Bigger Brother

"A nightmare in metal!"

- The team's description of their robot.

Bigger Brother was a heavyweight robot from Brighton which entered Series 4 to 7 of Robot Wars, as well as both series of Robot Wars Extreme, and was the successor to Series 3 semi-finalist Big Brother. In Series 8, Bigger Brother was succeeded by Or Te.

Bigger Brother made its debut in Series 4, where it lost in the second round to Bulldog Breed 2. A vastly improved Bigger Brother won its heat in The Fifth Wars by defeating former semi-finalists Splinter and 3 Stegs to Heaven, and in the semi-finals, Bigger Brother dispatched of S3 and ended the title defence of two-year reigning champion Chaos 2, then backed this up with an even greater surprise by defeating a dominant Hypno-Disc in the Grand Final. After losing the Grand Final to Razer, Bigger Brother placed second. Bigger Brother reached the semi-finals of Series 6 by defeating Behemoth and Disc-O-Inferno, but was ultimately defeated by Terrorhurtz. It entered The Seventh Wars, but was quickly and surprisingly defeated by Iron-Awe 2.1 in the second round.

Bigger Brother was represented by Joe and Ellie Watts as well as their father Ian. The team were well-liked by the roboteering community and Robot Wars presenters. Ian drove the robot, while "Little Joe" activated the flipper, managing to flip three robots out of the arena as weapons operator. In the Minor Meltdown, Bigger Brother comfortably won the title under the driving of Joe Watts, with the flipper being activated by Ellie. Bigger Brother also represented the United Kingdom in Nickelodeon Robot Wars, placing third in the International Tag Team Terror after it lost to Ming 3 and Rick.

Four of Bigger Brother's battles have gone down in the top 30 quickest battles of UK Robot Wars, with its battle against Splinter only just missing out.

Design
Bigger Brother was a wedge-shaped robot originally built from bulletproof mild steel with a zero ground clearance, a top speed of 12mph and a powerful pneumatic flipper. The flipper was powered by a ram sourced from an industrial digger, featured sets of spikes built into the frame and had a lifting capacity of half a ton. In Series 4, its design was very compact, taking the form of a small but effective flipping arm. For Extreme 1/Series 5, Bigger Brother returned with stronger armour and a much wider and more powerful flipper. Its flipper proved capable of throwing opponents out of the arena, as well as self-righting more effectively than before. Bigger Brother returned for Series 6 and Nickelodeon Robot Wars with a slightly revised design. It now featured cobalt titanium rear armour which was doubled in thickness to better withstand spinners, as well as a lower wedge which enabled the flipper to double as a clamp when raised. It retained the same appearance for Extreme 2 and in Series 7 - although with small flags of the Netherlands painted on its side in the latter. Bigger Brother's design was inspired by one of Watts' projects, a replica of a Lamborghini Countach, combining durability, reliability and a flipper based on that of Chaos 2. The body was a conventional wedge shape with extra wheel protection and little unnecessary empty space, the small surface area of each flat side made it resistant to damage. The flipper was designed so that Bigger Brother could right itself with only a gentle flick, thus minimising its CO2 gas usage and increasing its efficiency compared to other rear-hinged flippers. "Power is nothing without control."

- Ian Watts' mantra

Series 4
"A mild-mannered steel shell, but a quick-witted electronic brain and fierce flipper give a truer indication of what Bigger Brother can achieve. This "nightmare in metal" so nearly made it all the way in the last series!"

- Jonathan Pearce introduces Bigger Brother in Heat J of Series 4

Having reached the Semi-Finals the previous year with Big Brother, Bigger Brother was granted the 14th seed for Series 4. In its first round melee, it was drawn against two newcomers, Hammer & Tong and the walkerbot Clawed Hopper. "And, and, also, the weapon, has been tested by little Joe's thumb. So, it must be alright then."

- Jonathan Pearce

Bigger Brother moved on the offensive, flipping Clawed Hopper onto its side, but not quite enough to flip it over. Clawed Hopper's walking movements were enough to cause the walker to land the right way up. Bigger Brother withdrew and Hammer & Tong attacked Clawed Hopper. As they battled, Bigger Brother rejoined the fight, flipping Hammer & Tong up several times. Bigger Brother's flipper had insufficient strength and degree of opening to get the wide bodied Hammer & Tong over on its back, so it moved back and attempted to flip Clawed Hopper again, with Clawed Hopper's weight and movement thwarting the attempt once more. Clawed Hopper continued its ponderous advance on Hammer & Tong, but Bigger Brother moved in, getting significantly more flipper beneath the walker, and managed to flip it on its back. Bigger Brother then turned on Hammer & Tong, flipped it up, and wedged its spikes in the wheels. Bigger Brother could not release Hammer & Tong, despite trying, so it pushed it around the Arena. "Once you've beaten these two, you can take on the House Robots! Today the Arena, Joe, tomorrow the world!"

