UK vs Germany Special

"Tonight, we are opening old wounds. Settling old scores. Taking on old enemies, in our UK vs Germany special! But don't worry, its just a friendly exchange of engineering skills, technical know-how European goodwill. And then its about getting the robots in the warzone to prove the British are the best once and for all!"

- Craig Charles

The UK vs Germany Special was an extra competition held at the end of Robot Wars: The Sixth Wars. It featured four British robots and four robots representing Germany, who fought in a tournament to determine which country had the best robots. It was also broadcast as part of German Robot Wars.
 * Due to a lack of available entrants, only two of the German representatives were actually from Germany, with Dutch robot Das Gepäck and Loanerbot Dynamite being drafted in.
 * This is the only episode of UK Robot Wars to end in a draw, much to the displeasure of the audience.
 * The UK vs Germany episode marked Adam Clark's final appearance with a heavyweight on Robot Wars.
 * The German version of the episode was billed as England vs Germany, although Corkscrew was actually from Scotland.

Format
Like the Extreme Warriors: Season 2 War of Independence it was a straight knockout competition between eight robots, four representing each country, with the fights of the first two rounds being fought between robots representing the same country. Only the final offered a UK vs Germany encounter.

Differences between versions
The UK vs Germany special was one of three tournaments to be contested in multiple versions of Robot Wars. In the UK version, Craig Charles and Philippa Forrester presented, with Jonathan Pearce providing the commentary. In the German version, Jürgen Törkott presented and also interviewed the German teams before and after the battle. The UK interviews remained intact, with translations provided by Volker Wolf, who also provided the commentary.

The line-up shown below is that of the UK airing, which showed a UK battle, then a German battle, and so on. This was reversed in the German airing, so that a German battle was shown first, then a UK battle, and so on.

Robots Competing
UK Robots German Robots
 * 259
 * Judge Shred 2½
 * Corkscrew
 * Fluffy
 * Delldog
 * Dynamite
 * Das Gepack
 * Ansgar's Revenge

Judge Shred 2½ (UK) vs 259 (UK)
The two robots met, and immediately, a sliver of Judge Shred was torn free and hurled away by the huge spinning disc of 259. Judge Shred bravely got beneath the front of the disc and flipped 259 up into the air, but 259 fell back down and its flywheel smashed into Judge Shred's flipper, buckling it and rendering Judge Shred's weapon useless. "There goes the flipper...."

- Jonathan Pearce

259 followed this up quickly by ramming into Judge Shred another three times, tossing it ahead of it and buckling its side armour. One of the right armour plates was torn off, exposing the wheel, which 259 promptly destroyed, leaving Judge Shred only able to go around in circles. Sergeant Bash crossed the arena and joined Growler in menacing Judge Shred, with Growler clamping down on Judge Shred. "I'm afraid, the scales of justice are tipping against you!"

- Jonathan Pearce

However, they backed off and allowed 259 to continue attacking, which resulted in Judge Shred flying into the air and balancing against 259's flywheel. Wary of his robot, Adam Clark stopped his machine and waited until Refbot knocked Judge Shred free. However, 259 had stopped moving by now, and Growler pushed 259 into the pit release. Growler switched back to Judge Shred and pulled it out from the arena wall, holding it in front of Refbot, who counted it out. "Judge Shred, not fit to fly the flag."

- Jonathan Pearce

Growler seized Judge Shred by its mangled flipper and pushed it onto the floor flipper, where it was thrown through the air and onto its back. Growler then grabbed Judge Shred and burnt it on the flames, before dumping it in the pit.

Winner: 259

Delldog (Germany) vs Dynamite (Germany)
Delldog entered the arena with a severe disadvantage. Its main weapon had broken down and the team were unable to get it working again, meaning it had to compete completely weaponless. "No spinning ring with teeth...vulnerable when static...the robot absolutely defenceless now."

- Jonathan Pearce, reading Delldog's (broken) weapon and weaknesses

Despite its lack of any weaponry, Delldog was quick off the mark and slammed into Dynamite's side, managing to dodge the powerful flipper. A second ram from Delldog alone managed to dent the wheelguard of Dynamite. Delldog then pushed Dynamite across the arena and into Dead Metal, who pushed Dynamite into the middle of the arena, slicing into its side. "Out comes Dead Metal with a slice, and already you can see the scar!"

- Jonathan Pearce

Delldog got itself briefly caught by Sir Killalot, but managed to slip past the House Robot and nudge Dynamite, who was immobile after the attack by Dead Metal. Refbot counted Dynamite out and Sir Killalot pushed it onto the floor flipper. "Dynamite? How can you call a machine like that Dynamite? Think of another name - Powderpuff! Weakling! Smashed and Bashed! Dynamite, flies, yeah, but it doesn't come down with an explosive, percussive, rap!"

