Robot Wars: Battling On

Three years before the show's 2016 to 2018 television revival, an official documentary was produced to give an insight into the Robot Wars phenomenon, ranging from the hit TV show's cancellation in 2004 to its evolution into a live arena show. Robot Wars: Battling On was narrated by Nathan Head and featured interviews with robot operators touring with the live arena show as well as archive footage from the original TV series, which ran from 1998 to 2004.









THE EVOLUTION OF ROBOT WARS
R/C ROBOT WARS (1994) A one-off live battle competition was held at the Fort Mason Center in San Francisco and organised by Marc Thorpe of LucasToys following an idea he had in 1992 when trying to develop a robotic vacuum cleaner. R/C ROBOT WARS (1995 to 1997) Due to the success of the event there were a further three live battles in America organised by Marc Thorpe. ROBOT WARS (1998 to 2001) Mentorn acquired the UK TV rights and broadcast the battles on BBC2 hosted by Jeremy Clarkson for the first year, with host Craig Charles and pit-reporter Philippa Forrester taking over from the second year. ROBOT WARS: CELEBRITY SPECIAL (2000) Over the Christmas period a special spinoff show was produced and aired on BBC1 hosted by Craig Charles joined by new pit-reporter Julia Reed, the celebrity 'roboteers' included the boyband 5ive, Eastenders's Natalie Cassidy and Adam Woodyatt, boxer Chris Eubank, presenter Shauna Lowry, Boyzone's Shane Lynch, comedian Vic Reeves and presenter Anthea Turner. ROBOT WARS: EXTREME (2001) The first official Satellite TV spinoff show aired on BBC Choice and was hosted by Craig Charles accompanied by pit-reporter Julia Reed. ROBOT WARS EXTREME WARRIORS (2001) To appeal to a trans-atlantic audience, Mentorn produced a spinoff series in the UK to be broadcast in America on the TNN network (later known as Spike TV) hosted by pro wrestler Mick Foley with American actress Rebecca Grant as pit-reporter. ROBOT WARS (2001 to 2003) The main UK television show moved to BBC Choice on Satellite TV and was hosted by presenter Craig Charles with pit-reporter Julia Reed. NICKELODEON ROBOT WARS (2002) Due to the success of Robot Wars Extreme Warriors in America, Mentorn produced an American series aimed at a younger audience and hosted by Dave Aizer, Nickelodeon Robot Wars was filmed in the UK in the same arena as the BBC series and broadcast on the now-defunct childrens' sports channel Nick GaS. ROBOT WARS EXTREME WARRIORS (2002) The spinoff show had a second series broadcast in America on the TNN network hosted by wrestler Mick Foley and former 'Miss Kansas' Carol Grow as pit-reporter. ROAMING ROBOTS (2002) Live arena battles featuring previous contestants of the television show started in Nottinghamshire and were organised by former Robot Wars contestant John Findlay. ROBOT WARS EXTREME 2 (2003) A second spinoff show aired on BBC Choice and was hosted by Craig Charles with the return of original pit-reporter Philippa Forrester, however the television shows Robot Wars and Robot Wars Extreme 2 were later cancelled following the rebranding of BBC Choice into BBC Three. ROAMING ROBOTS (2003) Former 'roboteers' from the television show formed The Fighting Robot Association and John Findlay's live arena shows started to tour the UK and increased in popularity among fans of the show. ROBOT WARS (2003 to 2004) The television show found a new home on Channel 5 in the UK with pit-reporter Jayne Middlemiss joining Craig Charles as presenter. ROAMING ROBOTS (2004 to 2013) John Findlay's live arena shows continued to tour the UK and kept the phenomenon of Robot Wars alive following Channel 5's cancellation of the television show. ROBOT WARS: BATTLING ON (2013) An official documentary was produced, chronicling the history of the Robot Wars television show and the live UK tour, it was narrated by Nathan Head. ROBOT WARS (2013 to 2016) Roaming Robots was granted the licence to use the official brand name Robot Wars for the live arena tours in the UK organised by John Findlay and Trevor Bratty. ROBOT WARS: BATTLE OF THE STARS (2016) Following the success of the live arena tours the television show was brought back as a celebrity special on BBC2 over Christmas, it was hosted by comedian Dara Ó Briain and pit-reporter Angela Scanlon, the competing celebrity 'roboteers' included radio DJs Scott Mills and Chris Stark, Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock, triathlete Jonathan Alastair Brownlee, motorsport reporter Suzi Perry, Dallas Campbell, Rizzie Kicks's Jordan Stephens, paralympian Kadeena Coz, Footballer Robbie Savage and Archaeologist Neil Oliver. ROBOT WARS (2016 to 2018) Following the success of the live arena tours the Robot Wars television show was revived, it aired on BBC2 and was hosted by comedian Dara Ó Briain and pit-reporter Angela Scanlon. EXTREME ROBOTS (2017 to 2020) During the television revival former Robot Wars contestant John Findlay started a new tour of live battles across the UK under the new name Extreme Robots. The live tour was stopped due to the Covid-19 pandemic, when the UK Government put a ban on all public events and enforced restrictions on live performances.