the same standard throughout the episode without chopping and changing, it's distracting.
- People might disagree with me, but I think Dara should step away. He was a competent host, but I don't think he got into the spirit of the competition in the same way that Craig Charles did in the original. Not sure who though, but someone with the same energy as CC would be fantastic (although possibly not Craig Charles, as much as I'd like to see that, I doubt he'd come back after being passed over for the revival). Angela Scanlon can stay though.

Posted by: Ðøßßø 29th August 2016, 10:48 AM

What an epic finale! I did have a feeling 1 of the 2 flippers could sneak a result against Carbide & as it turns out they both did! Once Carbide loses its weapon there's not a lot to it whereas with the others there's a at least a bit more pushing power which like i said previously should never be understated! It was the grand final I predicted & although it would have been great to see both robots at full power throughout it was fitting how they were just slugging it out at the end after all the hard fought wins.

Poor Thor though Carbide made the others' jobs a lot easier after destroying it in the first head to head. The only thing I really wanted to see was Apollo flipping Sir Killalot to make it a clean sweep.

Overall though it's be an overwhelming success for me on its return on a personal level, I haven't checked ratings or anything but they kept throwing subtle hints there'd be another series which hopefully will run for a lot longer like the earlier series. Shame it's all over so quickly but in a way that's good as it makes you yearn for more!

Posted by: Martyn 4th September 2016, 07:34 PM

For fans of Robot Wars Spike TV UK will be airing the revived Battle Bots starting with the 2015 season Sunday's at 8pm. Get ready to see lots of things ripped to shit.

Posted by: Mack 21st September 2016, 10:06 PM

Currently been Series 5 on Challenge, it was seriously superior with Craig Charles as presenter compared to the recent series which was a bit dull at times, I felt.

Posted by: Froot. 12th October 2016, 11:09 AM

Confirmed to be returning for a new series next year with Dara and Angela continuing to be the hosts!

Posted by: Brett-Butler 12th October 2016, 11:14 AM

Delighted this has got a 2nd series. It's only going to be 6 episodes again, which was a bit disappointing as I thought they would expand it after the "testing the waters" 1st revival series. I have heard though that they are looking to make 2 series' a year from now on (one to air in spring, another to air in autumn), which would be an acceptable compromise. I hope they iron out the few creases from the first series going forward, although I see that Dara's staying, at least for the upcoming one.

Posted by: Christmas 2nd December 2016, 12:49 PM

There will be two celebrity specials where celebrities will be assisted by experienced teams to battle out against each other!

December 28:

Robbie Savage (Footballer
Jordan Stephens (Rizzle Kicks)
Neil Oliver (Coast presenter)
Kadeena Cox (Paralympian)

December 29:

Jonathan and Alistair Brownlee (Olympians)
Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock (The Sky at Night)
Suzi Perry (Presenter)
Scott Mills (DJ)

Posted by: Dobbo 2nd December 2016, 06:28 PM

Fantastic news.

Posted by: lewistgreen 12th February 2017, 01:52 PM

New trailer is in

Posted by: Dobbo 12th February 2017, 01:56 PM

Okay Robot Wars & Taylor Swift are 2 things that should definitely not go hand in hand.

But hyped all the same.

Posted by: Brett-Butler 5th March 2017, 07:54 PM

The first episode of the new series has been fantastic. Aftershock is one heck of a robot. Also liked the lo-tech Jellyfish, even if it didn't do much useful.

Posted by: Dobbo 5th March 2017, 08:04 PM

What? This is back already, I didn't know! Flop fan, I'll have to see it on catch up.

Posted by: Martyn 5th March 2017, 08:52 PM

Soz for the no preview.

I like that for round 2 and the heat final they aren't in the same pod now.

The rogue house robot idea, is a stupid gimmick. I am sure if a crowd favourite is losing and the button is hit, it will go rogue and take out it's competitor.

Also in a really odd decision that I do not understand. Last years top 2, are in the same round 1 fight so there is a good chance at least one of them will be going home early.

Aftershock has to be one of the biggest improved robots in between one single series, despite being a finalist last time out.

Posted by: Dobbo 5th March 2017, 09:18 PM

Great episode to the new Series! Aftershock reminds me of 259 in its design but it was certainly very impressive, I do think a flipper would stand a decent chance against it, had Rapid not broke down so early that could have been a great battle, gutting for them after spending all that money!

Old fave Behemoth is fighting next week.

Posted by: Dobbo 12th March 2017, 08:15 PM

At 5 seconds Eruption has broken the record for fastest win of all time previously set by Gravity in Series 7!

Tbf there was no way Cherub should have been in that final, how did the judges give them the win over PP3D??? That Behemoth "grabber" was utterly hopeless too

Old school team Thor back next week!

