Robot Wars (partially found unaired or partially aired battles of BBC robot combat game show; 1998-2017): Difference between revisions

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[[File:TX-108.jpeg|200px|thumb|right|TX-108]]
{{InfoboxLost
'''''Robot Wars Extreme: Series 1''''' was a series of special episodes of the television game show Robot Wars. They were broadcast from October to December 2001.
|title=<center>Robot Wars (partially or completely unaired battles)</center>
|image=Robot wars title.jpg
|imagecaption=Title card used for the British version of the show.
|status=<span style="color:orange;">'''Partially Found'''</span>
}}


One of the events was the Wild Card Warriors, a series of one-on-one battles between a robot that had never fought in the main competition and an experienced veteran. However, this did not go to plan as not only had two of the newcomers entered the main series before (Axe Awe and The Spider teams had originally entered in earlier series as Iron Awe and Robocow respectively), but in all of the televised battles, no newcomer won theirs.
'''''Robot Wars''''' is a British robot combat game show produced by Mentorn. Broadcast on BBC Two and Channel Five from 1998-2004, and from 2016 to 2017, the premise involved machines built by amateur and professional engineers battling other competitors in combat within an arena, with the aim to win via immobilising their opponents in some fashion, or through a Judges' decision. Throughout its run, there were multiple UK series, Extreme spin-offs, and US, Dutch and German versions of the show, each with varying numbers of battles taking place. However, due to the show's limited runtime, '''not all filmed battles could be broadcast, resulting in some being partially or fully lost'''.


Despite this, an untelevised Wild Card Warriors battle actually had one of the newcomers win. The newcomer in question was TX-108, a robot with a grey wedge and armed with a vertical hydraulic crushing arm for a weapon, up against two time grand finalists Hypno-Disc, a robot with a horizontal spinning flywheel.
==The Grudge Matches (The Second Wars)==
[[File:Hypno-Disc.jpg|200px|thumb|right|Hypno-Disc]]
''The Grudge Matches'' were a series of special battles that took place after the main competition of Series 2 concluded. Among the various fights (including two Judgement Day battles pitting Mortis against Cassius and later Napalm), there were several weight-specific championship matches, including the Featherweight, Lightweight, Middleweight, and Super Heavyweight championships.  
The battle began with Hypno-Disc causing a few gashes to its opponent. After 20 to 30 seconds however, Hypno-Disc suddenly broke down. Refbot counted Hypno-Disc out and TX-108 was declared the winner. The Hypno-Disc team were unsatisfied with the result however, and requested a rematch. Team Terrafonics could not fix TX-108 in time however, so the pre- and post-match interviews went ahead based upon the fight.


The Hypno-Disc team were not the only ones unhappy with this battle. The Robot Wars producers, Mentorn, were upset as well, and since the battle was so quick (and according to Fighting Robots Association, not very exciting), they decided to not air the battle on television. TX-108 would later fail to qualify for Series 5, 6 and 7 and hence never appeared on television.
While The Grudge Matches episode was broadcast on March 12th 1999 on BBC 2, it was decided that the weight-specific matches would see their air times cut, to ensure the show met a strict runtime. Because of this, only a few seconds of highlights of the Featherweight, Lightweight and Middleweight battles, as well as the Super Heavyweight heats, were shown. The only battle unaffected was the final of the Super Heavyweight competition, known as Super Showdown. This resulted in some competitors not even being seen in the cut versions, including Anarchy and Deadline from the Featherweight Championship, Scorpion from the Middleweight Championship and an Unidentified lightweight robot that was only confirmed to have battled thanks to an image in ''Robot Wars Technical Manual''.<ref>''Robot Wars Technical Manual'', which provided the image of the unidentified lightweight robot. Retrieved 4 Feb '21</ref> The uncut battles have never been released for public viewing.