- Jonathan Pearce

Whilst Bigger Brother flailed against Hammer & Tong, Dead Metal and Bash closed in on Clawed Hopper putting it on the flame pit, then the Floor Flipper, but only flew a small distance due to its enormous weight. Cease was called, and Bigger Brother went through with Hammer & Tong.

This put it through to meet up with Bulldog Breed 2. The two robots moved off the start zones slowly, and Bigger Brother attacked Bulldog Breed side-on. It used its flipper, but the flipper did not get beneath enough of its opponent to work. To make matters worse, Bigger Brother vented a large amount of gas immediately afterwards. Bigger Brother tried to flip once again, venting even more gas, and Bulldog Breed responded with its own. Three small flips missed, but Bulldog Breed managed to hook its flipper underneath and flick Bigger Brother over and onto its back. Gas continued to vent from Bigger Brother, leaving not enough pressure for Bigger Brother to right itself. Eventually, Sgt. Bash and Sir Killalot closed in and plucked Bigger Brother from the floor. It hurled Bigger Brother across the Arena, and Sergeant Bash pulled it over to the pit. "Joe, don't have nightmares, come back next time around, with a new machine because we're gonna smash yours up! We're gonna burn it, we're gonna torch it, we're gonna destroy it and mash it, but dad'll buy you or build you another one ... honest!"

- Jonathan Pearce as the House Robots attack Bigger Brother

However, there seemed to be some discrepancy between Sgt. Bash and Sir Killalot on pushing Bigger Brother down the pit, and Sir Killalot pulled Bigger Brother out of Sgt. Bash's jaws, leaving the Sergeant stranded on the pit. Sir Killalot dropped Bigger Brother beside the pit, and Shunt finally solved the problem by pitting it.

After the battle, it was found that the high pressure into the gas ram had snapped off, leaving the flipper unable to work.

Bigger Brother later competed in the Tag Team Terror, paired up with Plunderbird 4. "The Tag Team tussle's gonna go like this; we've got the slice! We've got the flip! We'll carve them up nice, and chuck them in the skip!"

- The Plunderbird and Bigger Brother teams give their pre-battle interview in Song

In the first round, it was drawn against Firestorm 2 and Scorpion. Scorpion started out against Bigger Brother. Bigger Brother got straight underneath Scorpion's high ground clearance and flipped it over. Firestorm 2 flipped it back over. Bigger Brother tagged with Plunderbird 4, who dragged Scorpion around the arena. Firestorm tried to separate the two, by which point the rules were completely abandoned and even the House Robots got into the fight. Firestorm pushed Plunderbird 4 all the way across the Arena into the red zone, where Bigger Brother and Matilda tried to free it. Firestorm retaliated by slamming Bigger Brother into the arena wall, but was not able to flip it over. Scorpion then attacked Plunderbird 4, which seemed to cause it to break down. Bigger Brother pushed Firestorm into the CPZ, where Matilda flipped it onto its side. Firestorm was able to self-right, but during this period, Bigger Brother flipped Scorpion over and pushed it into Sergeant Bash, who set the fibreglass body ablaze. Bigger Brother spent the last few seconds of the match preventing Firestorm from rescuing its fallen team-mate. The judges were called to make a decision.