- Jonathan Pearce

Dynamite was hurled through the air and landed heavily, shattering parts of the thin armour. It was caught by Dead Metal and Sir Killalot, the former of whom sliced into the flipping mechanism. Killalot then plucked Dynamite up and dropped it on its back, causing the armour shell to break off. It then picked it up and swung it around, bathing it in flames and shaking the armour completely off. Killalot then dropped Dynamite over the arena wall. "Delldog survives somehow, I dunno."

- Jonathan Pearce, having backed Dynamite to win

Winner: Delldog

Corkscrew (UK) vs Fluffy (UK)
The start of the match was slow as both machines spun their weapons up on the spot. Fluffy struck the spinning Corkscrew, losing most of its weapons momentum, but knocking Corkscrew aside. Fluffy quickly recovered its weapon speed and struck Corkscrew's body, but accidently spun on its axis and slammed its side into Corkscrew's weapon. Recovering quickly, it slammed its spinning weapon into Corkscrew and knocked it decisively across the arena. Corkscrew's weapon had stopped spinning and this left it vulnerable to a follow up attack from Fluffy. "What you will see is, with the Fluffy blade once it has struck its opponent, the blade will stop. Mind you, Corkscrew, has stopped dead!"

- Jonathan Pearce

Corkscrew spun around in circles, but could not get its own weapon's speed up. Growler then rammed into Corkscrew, causing it to bounce out of the CPZ and skid to a halt near the pit release. Fluffy slammed into Corkscrew, activating the pit in the process. Bash closed in, blasting its flamethrower, and it became apparent that Corkscrew had been immobilised. "Corkscrew's done for, here, I think"

- Jonathan Pearce

Refbot moved in and counted it out, before Bash and Growler pulled it away and the latter carried it across the arena. Corkscrew was placed on the arena floor flipper and hurled away, revealing a "no pants" slogan painted underneath. "So that's whats under the kilt! Don't worry, you won't be seeing close-ups, only close-ups of the right sort here, the tasteful close-ups, of a machine about to be mercilessly pounded into the pit."

- Jonathan Pearce

Growler seized it and dumped it into the pit, eliminating it from the competition. "No pants? It was pants! It goes spinning out of the competition, wheras Fluffy, they display the spirit of 66!"

- Craig Charles

Winner: Fluffy

Ansgar's Revenge (Germany) vs Das Gepack (Germany)
Das Gepack was the much quicker robot, slamming into Ansgar's Revenge twice and pushing the shuffler into Dead Metal. Ansgar's Revenge shifted its weapon, trying to keep Dead Metal from slicing into anything, but it was unable to escape with Das Gepack continually slamming it into Dead Metal's CPZ. "Dead Metal, therefore, is caught on Ansgar's Revenge, which won't bother Dead Metal at all, but it will do, the German robot!"

- Jonathan Pearce

Sir Killalot closed in, grabbing Ansgar's Revenge's weapon and pulling it free of Dead Metal's grasp, before carrying it across the arena. Das Gepack swiftly activated the pit, and Sir Killalot released Ansgar's Revenge in the centre of the arena. The shuffler moved backwards and forwards feebly, but was unable to resist Das Gepack pushing it into an angle grinder and ramming it there several times. Ansgar's Revenge shuffled away from the wall, and Das Gepack slammed into the wall and bounced free. Still not showing signs of fluent movement, Ansgar's Revenge was pushed into Sir Killalot again. "They look worried, Ansgar's Revenge, and so they should be. But for me, Das Gepack, is the best machine we've seen so far in this UK vs Germany special."

- Jonathan Pearce

The huge house robot attempted to cut and lift the shuffler, but instead pushed it towards the pit. Despite attempts by Das Gepack to pit the machine in the last moments, time ran out and the judge's were consulted, voting Das Gepack through. "Well I've just heard from the judges - it didn't take long - its obvious who won. Ansgar Revenge completely battered, Das Gepack go marching on!"

- Craig Charles

Winner: Das Gepack

259 (UK) vs Fluffy (UK)


The opening stages of the battle were very tense, with both robots spinning their weapons up to speed and avoided premature contact. Finally, the two made light contact, with a piece of 259's front wheel guard shorn off. Fluffy spun around and attacked again, bouncing 259 and buckling its side skirt. This contact significantly hampered 259's mobility as it had caused a drive belt to slip straight off. "Is that a drive belt, coming loose there for 259? It certainly seems to be!"