To this day no footage or images of the battle have surfaced online and the company that have the rights to broadcast Extreme 1 and 2, Dave, have not aired the battle either.
<gallery mode=packed heights=225px>
File:Grudgematchlightweight.jpg|An unidentified lightweight competitor that was never seen in the aired footage of the Lightweight Championship.
</gallery>


==References==
==Behemoth vs Cerberus (The Third Wars)==
http://www.fightingrobots.co.uk/content/337-tx-108?s=cab3969c905117c9f72e25825713ffcb Fighting Robots Association article on TX-108.
After filming of The First World Championship concluded, a friendly match between World Championship competitors Behemoth and Cerberus took place.<ref name="behecerb">[https://web.archive.org/web/20020114000158/http://www.tinweb.com/discus/messages/1776/1949.html?WednesdayJanuary320010656pm Archived Tinweb post discussing Behemoth vs Cerberus.] Retrieved 4 Feb '21</ref> For a long time, this battle fell into obscurity, even among the competing roboteers, until its existence was confirmed through a CD-ROM that was included in an issue of the Robot Wars Magazine. The CD-ROM provides the only screenshot of this battle,<ref name="cdrom">[https://www.facebook.com/groups/UnofficialRobotWars/permalink/742660802680354 Unofficial Robot Wars Facebook post discussing the Behemoth vs Cerberus screenshot.] Retrieved 4 Feb '21</ref> with no footage currently being available.
<gallery mode=packed heights=225px>
File:Behemothcerberus.jpg|Only known screenshot of Behemoth battling Cerberus.
</gallery>
 
==Hypno-Disc vs TX-108 (Extreme: Series 1)==
In Robot Wars Extreme: Series 1, one of the events was the Wild Card Warriors, a series of one-on-one battles pitting a robot that had never fought in the main competition against an experienced veteran. Of five broadcast, it was notable that the veterans successfully beat the newcomers.
 
A sixth battle pitted newcomer TX-108, a robot with a grey wedge which was armed with a vertical hydraulic crushing arm for a weapon, against then two-time Grand Finalist Hypno-Disc, a robot with a horizontal spinning flywheel. The battle was deemed a brief and boring affair, with Hypno-Disc breaking down early on, leaving TX-108 as the only newcomer to win a Wild Card Warriors match. Despite Hypno-Disc's team requesting a rematch, this ultimately did not occur, with the producers deciding not to air the fight.<ref name="tx108">[http://www.fightingrobots.co.uk/content/337-tx-108?s=cab3969c905117c9f72e25825713ffcb Fighting Robots Association article on TX-108 and its unaired battle with Hypno-Disc.] Retrieved 4 Feb '21</ref> No images or footage of the fight, as well as the pre- and post-match interviews, have been found.
 
<gallery mode=packed heights=225px>
File:TX-108.jpeg|TX-108.
File:Hypno-Disc.jpg|Hypno-Disc.
</gallery>
 
==Robot Rampage (Extreme: Series 2)==
Similar to the Grudge Matches, Robot Rampage was an episode featuring competitors from other weight categories aside from the traditional heavyweights. First broadcast on BBC Choice on January 27, 2003, time constraints again resulted in some battles having their airtime cut to only a few seconds. While the entirety of the Middleweight and Lightweight Championships aired, only a few snippets of the heats for the Featherweight and Antweight competitions were broadcast.
 
<gallery mode=packed heights=225px>
File:Flybotkitty.png|Flybot pits Kitty.
File:Cutletdragon.jpg|Cutlet pits Dragon.
File:Featherweightsrr1.jpg|Aftermath of the first Featherweight heat.
File:Refbotpitrr1.jpg|Refbot pits himself in the first Featherweight heat.
File:Eddyevolution.png|Eddy Evolution drives into the Pit.
File:Amcvn.jpg|Refbot counting out AM CVn.
File:Bernardneoteric.jpg|Bernard pushing Neoteric.
File:Gianto.jpg|Gi-Ant-O about to be dropped out of the arena by Sir Killalot.
</gallery>
 
==Whiteboard Matches (Series 8 and 9)==
During filming for the Series 8 and 9 Grand Finals, several whiteboard matches were filmed, with the aim of obtaining more footage for each series and to entertain the attending audience. Five such battles were filmed in Series 8, including Eruption vs Infernal Contraption, Eruption vs Shockwave, Behemoth vs Gabriel, Behemoth vs Eruption, and Infernal Contraption vs Turbulence.<ref name="8whiteboard">[https://www.facebook.com/EruptionRobot/posts/1589001688068146 Eruption Robot Facebook post discussing the Series 8 whiteboard matches.] Retrieved 4 Feb '21</ref> Three more were filmed in Series 9, including a rematch between Behemoth vs Gabriel, and two battles pitting Behemoth against TR2,<ref name="tr2">[https://www.reddit.com/r/robotwars/comments/66bwco/team_toon_ama_robot_wars_grand_finalist_and_2x_uk/dgj1p23/?context=3 Team Toon Reddit AMA, discussing the second Behemoth-TR2 match.] Retrieved 4 Feb '21</ref> one of which featured hosts Dara Ó Briain and Angela Scanlon controlling the machines.
 
