Robot Wars: Series 9

The 2017 series of Robot Wars will be the ninth series of the show, returning to the Glasgow arena used in the previous series. It was first confirmed through online articles released in the early hours of October 11, 2016. The series will again be hosted by Dara Ó Briain and Angela Scanlon, with commentary from Jonathan Pearce, and the previous year's House Robots will return, as well as the reigning champion Apollo.

Applications for competing teams closed on October 21st. The series will be filmed in one block in December 2016, from the 2nd to the 7th. The series includes 2016's Christmas Special, Robot Wars: Battle of the Stars, and the main series, aired at a later date.

According to Radio Times, Sir Killalot, Matilda, Dead Metal and Shunt will once again return. The Judging panel is the same as that of the previous series, with Professor Noel Sharkey and Dr Lucy Rogers confirming their involvement via Twitter, Noel Sharkey also confirming Sethu Vijayakumar's involvement.

Format
The format is the same as that of the 2016 series, the first time a series has followed the same format as a previous series, containing six episodes; five qualifying episodes and a Grand Final, with a sixth finalist being chosen as a wildcard by the Judges. There will be eight robots per heat, of the forty in total.

Four robots fight in each first-round qualifier, of which there are two per heat, allowing two robots to qualify through them. In the second round, a round robin format is used, where the four robots which qualified out of the first round in each episode will all face each other in a head-to-head battle, even if they had already met in the first round. A certain number of points is given to a robot, based on whether it lost (0 points), won via KO (3 points), or won via Judges' decision (2 points). The two robots with the most points fight again in the Heat Final.

Robot Wars: Battle of the Stars
After audience ticket distributors Lost in TV first revealed that the 2017 series would feature recording blocks featuring celebrities, Robot Wars: Battle of the Stars was officially revealed by Radio Times on November 22, 2016. BBC Two confirmed this information on November 24, revealing Scott Mills and Chris Stark as competitors. The episodes will air as Christmas specials, on the 28th and 29th of December.

Episode 1
Competing Celebrities
 * Robbie Savage, mentored by Jason Marston (Thor)
 * Jordan Stephens, mentored by John Reid (Terrorhurtz)
 * Neil Oliver, mentored by Will Thomas (Shockwave)
 * Kadeena Cox, mentored by Ellis Ware (Pulsar)

Episode 2
Competing Celebrities
 * Jonathan and Alistair Brownlee, mentored by Gabriel Stroud (Sabretooth)
 * Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock, mentored by Shane Swan (Dantomkia)
 * Suzi Perry, mentored by Suren Balendran (Supernova)
 * Scott Mills and Chris Stark, mentored by Dave Moulds (Carbide)

Main Series
The UK Championship of the 2017 series will consist of six episodes, with no further details confirmed.