- Jonathan Pearce

Fluffy slammed into 259 again, before 259 limped away quickly, leaving its drive chain behind. Fluffy slammed into 259 again, knocking the other drive belt loose. 259 limped on, trying to land an attack on the side of Fluffy, but Fluffy's heavy weapon struck 259's and knocked it onto its side, immobilising it. "And another, massive attack! Sends 259 toppling! What ease! They simply tossed 259 aside!"

- Jonathan Pearce

Refbot moved in and counted it out, before Mr Psycho closed in and slammed his hammer down twice, bending the side of 259. Dead Metal then seized 259 and sliced into it, before pushing it into the pit release and into the pit. "Fluffy, worthy winners. A real match for anything Germany can put up."

- Jonathan Pearce

Winner : Fluffy

Delldog (Germany) vs Das Gepack (Germany)
The two robots battered against each other, but with Delldog's weapon still not working, it became a battle of pushing. Despite an early push from Delldog, Das Gepack easily won the pushing match and shunted Delldog into Mr Psycho's CPZ. Delldog spun in circles, trying to use its weapon to ward off the House Robot, and managed to slip through an opening before the House Robot attacked. "Into the clutches of Mr. Psycho - they've got to get out of there very very quickly. It can get up to top speeds of 11 miles per hour, nothing like that at this moment in time."

- Jonathan Pearce

Das Gepack rammed into it again, pushing it into Bash, who bathed Delldog in fire. Bash then seized Delldog in its pincer, clamping on and crushing through its armour. When Bash opened his pincer again, Delldog was skewered on the top jaw. Das Gepack activated the pit, and Bash carried Delldog out to Mr Psycho, who slammed it with its huge hammer, trying to knock it free of Bash. The first two attempts failed, but the third knocked Delldog free of Bash, who retreated into his CPZ. "Teamwork from the House Robots! Now, you understand that they're totally neutral in all this. They don't mind if UK or Germany wins this."

- Jonathan Pearce

However, the damage from the two house robots was enough to immobilise Delldog, who was slammed into the wall by Das Gepack and positioned in front of Refbot by Bash. Once counted out by Refbot, Delldog was pushed easily into the pit by Das Gepack.

Winner: Das Gepack

The fight
"Fluffy will fight them in the arena, he'll fight them on the angle grinder, he'll fight them in the pit, and Fluffy will never, never, never, surrender!"

- Jonathan Pearce- The patriot

Fluffy powered its weapon up, but neither robot attacked the other for a considerable amount of time, swerving around the arena in an attempt to get the right position. Fluffy's first contact smashed one of Das Gepack's ramming spikes, severing its connection and letting it hang loose. Fluffy clipped Das Gepack's sides a few more times, but no damage was done. Fluffy and Das Gepack collided twice, the first collision knocking Fluffy askew, whilst the second tore a fragment of Das Gepack's armour free. "Well set up, this final. By far and away the best two machines we've seen!"

- Jonathan Pearce

Das Gepack then pushed into Fluffy's side, but abandoned this attack. Das Gepack resumed its attack on Fluffy, whose weapon had stopped working. However, Das Gepack's buckled spike slipped, causing it to lose its traction on Fluffy. Das Gepack activated the pit instead, and the two robots entered a pushing match near the pit. Fluffy resisted, getting its axe beneath Das Gepack and allowing it to push back. Das Gepack ducked around the pit and tried to push Fluffy into Bash, but got caught itself. Das Gepack swiftly reversed out of Bash's grasp and pushed back into Fluffy. "Has the Fluffy weaponry stopped? That could be decisive, if it does go to the judges, mind you the Das Gepack weapon has hardly been effective throughout."

- Jonathan Pearce analysing in the last twenty seconds

Das Gepack seemed to dominate the pushing match, with Fluffy ending the match on the flame pit.

The decision
"An unstoppable force meets an immovable object!"

- Craig Charles

Noel Sharkey, Mat Irvine and Martin Smith were called upon to decide the finale of the special. Based on the usual criteria of style, control, damage and aggression, the judges were unable to separate the robots on points. "They've called it a draw!"

- Craig Charles

Craig Charles' announcement was booed emphatically by the audience. Craig Charles handed the trophy to the German team and promised that another would be made up for the Fluffy team. The decision remains unpopular with Robot Wars fans, as it was an anti-climax for the competition and the Sixth Wars in general.

UK vs Germany Champion: Draw declared

"Well for international relations, that fight insured, that all is fair in love, and Robot Wars!"

- The episode's signoff