Posted by: Mack 13th March 2017, 01:03 PM

What was that reaction about with the bloke from Behemoth?

Posted by: Dobbo 13th March 2017, 10:09 PM

He just couldn't face losing to some kids

Na but tbf you'd be pretty peed off if you'd spent all that time building a robot then wacking that awful "grabber" on, no idea what they were thinking there. Not very gracious tho you have to say!

Posted by: SevenSeize 19th March 2017, 08:32 PM

quite late on realising this returned! caught up~

much amusement from that last episode :') Cherub getting that fluke finalist spot :''') Behemoth's team switching their main 'weapon' for that red grabber thing in the deciding match :''''')

Eruption tossing Cherub in five seconds was glorious though

Posted by: Dobbo 19th March 2017, 08:55 PM

Tonight's episode was lower in quality, don't think any of them whoever qualified would stand much chance in the final.

Looking forward to Supernova next week, always enjoyed their battles.

Posted by: Martyn 19th March 2017, 09:49 PM

Unfortunately looking at the line ups (even without as they showed 1 on 1 battles) there was some big spoilers in the previews for episodes 4 +5.

I still can't get over them putting last years top 2 in the same heat.

Posted by: Mack 19th March 2017, 09:53 PM

No returning robots from the 1997-2003 era then?

Posted by: Dobbo 19th March 2017, 09:58 PM

I imagine they'll both sail through to the Heat Final then the judges will invite the losers back as the Wildcard anyway, more fights between them 2 the better I s'pose!




Looking at next week's line-up Supernova are returning as well as Crushtacean, maybe have been another one but can't remember.

Posted by: Mack 19th March 2017, 10:02 PM

Razor to return?

Posted by: Dobbo 19th March 2017, 10:08 PM

I don't believe so this series unfortunately still gutted at how early they went out last year.

Posted by: Martyn 19th March 2017, 10:32 PM

Razer (with an e, sorry it irrationally annoys me when people spell it wrong)

The team didn't enter Series 9. I believe they are building something new for series 10.

I think a lot of the teams from the original era that competed in Series 8 weren't too successful against the new era of robots. Also a lot of the new teams are picked due to featuring children and women and getting a new breed of people into robotics and the science it takes to put them together, however I think some of the choices from the ones that make the TV show are questionable as some are taken out with one hit . A lot of team members from previous teams have entered as part of new teams.

M.R. Speed Squared from tonight was also a previous competitor from the original era, they entered with Trouble 'n' Strife. Also from tonight Heavy Metal previously entered with Limpet in Series 2, and perhaps more memorably with 13 Black from Series 5-7. I was slightly confused by Heavy Metal, I thought the bar was a spinner, not a grabber thing. I am not sure what that was. It had amazing pushing power, I think with some tweaks it could be successful in the future. I hope with Series 10 we will see some more resistance to spinners. As they aren't allowed in the live events due to most of the arenas not being safe for them, a lot of the robots aren't prepared from spinners.

The Ironside3 and Meggamouse teams both come from the Velocirippa and Mighty Mouse team.

Carbide one of the team entered with Tiberius in the original run.

The history is there, but perhaps slightly hidden.

Posted by: Mack 20th March 2017, 12:45 PM

Sorry about that,

For Series 10, I'm hoping for a longer series with a similar programming back in the early 00s although this is unlikely to happen.

Posted by: Dobbo 2nd April 2017, 08:24 PM

Walk in the park for Carbide that heat, shame we didn't get a huge fight between them & Apollo (I'm sure the producers will pick them as the wildcard so hopefully there's still a chance).

As it stands the whole final are spinners except for Eruption!

Posted by: Martyn 3rd April 2017, 09:07 AM

I have a horrible feeling it will be Cherub as the wild card.

Sabertooth were destroyed and are similar to another finalist
Pulsar didn't really set the heat alight although was a finalist last year.
Thor got the wildcard last year and I'm not too sure they would get it two years in a row?
Apollo are really damaged and the producers I don't think wanted it in the final. Why else put last years top 2 in a heat together. As I don't really buy the good tv thing. As surely they would have put them in heat 1? Or want an explosive end to the series.

Posted by: Mack 3rd April 2017, 12:06 PM

Would people want more episodes in a series?

They should have a seeding e.g. the finalists getting a seeding based on how they performed in the last series.

Posted by: Martyn 3rd April 2017, 08:56 PM

I think they could easily go to 8 episodes a series. 6 heats, the final and a special such as Tag Team.

Posted by: Dobbo 3rd April 2017, 09:53 PM

Yeah I'd agree the seeding system should come back so if all top 6 from one series returns the next they are designated a heat each.

8 heats would be the ideal number so it's straight KO rounds in the Final.

Also would like to see some of the spinoffs like Annihilator & House Robot Rebellion feature but would be difficult nowadays with the former if you had say Carbide just tear everyone up in the first round!