Losing the judges decision, and with the Plunderbird team unable to get their robot going again, Bigger Brother had to fight the play-off between X-Terminator 2 and Inverterbrat alone, however, Inverterbrat was also having problems in the pits before the battle. This left the other two robots to start the playoff. X-Terminator 2 had switched its axe for its lifting arm and used it to overturn Bigger Brother, but Bigger Brother quickly self-righted and flipped up X-Terminator 2. It pushed X-Terminator 2 into Plunderbird 4, but it quickly became apparent that its team-mate wasn't working at all. Instead, it left X-Terminator 2 on its side, but X-Terminator 2 quickly self-righted using its side spikes. It then tagged Inverterbrat. It attempted to attack Bigger Brother, but neither of its weapons were working properly, and it was flipped up, but not over, several times by its opponent. Eventually, Bigger Brother pushed Inverterbrat back into the red zone, whereby X-Terminator rushed out to take on Bigger Brother again. Bigger Brother flipped X-Terminator 2 over again, breaking off one of its support bars in the process, but X-Terminator was able to right itself again, before lifting up Bigger Brother, the arm getting caught underneath its chassis. Eventually, it let go. Bigger Brother flipped X-Terminator 2 over once again, but X-Terminator 2 righted and hooked Bigger Brother again. Just then, the pit started to descend. Plunderbird 4 had now been pushed into the middle of the arena, but it was clearly immobile. X-Terminator 2 and Bigger Brother tried once again to attack each other, when suddenly X-Terminator 2 drove away to build up another attack, and just before cease was called, straight into the pit of oblivion: the team had failed to noticed that it had opened. It became apparent that Inverterbrat was no longer mobile, and Bigger Brother was the only robot still working.

Bigger Brother also competed in the Pinball and Sumo special events, placing equal 5th in Pinball with a score of 180. It would have finished overall joint top with Gemini had it not missed the 75 point target. However, it was less successful in the Sumo, being knocked off the sumo ring after 6.43 seconds, placing it 12th out of 16.

Extreme 1
Bigger Brother participated in three battles in different competitions in Extreme 1.

Team Big Brother entered the Tag Team Terror alongside the International Wreck Crew again, and the pair went in as one of the favourites due to finishing third last time. However, upon activation, Plunderbird 5 got stuck in forward drive and damaged the Arena entry door. The battle had to be postponed for a whole day whilst the door was fixed, and Plunderbird 5 had also taken damage and was unable to participate. Major Tom took part in Plunderbird 5's place. The two machines faced Spawn Again and Comengetorix. Bigger Brother started the match against Comengetorix. Comengetorix attacked with its axe, but caused no damage. Bigger Brother lifted its opponent, only for Comengetorix to hoisted them in the air. Major Tom was tagged and flipped, but Bigger Brother self-righted its partner. Bigger Brother then pursued both Comengetorix and Spawn Again, pushing them into their CPZ. Spawn Again's flipper had not closed since flipping Major Tom, so it could do no more than ram Bigger Brother as it tried to flip Comengetorix, but its own flipper did not appear to be working. "But for me, Bigger Brother is the most impressive robot in this Tag Team Terror"

- Jonathan Pearce comments as the robots clash

Whilst this was happening, Major Tom had broken down next to the left-hand arena wall. As Refbot counted it out and the House Robots attacked it, Bigger Brother continued to push Comengetorix around the arena, whilst Spawn Again, flipper still locked open, had broken down by the opposite arena wall. Bigger Brother was still pushing Comengetorix, but both robots did not appear to be moving freely. The House Robots continued to attack Major Tom, eventually pitting it. The fight was stopped at this point: it was revealed afterwards that there was a radio interference which was preventing the robots from moving properly. Because Major Tom was the first to be immobilised, the win was somewhat controversially given to Comengetorix & Spawn Again. However, after this, Ian Gear of the Comengetorix team made a rude remark about the team.

Team Big Brother quickly demanded a grudge match, which Team Vercingetorix accepted. The Vengeance battle would take place nine episodes later.

Bigger Brother met Comengetorix in a Vengeance battle following these events, but it was in reality a ploy to attack the House Robots. This grudge match was held as a filler battle for the second Annihilator special, after Panic Attack had suffered severe damage which the team had trouble fixing. The battle began with the two robots dodging around each other. Comengetorix missed an axe blow, and Bigger Brother quickly capitalised, ramming Comengetorix, then flipping it over. Comengetorix showed no sign of righting itself, and Bigger Brother pushed it towards the CPZ. Sergeant Bash rushed out to attack Comengetorix, who finally self-righted. Bigger Brother had seemingly forgotten about its opponent and turned its attention onto Bash, flipping him up against the Arena wall. Sir Killalot quickly retaliated and tried to attack Bigger Brother. The former Semi-finalist tried to flip the House Robot and succeeded in lifting him up slightly, but no further. The attempts at flipping Killalot had bent Bigger Brother's flipper, and it tried to escape, when suddenly Comengetorix came to its aid, using its axe on the House Robot. "Hang on! This is a Vengeance grudge match! No no no no no, you're not supposed to be having a go at OURS, you're supposed to be having a go at THEIRS!"