Because these battles were only intended to provide extra footage, the majority were not broadcast on BBC 2. The only match that did air was the Behemoth-TR2 battle pitting Ó Briain against Scanlon, as part of ''Robot Wars: Battle of the Stars''. Nevertheless, a few snippets of Eruption vs Infernal Contraption, and the Series 8 battle between Behemoth and Gabriel did air in the introduction to some Series 8 episodes, while some in attendance took photos for some of the other fights. The Series 9 Behemoth-Gabriel battle was uploaded to YouTube in December 2016. Aside from this, brief footage and images are currently the only viewable media as of the present day.
 
{{Video|perrow  =1
  |service1    =youtube
  |id1          =gHW53ldi3DA
  |description1 =Behemoth vs Gabriel in Series 9.
}}
 
<gallery mode=packed heights=225px>
File:Behemothgabriel8.jpg|Behemoth battling Gabriel in Series 8
File:Eruptioninfernalcontraption.jpg|Eruption battling Infernal Contraption.
File:Behemothgabriel91.jpg|Behemoth battling Gabriel in Series 9.
File:Behemothgabriel92.jpg|End of the Series 9 battle between Behemoth and Gabriel.
</gallery>
 
==See Also==
*[[1995 Robot Wars UK Open (partially found rejected robot combat TV show pilot; 1995)]]
*[[American Robot Wars 2000 (lost MTV pilot of British robot combat game show; 2000)]]
*[[BattleBots (found Comedy Central robot combat game show; 2000-2002)]]
*[[BattleBots (partially lost build of unreleased GameCube/PlayStation 2 game based on robot combat TV series; 2003)]]
*[[BattleBots Collegiate Championship (partially lost unaired spinoff of robot combat TV show; 2009)]]
*[[Mechanoids (partially found BBC robot combat game show; 2003)]]
*[[Plunderbirds: Talk Robots (partially found unfinished robot combat mockumentary film; 2019)]]
*[[Robot Wars (found cameos of robot combat-themed BBC 2 ident; 1999-2000)]]
*[[Robot Wars (lost footage and HSE documentation of behind-the-scenes accidents of BBC robot combat game show; 1998-1999)]]
*[[Robot Wars (lost near-death footage of Jeremy Clarkson from robot combat game show; 1998)]]
*[[Robot Wars (lost work on unfinished cartoon series based on robot combat game show; existence unconfirmed; 2002-2004)]]
*[[Robot Wars (partially found footage of robot combat show qualifying auditions and battles; 1998-2003)]]
*[[Robot Wars (partially found uncut battles from BBC robot combat game show; 1998-2017)]]
*[[Robot Wars Extreme: Series 1 (lost original BBC Choice version of robot combat battle; 2001)]]
*[[Robot Wars: Extreme Warriors: Season 1 (found TNN robot combat game show; 2001)]]
*[[Robot Wars: Extreme Warriors: Season 2 (partially found behind-the-scenes footage of TNN robot combat game show; 2002)]]
*[[Robot Wars Revealed (partially found BBC Choice spin-off of robot combat game show; 1998-2000)]]
*[[Robot Wars: Series 8 (lost unaired pilot of BBC robot combat game show; 2016)]]
*[[Robot Wars: Series 8 (partially found Science Channel reruns of robot combat game show; 2018)]]
*[[Robot Wars: The Kick-Off (lost BNN robot combat special; 2001)]]
*[[Robotica (found TLC robot combat game show; 2001-2003)]]
*[[Robots Revenge (partially found Discovery robot combat documentary series; 2001)]]
*[[Why Hypno-Disc can't work in an office (found testing video of Robot Wars competitor; 2000, 2007)]]
 
==Reference==
{{reflist}}


[[Category:Lost TV]]
[[Category:Lost TV]]
[[Category:Partially found media]]

Latest revision as of 21:13, 25 July 2022

Robot wars title.jpg

Title card used for the British version of the show.

