Robot Wars Magazine/Issue 5

"Phew! We only just managed to finish this issue in time. Everything in the RWM offices has been going barmy as we get ready to cover the next wars. By the time you read this, we'll be camped out in the studios getting all the news and pics from the Fourth Wars - the new teams, old favourites, presenters, audience - you name 'em, we'll get 'em! ... Ohm and if you spot any of us at Robot Mayhem or the filming, make sure you say hello!"

- Message from The Editors, Page 3

Issue 5 of Robot Wars Magazine was released 26th July 2000 It contained interviews with Julia Reed and Team Behemoth and a look at Sir Killalot.

Features

 * Robot Report - The latest Robot Wars news, along with other stories about robots. This month’s top stories; the revelation of who the newest Robot Wars presenter would be, upgrades to the House Robots and some of the newcomers to the wars.
 * Birth of the Beast: Drilla Killa – The fifth of the Birth of the Beast features, looking at Sir Killalot, with an interview with operator Colin Tilley.
 * Team Profile: Attack Of The 50ft Robot – An interview with Team Behemoth.
 * Robot Wars Club - News for club members, advertising the upcoming Robot Mayhem event, the first ever official live Robot Wars event, used for the Series 4 qualifiers. Also included A to Z of Contestant Robots, Lucky Numbers, Caption Competition and information on how to join with form.
 * Exclusive Interview - Killa-Jules - An interview with Julia Reed, the newest Robot Wars Pit Reporter, replacing the pregnant [[Phillipa Forrester].
 * Classic Clash - Flipped Disc - A summary of the final battle of The Third Wars, where Chaos 2 triumphed over Hypno-Disc, with photo highlights.
 * The Seeds of Doom - An look at the Series Four seeds.
 * Brain Scan: Adam Clark – An interview with prolific roboteer and the man in charge of the Robot Wars website, Adam Clark.
 * Static - Letters and online messages from fans, puzzles, quiz questions, and a preview of "Next Issue".

Comic
The Origin of Shunt – The comic begins in a Siberian nuclear power plant, in 1989. The water-cooler reactor is running dangerously hot, so two repair robots are sent in to solve the problem. However, one of them stops responding. Another robot, fire robot NEVA, is sent in to see the problem, and the staff are amazed to see the two repair robots meld together and fuse with the core, creating Shunt. Shunt takes out NEVA, and the scientists must call for help - a chain reaction could threaten the world!

In part 2, TARPA is called in to solve the crisis. Adam enters the core in a radiation-proof reaction suit. He is shocked to see the robot is evolving, and can now heal itself. The robot tries to shunt Adam into the core, but Adam manages to break the robots nuclear rod, allowing them to capture it. To keep it safe, it is stored in a space station orbiting Earth.

Competitions

 * Game Boy - A competition to win a a Gameboy Colour and a Joytech GBC Action Pack, containing a carry case, screen magnifier and light, a link cable, battery pack, charger and adapter. 20 runners-up would receive an Action Pack. The question was "What is the name of the new Robot Wars presenter?".
 * Down Boy! 12 Teksta toys were avaliable to win. The question was What was the name of the black and white robot in Series III that looked like a dog.

Subscription Offer
A special deal was offered to readers who subscribed - 12 issues for the price of 11.

Posters

 * Sgt Bash (2 pages)
 * Phillipa Forrester (1 page)

Free Gift
A keyring was included with this issue.

Adverts

 * Walking With Dinosaurs (Page 13)
 * The Big Knights video (Page 16)
 * FBX Magazine (Page 23)

Credits

 * Editor: Mike Collier
 * Art: Peter Fickling
 * Sub-Editor/Writer - David Hayles
 * Designer: Steve Dobson
 * Picture Researcher: Emma Peel
 * Editorial Assistant: Kelly Austin
 * Advertising: Theresa Davies
 * Marketing Executive: Marion Slaughter
 * Marketing Manager: Helen Northard
 * Marketing Assistant: Tessa Gemmel
 * Production: Morag Gillet, Jo Beattie, Sarah Howell
 * Circulation Manager: Simon Young
 * Associate Publisher: Alfie Lewis
 * Publisher: Lindsaye Fox
 * Editor, Boys' Magazines: Jason Loborik
 * Editorial Director, Family Group: Nicky Smith
 * Director, Family Group [UK Region]: Gillian Lasker
 * Managing Director, BBC Worldwide [UK Region]: Peter Teague
 * Contributors: Sarah Armstrong-Prior, Jacques Gunther, John Ross, Alan Craddock, Adam Clark, Bill Hobbins, Davey Moore
 * Photography: Chris Capstick, Sharron Price, Richard Open, Mike Collier, David Hayles
 * Thanks: Chris Reynolds and Visual Effects crew, Behemoth Boys, Julia Reed, Adam Clark

Errors and Omissions

 * Dreadnaut XP-1 is incorrectly spelt "Dreadnought XP-1" on page 25.

Trivia

 * The list of seeds was quite different to that seen on the show, but this is not due to mistakes, rather information that wasn't known at the time of writing - Thing 2 would be named "Wild Thing", Evil Weevil would become "Evil Weevil 2", Blade's Big Bruva and Trident would drop out, "Big Brother 2" would be known as Bigger Brother, Aggrobot would enter as "Aggrobot 2", X-Terminator would become X-Terminator 2, Plunderstorm would be "Plunderbird 4" and Wel-Dor would be "Wel-Dor 2". Centurion and Suicidal Tendencies are also absent from the list, as they were given last-minute seedings when Blade's Big Bruva and Trident withdrew.