- Jonathan Pearce as the "rivals" team up

Eventually, Sir Killalot managed to trap both robots in his CPZ. After a while, Bigger Brother drove away and began spinning in the middle of the arena, firing its flipper in apparent celebration. Comengetorix was much more sluggish in response, but managed to finally escape Sir Killalot's CPZ. Eventually, the two met head on, but Bigger Brother's flipper was so badly bent it was unable to flip Comengetorix, who hit it with its axe, but caused no damage. Realising flipping it was not an option, Bigger Brother hit the pit release, before chasing after Comengetorix, nearly pushing it onto the flame pit. Taking advantage of Comengetorix's sluggishness, Bigger Brother pushed it towards the pit, shrugging off axe blows. Right at the last moment, Comengetorix tried to flip Bigger Brother away, but doing so caused it to over-balance towards the pit, which Bigger Brother quickly took advantage of by nudging it in. However, moments later, Sir Killalot grabbed hold of Bigger Brother and in retaliation for its attacks, dropped it in the pit moments later. Regardless, Bigger Brother had won the Vengeance battle.

Bigger Brother also participated in the Flipper Frenzy, providing another chance to attack the House Robots. It teamed up with Thermidor 2 and Chaos 2 on Sergeant Bash, and after initial flips from Thermidor and Chaos 2, Bigger Brother was the robot to first overturn House Robot. The competitors couldn't flip Sgt Bash out of the Arena, despite several attempts from all three, while Wheely Big Cheese was elsewhere in the arena. "This is terrible teamwork against our boys"

- Jonathan Pearce on the attacks on the House Robots

During one of these attempts, however, Bigger Brother suddenly broke down, the only time it suffered a random breakdown in Robot Wars, with its flipper fixed in the air. It was eventually moved towards the Floor Flipper by Thermidor 2 and counted out by Refbot, eliminating Bigger Brother from the battle which was ultimately won by Thermidor 2.

Bigger Brother was also due to compete in the Mayhem competition, to qualify for one of the two Annihilators, but it withdrew for unknown reasons.

Series 5
Returning unseeded, Bigger Brother had an explosive start to Series 5 against newcomers Tip-Top. Tip-Top's unique method of locomotion proved too unresponsive to avoid Bigger Brother, allowing the Watts family's machine to flip them over, ram them to the Arena side wall and flip them up on the wall, before flipping it out of the Arena. The battle took just 24 seconds in all.

In the second round of the Heat, Bigger Brother was drawn against the 17th seeds Splinter, Semi-Finalists in the previous series. "Bigger Brother, the most impressive so far in this Heat."

- Jonathan Pearce at the start of the battle

Splinter drove around Bigger Brother in an attempt to avoid its flipper, but was soon lifted by Bigger Brother without it toppling over. It was then tossed over by Bigger Brother before rolling down onto its wheels. Bigger Brother then threw Splinter onto its back again, pushed it to the Arena wall, then flipped the 17th seeds robot out of the arena, with the fight lasting a mere 34 seconds. "Bigger Brother, so much more forceful and aggressive in this series, learning from past mistakes ... aggression, damage caused, and Splinter here has no answer, and follows the way of Tip-Top out of the Arena!"

- Jonathan Pearce as Bigger Brother flips Splinter over and out

In the Heat Final, Bigger Brother was up against the 8th seeds 3 Stegs to Heaven. Despite their opponent being seeded highly, and Bigger Brother not being seeded at all, Bigger Brother went in as the favourite because it had been much more impressive than 3 Stegs to Heaven on the way to the Heat Final. "Whatever happens, Bigger Brother, one of the most improved robots we've ever seen."

- Jonathan Pearce at the start of the battle

Bigger Brother tried to flip 3 Stegs To Heaven almost right from the start, but missed. 3 Stegs To Heaven reversed straight onto the flame pit and got its castor wheel stuck. After a few seconds, it escaped and was flipped by Bigger Brother. Bigger Brother flipped 3 Stegs To Heaven onto its side then the Arena side wall and tried to throw it out of the Arena. Bigger Brother failed, putting 3 Stegs To Heaven back in the battle. Bigger Brother backed the seeded robot into the CPZ, before flipping Shunt over. "If you've seen Bigger Brother before on Robot Wars, you'd have never guessed this could happen! Never in a million light years!"