Posted by: Dobbo 16th April 2017, 07:11 PM

A fully deserved victory for Carbide this series, absolutely nothing was going to stop it!

Really enjoyed this series overall, it's amazing how powerful the bots have become, especially when re-watching some of the older series. One thing I have noticed this year is how useless the pit was, I don't recall a single robot being pushed in!

Posted by: LewisTScream 18th October 2017, 10:50 PM

Returns this Sunday!

Posted by: HobDoblin 22nd October 2017, 12:04 PM

That completely passed me by glad I found out just in time. 2 series in the same year, we are not worthy!

Posted by: Martyn 22nd October 2017, 12:28 PM

Be warned the new format for this series is really complex.

We are down to 6 robots in a heat and 30 in total, the lowest in Robot Wars history.

Heat 2 contains 3 of last years 6 finalists including the Top 2 being in the same hear for the second series in a row and the fourth place robot. (Carbide, Eruption and After Shock).

So the new format.

In round one in each heat there are two 3 way melees. One robot from each of these will progress directly to round 3. The remaining two will be ranked as 2nd and 3rd place in the battle. Neither is eliminated.

Round 2.
Fight A 2nd place V Fight B 3rd place
Fight A 3rd Place V Fight B 2nd place

The four non winning robots fight against each other for a place in the 3rd round.

Round 3.
Round 1 winner V round 2 winner
Round 1 winner V round 2 winner

The winners of this go into round 5. and the losers face off in round 4.

Round 4
Loser of Round 3 1 V Loser of Round 3 2

The winner of this claims 3rd place for the heat and goes into round 6. The loser is eliminated.

Round 5
Winner of Round 3 1 V Winner of Round 3 2
The winner of this claims a place in the grand final. The loser joins the winner of round 4 in round 6.

That is the end of the heat.

Round 6
Is the replacement for the wild card selection for the 6th finalist.
The 5 winners of Round 4 and the 5 losers of Round 5 face off in a 10way battle for a place in the grand final.

Round 7 (Grand final)

It's not been revealed how the final will work just yet, but it will contain the 5 heat winners and the winner of round 6.

Posted by: HobDoblin 22nd October 2017, 12:47 PM

I can't wait to hear Dara explain all that...

Posted by: vidcapper 23rd October 2017, 06:30 AM

I loved the original series, but I think the new format is too complicated.

Posted by: SevenSeize 29th October 2017, 03:29 AM

Enjoyed the first ep- new format didn't seem too complex in practice plus Behemoth's win was a really cool moment (especially in the kinda ~outta nowhere~ way it happened, fab finale!). the fog machine though we could do without

Posted by: Brett-Butler 3rd December 2017, 08:19 PM

The final's on at the moment. Nuts 2 beat Carbide, which was incredible stuff.

Posted by: SevenSeize 5th December 2017, 02:17 PM

Fantastic finale especially that last fight, great to see my fellow michael finally get the win with Eruption (and that little tribute outro was cheesy in all the right ways <3) and Nuts being one of the real stars this series!

Best few seconds of S10: the Apex self destruction

(can we get another series after this pls?)

Posted by: Brett-Butler 5th December 2017, 10:09 PM

There's a special coming up over Christmas, which is a UK vs Rest of the World Battle. And excitingly...Diotoir's back!

Posted by: Dobservance 10th December 2017, 01:49 PM

This was a fantastic series, pretty much every fight was full of action.

I personally thought Carbide should have won that final but it's great to see a new champion, fair play after coming through that 10-way melee then winning the whole thing!

The fog of war can go though...

Posted by: Martyn 10th December 2017, 02:50 PM

What? When is this on?

Posted by: Mack'sXmasSack 10th December 2017, 04:12 PM

Oh yes, an Robot Wars icon

Posted by: Brett-Butler 10th December 2017, 05:06 PM

It's on New Year's Eve at 7pm. Exciting times!

Posted by: Martyn 16th March 2018, 10:37 PM

Sadly this has been axed by the BBC after 3 series of the rival.

Hopefully like the revived Battlebots which was dropped by ABC after 2, it will get picked up by a smaller network.

Robot combat will continue through Battlebots now on Discovery and Asia's Kind of Bots, which I believe most of which is on Youtube.

The BBC have axed it to make way for new and different programming, despite this being a unique show and actually trying to get the young people into science and engineering. Another reason for the axe is declining ratings. But the last series was put up against Blue Planet (or was it Planet Earth) and The X Factor. So no wonder it lost viewers.

I've been mentally preparing this since Series 9 + 10 got announced very close to the airing of Series 8 + 9 but nothing was announced about a Series 11.

Posted by: Dobbo 17th March 2018, 01:12 PM

Can't be too sad, never thought a revival would ever happen then we were blessed with 3 super-fast series.