Robot Wars: The Third Wars/International League Championship

"It's official- Robots are taking over the world!"

- Craig Charles

The International League Championship was one of two international Robot Wars competitions held during the filming of Robot Wars: The Third Wars. The other competition was The First World Championship, which was released exclusively on video and later on DVD. The International League Championship featured six robots from six countries, which were split into two groups with one robot from each battling in the final. It was broadcast on September 15, 2000 on BBC Two.


 * The Championship was mainly designed as a pilot for Dutch, Belgian and Australian audiences.
 * Despite being filmed during the Third Wars, this episode was broadcast nearly five months after the Series 3 Grand Final, and only one week before the start of Fourth Wars.
 * This seemingly minor episode of Robot Wars became incredibly rare due to its lack of broadcasting after the original showing, however it has since been made available on YouTube.
 * This episode featured a lot of recycled footage, particularly from the Third Wars. At least two clips shown were also featured in the First World Championships, including Razer's trophy presentation (although it is unclear which competition was filmed first), and a clip from Diotoir's battle against The Steel Avenger from Series 3 is used after its battle against Terror Australis to explain how it caught fire (indeed, The Steel Avenger is just about visible in one of the shots).
 * This episode's War of Independence battle marked the only time a history-themed event ended with the historically correct outcome.

Group Stage
Robots scored three points for a win and one point each for a draw (if both robots were still mobile at the end of the battle). The robot with the most points progressed to the final battle.


 * W = battles won
 * D = battles drawn
 * L = battles lost
 * Pts = total points scored

Group A
Note: Terror Australis broke down before the first battle, so the Diotoir team lent them their Nemesis robot, which was renamed Terror Australis for the duration of the competition.

Depoppesaurus Rex (BEL) vs Terror Australis (AUS)
Before the battle could begin Terror Australis started to smoke and broke down, meaning that the battle had to be temporarily postponed. During this break, Team Nemesis lent the Australian team their old Nemesis robot, which was painted yellow and entered as a new version of Terror Australis. The battle restarted and the robots came together very slowly. Depoppesaurus Rex got its lifter underneath one of the spikes of Terror Australis and lifted it into the air. Terror Australis escaped and came in on the attack, but Depoppesaurus Rex got underneath and lifted it again, but was unable to flip it over. The battle ended with both robots still mobile, so a draw was declared.

Winner: Draw

Diotoir (IRE) vs Terror Australis (AUS)
Diotoir quickly attempted to get underneath Terror Australis with its lifting arm, but was unable to lift it. Meanwhile Terror Australis used one of the spikes to tear off part of Diotoir's fur coating. Diotoir finally got underneath Terror Australis and tried to lift it, then quickly pushed it towards the pit and into oblivion. Diotoir then took on the house robots and was set on fire by Sergeant Bash before cease was called.

Winner: Diotoir

Depoppesaurus Rex (BEL) vs Diotoir (IRE)
The two robots came together and Diotoir immediately attempted to get underneath Depoppesaurus Rex with its lifting arm, eventually succeeding and flipping the Belgian machine over. As Diotoir continued to ram into Depoppesaurus Rex, the house robots came in and attacked the Belgian robot, and Matilda flipped it back onto its wheels. Depoppesaurus Rex quickly ran away from danger, but was caught by Shunt and Dead Metal, who teamed up to push Depoppesaurus Rex into the pit of oblivion. Ceased was called, with Diotoir winning the battle and Group A.

Winner: Diotoir

Group B
Note: Cassius 2 was originally due to represent England in this tournament, but was unable to compete, so Razer was entered in its place.

Prometheus (USA) vs Techno-Lease (NED)
Prometheus took a while to start up, but then suddenly sprung into action and rammed into the front of Techno-Lease. The two robots became locked together, with neither robot able to push the other away. Sergeant Bash attempted to free the robots from each other, but they continued to push into each other with neither making any real progress or doing any significant damage. Prometheus eventually succeeded in pushing Techno-Lease into the arena wall, but suddenly stopped moving and started to smoke. The final few seconds ticked down with neither robot moving and a draw was declared.

Winner: Draw

Razer (ENG) vs Prometheus (USA)
Prometheus had broken down after its first battle against Techno-Lease due to the motors burning out, so it was unable to compete against Razer, and the English robot was given the win by default.

Winner: Razer (by default)

Razer (ENG) vs Techno-Lease (NED)
Straight from the start, Razer pounced on the Dutch robot, crushing it multiple times, hauling it up in the air. Razer then backed into Shunt, who pushed it into the centre of the arena and then onto its side, but Razer self-righted. Techno-Lease was pinned on the arena side wall, and Razer crushed it again. Techno-Lease appeared to become immobilised after this, and Razer attempted to lift it into the air using the arm on the back of its crushing beak. After Techno-Lease had been immobilised, Razer attacked Shunt and Matilda, attacking Matilda's chainsaw and Shunt's scoop, causing damage to both. Cease was called, Razer was declared the winner, and the victorious robot in Group B.

Winner: Razer

Diotoir (IRE) vs Razer (ENG)
Razer started quickly but was unable to get a hold of Diotoir and retreated. On the second attempt, Razer gripped Diotoir and pierced through the armour. Diotoir appeared to stop moving after this attack and Razer was able to push it into the pit of oblivion.

International League Champion: Razer

War of Independence
A-Kill (ENG) vs Tentoumushi (USA) This was a special battle which took place during the championship between robots from England and the USA. A-Kill had replaced Hard Cheese in this battle as the producers thought the fight would be fairer if Tentoumushi fought a smaller robot (Tentoumushi was a lightweight). It has been said that this was a grudge match between the joint winners of the Middleweight Melee from the third series, but it was actually filmed before the Middleweight Melee, despite being broadcast afterwards. Tentoumushi started by covering A-Kill and pushing it towards the pit, but A-Kill was able to escape. A-Kill then drove towards the pit and got stuck, which meant that Tentoumushi was able to push it into the pit of oblivion.

Winner: Tentoumushi

The Ashes
Mortis (ENG) vs Terror Australis (AUS)

This was another special battle which pitted Mortis of England against the Nemesis version of Terror Australis of Australia. Mortis tried to use its axe to attack Terror Australis but missed. Mortis then used its lifting arm to get underneath Terror Australis and pushed it into the CPZ where it sustained damage from Shunt. Mortis then used its lifting arm to flip Terror Australis onto its back, unable to self-right.

Winner: Mortis

"You can forget about asteroids, and huge meteors, because the world's being hit, by Robot Wars"

- Craig Charles signs off