- Jonathan Pearce

Sir Killalot grabbed 3 Stegs To Heaven and picked it up. After letting go, Bigger Brother lifted 3 Stegs To Heaven onto the side wall again. Refbot freed it though and Bigger Brother started to attack Sir Killalot. Bigger Brother tried to flip Sir Killalot from the side and rear. Bigger Brother turned 3 Stegs over once more before lifting it onto the side wall, where Refbot finally counted it out. Sir Killalot activated the pit and as Bigger Brother was pushing 3 Stegs To Heaven into the pit, Sir Killalot pushed the pair in and drove in himself. Sir Killalot was able to reverse out, and Bigger Brother was the heat winner.

In the first round of the Semi-Finals, Bigger Brother fought S3, the new robot from the 1 Law Associates. Bigger Brother drove straight at the body of S3, getting its body underneath the part that separated the blade from the Arena floor. It began to push it aside, but S3's disc came into contact, and Bigger Brother was thrown away from it. S3 was unable to gain purchase before Bigger Brother recovered and slammed into it, almost flicking it out of the Arena. The attempt beached S3 on the Arena wall, activated the pit, and almost made an investigating Dead Metal descend into oblivion. S3 was flipped free, its disc tearing the pit release button away from the wall. Bigger Brother flipped S3 over, and pushed it into the pit. Bigger Brother nearly fell down the pit as well, with one wheel in the pit, but they managed to escape.

In the second round, Bigger Brother was drawn up against reigning champions Chaos 2, who was unbeaten in the main competition after winning two series in a row. Bigger Brother had the first flip, tossing Chaos 2 onto its back. As Chaos 2 self-righted, Bigger Brother impeded the path of its motion, and Chaos 2 fell back on its back. It successfully self-righted the second time, and ran for Bigger Brother, only to be flipped up on its side. Chaos 2 fell back on its wheels and flipped Bigger Brother over, and when it landed on its wheels, flipped it again. The third flip finally succeeded in getting Bigger Brother on its back, but it self-righted very quickly. Chaos 2 pushed Bigger Brother against the side wall and flipped it, but once more, Bigger Brother self-righted. It escaped Chaos 2's flip, and drove over towards the flames. As Chaos 2 followed it, Bigger Brother manoeuvred to the side, got beneath Chaos 2, and flipped it onto its back. Now, however, Chaos 2's CO2 supply had run low, and it was unable to flip itself back onto its wheels, despite attempting to do so. Finally, Chaos 2 gave up, allowing Refbot to count it out. Bigger Brother reversed Chaos 2 towards the pit, and pushed it in. "Sensational! Bigger Brother, once a previous series Semi-finalist, outclassed surely in this series of Robot Wars? No! They are about to make the Grand Final!"

- Jonathan Pearce as Bigger Brother defeats Chaos 2

In the first round of the Grand Final, Bigger Brother was drawn against 3rd seeds and twice Grand Finalists Hypno-Disc. Bigger Brother and Hypno-Disc darted past each other, and sat still. Bigger Brother turned its heavily armoured rear towards Hypno-Disc and tentatively attacked. The rear of Bigger Brother managed to hold up very well against the flywheel, and Bigger Brother attacked again in the same way, attempting to stop the disc for long enough to use its flipper. The second attempt stalled Hypno-Disc long enough for Bigger Brother to fire its flipper, but Hypno-Disc was not flipped. Bouncing back onto its wheels, Hypno-Disc's weapon began to inflict serious damage on Bigger Brother, tearing an armour panel off and gouging into the front. Bigger Brother attempted to attack with the armoured rear once more, but this time, Hypno-Disc's weapon was able to gouge into the armour. Hypno-Disc managed to open the gouge on the rear by striking it twice more. Bigger Brother continued to keep its back to Hypno-Disc, but the deadly flywheel was wearing through the armour. Bigger Brother attempted a flip, but it was unsuccessful. Bigger Brother attacked once more, and in its attempts to flip, the flipper broke into pieces. Bigger Brother pushed Hypno-Disc, and the savaged armour on Bigger Brother's left flank broke away from the body. The two drove into the CPZ, and Shunt seized and axed Bigger Brother. Bigger Brother attempted to escape the CPZ, but took severe damage in the process. "And I'll tell you what, despite all the damage, Bigger Brother are still fighting! I wouldn't have minded a bigger brother like this!"

- Jonathan Pearce

Bigger Brother slammed into the far wall, then pushed Hypno-Disc into the pit release as it attempted to block it. Nudging its opponent, Bigger Brother pitted Hypno-Disc and won the battle, against all the odds. "It doesn't get more sensational than that!"

