Robot Wars: Series 9

Series 9 of Robot Wars aired in early 2017, returning to the Glasgow arena used in the previous series. The series was again hosted by Dara Ó Briain and Angela Scanlon, with commentary from Jonathan Pearce, also featuring the same Judges as Series 8. The previous year's House Robots returned, as well as the reigning champion Apollo.

Episode 1 aired on Sunday 5th March, 2017 at 7pm.

History
The series was first confirmed through online articles released in the early hours of October 11, 2016.

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

As they were not announced in any press packs, as was the case with Dara Ó Briain and Angela Scanlon, Judges Professor Noel Sharkey and Dr Lucy Rogers confirmed their involvement via Twitter, Noel Sharkey also confirming Sethu Vijayakumar's involvement. The return of Jonathan Pearce was confirmed by the UK Robot Wars Facebook account.

The first teaser trailer for the series aired on February 10th, 2017, officially referring to the series as Series 9 for the first time, and confirming that the series would air soon. Two alternate versions of the trailer exist with different background music- the first version uses "I Knew You Were Trouble" by Taylor Swift, whilst the second uses "The River (Dubstep Remix)" by Blues Saraceno.

The airdate of the series was first revealed on February 16th by the BBC, also confirming the eight competitors in Episode 1. On February 18th, an extended trailer aired after Match of the Day, where Sir Killalot, Shunt & Matilda destroyed a Vauxhall Corsa.

On February 22nd, competing teams were given permission to confirm their participation in the series, and release official imagery. Draven was the first robot to be revealed this way, followed by Eruption.

Format
The format is the same as that of Series 8, 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 are 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.

Episode 1
Robots competing: Aftershock, Crank-E, Jellyfish, Nuts 2, Rapid, Sabretooth, Terrorhurtz, TMHWK

Round 1
 * Jellyfish vs Nuts 2 vs Rapid vs Terrorhurtz: Rapid and Terrorhurtz qualified
 * Aftershock vs Crank-E vs Sabretooth vs TMHWK: Aftershock and Sabretooth qualified

Head-to-Head battles
 * Sabretooth vs Terrorhurtz: Sabretooth won by KO
 * Aftershock vs Rapid: Aftershock won by KO (After this battle, Rapid withdrew and was replaced by Jellyfish)


 * Aftershock vs Sabretooth: Aftershock won by KO
 * Terrorhurtz vs Jellyfish: Terrorhurtz won by KO


 * Aftershock vs Terrorhurtz: Aftershock won by KO
 * Jellyfish vs Sabretooth: Jellyfish won by Judges' decision

Heat Final
 * Aftershock vs Sabretooth: Aftershock won

Episode 2
Main article: Robot Wars: Series 9/Episode 2

Robots competing: Behemoth, Cherub, Cobra, Draven, Eruption, Hobgoblin, PP3D, Push to Exit

Round 1
 * Behemoth vs Cobra vs Eruption vs Hobgoblin: Behemoth and Eruption qualified
 * Cherub vs Draven vs PP3D vs Push to Exit: Cherub and PP3D qualified

Head-to-Head battles
 * Behemoth vs Eruption: Eruption won by KO
 * Cherub vs PP3D: Cherub won by Judges' decision


 * Cherub vs Eruption: Eruption won by KO
 * Behemoth vs PP3D: Behemoth won by KO


 * Eruption vs PP3D: Eruption won by KO
 * Behemoth vs Cherub: Cherub won by Judges' decision

Heat Final
 * Eruption vs Cherub: Eruption won

Episode 3
Main article: Robot Wars: Series 9/Episode 3

Robots Competing: Chimera 2, Concussion, Expulsion, Foxic, Heavy Metal, M.R. Speed Squared, Tauron, Thor

Round 1
 * Expulsion vs M.R. Speed Squared vs Foxic vs Heavy Metal: M.R. Speed Squared and Heavy Metal qualified
 * Thor vs Chimera2 vs Concussion vs Tauron: Thor and Concussion qualified

Head-to-Head battles
 * Concussion vs Thor: Concussion won by KO
 * Heavy Metal vs M.R. Speed Squared: Heavy Metal won by KO
 * Concussion vs Heavy Metal: Concussion won by KO
 * M.R. Speed Squared vs Thor: Thor won by KO
 * Concussion vs M.R. Speed Squared: Concussion won by Judges' decision
 * Heavy Metal vs Thor: Thor won by KO

Heat Final
 * Concussion vs Thor: Concussion won

Episode 4
Main article: Robot Wars: Series 9/Episode 4

Robots Competing: Apex, Crushtacean, Frostbite, HIGH-5, Ironside3, Pulsar, Supernova, Wyrm

Round 1
 * Frostbite vs HIGH-5 vs Supernova vs Wyrm: Frostbite and Supernova qualified
 * Apex vs Crushtacean vs Ironside3 vs Pulsar: Ironside3 and Pulsar qualified

Head-to-Head battles
 * Frostbite vs Supernova: Supernova won by KO (After this battle, Frostbite withdrew and was replaced by Wyrm)
 * Ironside3 vs Pulsar: No winner declared (2 points were awarded to each robot)


 * Pulsar vs Supernova: Pulsar won by KO
 * Ironside3 vs Wyrm: Ironside3 won by KO


 * Pulsar vs Wyrm: Pulsar won by KO
 * Ironside3 vs Supernova: Ironside3 won by KO

Heat Final
 * Ironside3 vs Pulsar: Ironside3 won

Episode 5
Main article: Robot Wars: Series 9/Episode 5

Robots Competing: Apollo, Carbide, Coyote, Crackers 'N' Smash, Meggamouse, Ms Nightshade, Rusty, Trolley Rage

Round 1
 * Apollo vs Coyote vs Ms Nightshade vs Rusty
 * Carbide vs Crackers 'N' Smash vs Meggamouse vs Trolley Rage

Grand Final
Main article: Robot Wars: Series 9/Grand Final

Robots Competing: Aftershock, Eruption, Concussion & Ironside3

Wild Card Choices: Sabretooth, Cherub, Thor & Pulsar

Robot Wars: Battle of the Stars
Although not officially part of any series, Robot Wars: Battle of the Stars, a two-part celebrity special, was filmed alongside Series 9, and aired on December 28-29th.

Trivia

 * No competing teams in Series 9 made their UK championship debut in Series 3.
 * If Team Outlaw are considered Series 3 debutants, then none of Series 9's competing teams debuted in Series 4.
 * The Wilhelm Scream stock sound effect is heard during the introduction sequence.