Status: Partially Found


Robot Wars is a British robot combat game show produced by Mentorn. Broadcast on BBC Two and Channel Five from 1998-2004, and from 2016 to 2017, the premise involved machines built by amateur and professional engineers battling other competitors in combat within an arena, with the aim to win via immobilising their opponents in some fashion, or through a Judges' decision. Throughout its run, there were multiple UK series, Extreme spin-offs, and US, Dutch and German versions of the show, each with varying numbers of battles taking place. However, due to the show's limited runtime, not all filmed battles could be broadcast, resulting in some being partially or fully lost.

The Grudge Matches (The Second Wars)

The Grudge Matches were a series of special battles that took place after the main competition of Series 2 concluded. Among the various fights (including two Judgement Day battles pitting Mortis against Cassius and later Napalm), there were several weight-specific championship matches, including the Featherweight, Lightweight, Middleweight, and Super Heavyweight championships.

While The Grudge Matches episode was broadcast on March 12th 1999 on BBC 2, it was decided that the weight-specific matches would see their air times cut, to ensure the show met a strict runtime. Because of this, only a few seconds of highlights of the Featherweight, Lightweight and Middleweight battles, as well as the Super Heavyweight heats, were shown. The only battle unaffected was the final of the Super Heavyweight competition, known as Super Showdown. This resulted in some competitors not even being seen in the cut versions, including Anarchy and Deadline from the Featherweight Championship, Scorpion from the Middleweight Championship and an Unidentified lightweight robot that was only confirmed to have battled thanks to an image in Robot Wars Technical Manual.[1] The uncut battles have never been released for public viewing.

Behemoth vs Cerberus (The Third Wars)

After filming of The First World Championship concluded, a friendly match between World Championship competitors Behemoth and Cerberus took place.[2] For a long time, this battle fell into obscurity, even among the competing roboteers, until its existence was confirmed through a CD-ROM that was included in an issue of the Robot Wars Magazine. The CD-ROM provides the only screenshot of this battle,[3] with no footage currently being available.

Hypno-Disc vs TX-108 (Extreme: Series 1)

In Robot Wars Extreme: Series 1, one of the events was the Wild Card Warriors, a series of one-on-one battles pitting a robot that had never fought in the main competition against an experienced veteran. Of five broadcast, it was notable that the veterans successfully beat the newcomers.

A sixth battle pitted newcomer TX-108, a robot with a grey wedge which was armed with a vertical hydraulic crushing arm for a weapon, against then two-time Grand Finalist Hypno-Disc, a robot with a horizontal spinning flywheel. The battle was deemed a brief and boring affair, with Hypno-Disc breaking down early on, leaving TX-108 as the only newcomer to win a Wild Card Warriors match. Despite Hypno-Disc's team requesting a rematch, this ultimately did not occur, with the producers deciding not to air the fight.[4] No images or footage of the fight, as well as the pre- and post-match interviews, have been found.

Robot Rampage (Extreme: Series 2)

Similar to the Grudge Matches, Robot Rampage was an episode featuring competitors from other weight categories aside from the traditional heavyweights. First broadcast on BBC Choice on January 27, 2003, time constraints again resulted in some battles having their airtime cut to only a few seconds. While the entirety of the Middleweight and Lightweight Championships aired, only a few snippets of the heats for the Featherweight and Antweight competitions were broadcast.

Whiteboard Matches (Series 8 and 9)

During filming for the Series 8 and 9 Grand Finals, several whiteboard matches were filmed, with the aim of obtaining more footage for each series and to entertain the attending audience. Five such battles were filmed in Series 8, including Eruption vs Infernal Contraption, Eruption vs Shockwave, Behemoth vs Gabriel, Behemoth vs Eruption, and Infernal Contraption vs Turbulence.[5] Three more were filmed in Series 9, including a rematch between Behemoth vs Gabriel, and two battles pitting Behemoth against TR2,[6] one of which featured hosts Dara Ó Briain and Angela Scanlon controlling the machines.

Because these battles were only intended to provide extra footage, the majority were not broadcast on BBC 2. The only match that did air was the Behemoth-TR2 battle pitting Ó Briain against Scanlon, as part of Robot Wars: Battle of the Stars. Nevertheless, a few snippets of Eruption vs Infernal Contraption, and the Series 8 battle between Behemoth and Gabriel did air in the introduction to some Series 8 episodes, while some in attendance took photos for some of the other fights. The Series 9 Behemoth-Gabriel battle was uploaded to YouTube in December 2016. Aside from this, brief footage and images are currently the only viewable media as of the present day.

Behemoth vs Gabriel in Series 9.

See Also

Reference