- Craig Charles

After this fight, every team except for Bigger Brother's next opponent Razer, including those that Bigger Brother had beaten, helped to fix it for the Grand Final.

In the Final battle, Bigger Brother was against reigning world champions and 4th seeds Razer to become the UK champion. Razer started quickly and, although Bigger Brother avoided it for a while, it eventually grabbed hold of it and pierced through the outer shell. Bigger Brother fired its flipper, but this did nothing to deter Razer's beak. However, Bigger Brother's wedge was difficult for Razer to reach, and Razer could only pierce small holes in Bigger Brother's base. "And Bigger Brother is already under the cosh, and he knows it, Ian Watts, a broadcast engineer by trade, he loves his roboteering, he loves his diving, and he's gonna have to dive deep into his memory banks now to come up with a tactic to beat Razer."

- Jonathan Pearce

However, Razer soon caught a larger area of Bigger Brother and pierced in, lifting Bigger Brother from the ground. Bigger Brother's weight and the recoil from its flipper firing, however, were enough to shake it off Razer's claw. The two robots spun in circles, trying to get their weapon to reach the other. Bigger Brother's base was resting on Razer's wheel from when it had fallen off the beak, and the robots were pinned together. Bigger Brother finally shook them apart by firing its flipper. Bigger Brother drove back, and turned around, but the frontal assault only allowed Razer to pierce into the heart of Bigger Brother. "Hey, we thought they weren't going to beat Hypno-Disc, they were trashed by Hypno-Disc and Hypno-Disc went down, anything can yet happen!"

- Jonathan Pearce

It escaped and activated the pit, but Razer quickly caught it and pierced into the robot. Razer dragged Bigger Brother around, but intervention from Bash caused Razer to release its opponent. Bigger Brother was showing significant signs of impaired movement, but time ran out and the battle went to the judges. "The judges are going to have to decide! What a brilliant feat by Bigger Brother to hold on! Razer has not finished them off, not yet, and it won't do so! What a final it was!"

- Jonathan Pearce

The outcome was clear, and Razer was announced as the UK Champion. As a result, Bigger Brother finished its Fifth Wars campaign as the runner-up.

At the end of the series, Bigger Brother was nominated for the Best Design Award, but lost out to previous two-time winner Razer.

Nickelodeon
Bigger Brother's only appearance in American series was the International Tag Team Terror in the Nickelodeon series. This time it teamed up with Kat 3. Things did not start well as Kat 3 was immediately flipped over by Rick and Bigger Brother had to come in and right it, also flipping Ming 3 twice. The crusher retaliated, with Ming 3 burying itself into Bigger Brother. All four competitors were soon in the middle of the arena and Bigger Brother was then accidentally struck by Kat 3's axe. Bigger Brother then pushed Ming 3 against the arena side wall and flipped it over, but Ming 3 managed to escape. Bigger Brother used its wedge shape to push Ming 3 into the pit release button, but was flipped over by Rick, almost out of the arena, and 'cease' was called. The fight went to the judges and in a very close decision, Bigger Brother and Kat 3 were eliminated.

In the Playoff, both Run Away and Kat 3 were unable to compete due to electrical problems so Bigger Brother had to fight Zanzara alone. Zanzara, who was having weapon problems, attempted to evade Bigger Brother, but the British robot pushed it into the arena wall and flipped it, sending it spinning, but landing back on its wheels. Bigger Brother flipped up Zanzara again, before pushing it onto the disc trigger. Dead Metal attempted to attack Zanzara, but missed, and Bigger Brother flipped Zanzara up onto the arena wall. As Refbot moved in, Shunt axed Zanzara, but ended up righting it. The House Robots attacked Zanzara anyway, with Bigger Brother pushing it back towards them as it tried to escape. Zanzara now appeared to be having difficulty moving, but it survived to a judges' decision. In editing, this battle was heavily reduced in length. The judges gave the win to Bigger Brother and Kat 3, allowing them to finish third in the International Tag Team Terror.

Series 6
Bigger Brother was seeded 2nd for Series 6, this time with much stronger armour, and a more compact body. In the first round, Bigger Brother was placed against newcomers Killer Carrot 2 and Riptilion, along with their former Tag Team partners Major Tom.

At the start of the battle, Killer Carrot 2 attacked Major Tom, whilst Bigger Brother went after Riptilion, tossing it up into the air and then pushing it towards Mr. Psycho. It flipped it again to keep it in the CPZ, but Riptilion managed to dodge the hammer, but was struck dead on when it was unable to escape. Bigger Brother then turned its attentions on its other opponents, and tossed Killer Carrot onto its back, before gathering up Major Tom and hurling over, but Major Tom was able to roll back onto its wheels. Bigger Brother activated the pit release and flipper Major Tom into the side wall, where it was attacked by Sir Killalot and Mr. Psycho, breaking apart the roll cage and then slamming the huge hammer onto its exposed body. Bigger Brother turned to Killer Carrot 2 again, and flipped it up against the side wall angle grinder, just as the Disc of Doom activated. Meanwhile, Riptilion, who had been doing nothing but spin in circles on the Disc of Doom, drove itself into the pit. Bigger Brother and Killer Carrot 2 battled on, but it was clear that Major Tom would be eliminated and Refbot moved in to initiate the countdown. Major Tom was able to drive in circles, but lacked sufficient mobility to escape the countdown. Bigger Brother wrestled Killer Carrot 2 onto the Disc of Doom, where it spun away, and the battle ended with a deluge of balls that crashed down onto Major Tom.

It was drawn up against Behemoth in Round 2. Behemoth and Bigger Brother circled each other at the start, and both used their weapons. Although neither succeeded in flipping, Bigger Brother turned its back on Behemoth, allowing Behemoth to move in behind and overturn it in Shunt's CPZ. Bigger Brother self-righted, but landed on its front, having its righting path blocked by Shunt. "Bigger Brother already in trouble in the CPZ! Oh brilliant self-righting....what a quick flip Bigger Brother has!"

- Jonathan Pearce

Behemoth and Shunt pushed Bigger Brother, and this gave Bigger Brother the arc it needed to get back onto its wheels. Both machines shot back into the middle of the arena and continued to fight, with Behemoth flipping Bigger Brother onto its back again, but Bigger Brother again recovering. The two robots bumped into each other, and Bigger Brother flipped Behemoth onto its side. Behemoth could not self-right as quickly as Bigger Brother, and Bigger Brother swiftly reversed Behemoth into the side wall, shoving its rear end underneath Behemoth and coming close to pushing Behemoth on top of the Arena wall. "Bigger Brother, just waiting its time because it knows it can get underneath Behemoth's three centimetre yawning ground clearance, and prise Behemoth up against the Arena wall! Will it go out?"

- Jonathan Pearce

As Behemoth self-righted, Bigger Brother reversed into it, slamming it into the pit release. Bigger Brother got beneath Behemoth's rear end and tossed it into the air, allowing Bigger Brother's wedge to slip beneath it. Using its open flipper to clamp it in place, Bigger Brother pushed Behemoth straight into the pit.

Bigger Brother met Disc-O-Inferno in its Heat Final.

As it had in the early stages of the fight with Hypno-Disc, Bigger Brother used its heavily armoured rear end to charge at Disc-O-Inferno's disc. The hard armour paid off when Disc-O-Inferno landed a blow on it that showed no immediate damage to the surface. Bigger Brother tried to flip Disc-O-Inferno's exposed side, but missed its chance. Disc-O-Inferno struck the flipper and then darted away, keeping away from Bigger Brother and trying to keep its disc facing the Watts machine. However, in its flight, it ran into a CPZ and was caught in Sir Killalot's huge claw. Momentarily stopped, Bigger Brother rushed in and flipped it up against the wall. Disc-O-Inferno slid down onto its wheels and ran into Sir Killalot again, trapping Disc-O-Inferno between Bigger Brother and the House Robot. Bigger Brother flipped Disc-O-Inferno against Sir Killalot, catching it between its flipper and wedge. Sir Killalot then pushed both robots into the centre of the Arena. Bigger Brother released Disc-O-Inferno and then flipped it over before it could spin its disc up. Relentless, Bigger Brother pushed Disc-O-Inferno across a flame pit and into an angle grinder, tossing it up slightly, and then flipping it all the way up onto an angle grinder. Disc-O-Inferno could not escape Bigger Brother's flipper as it clamped down on a wheel and trapped it in place. It was given a brief reprieve when it was tossed out of Bigger Brother's guard zone and managed to drive free. However, a split second pause to spin its disc up, allowed Bigger Brother quickly caught it and flipped it against another side wall, activating the pit as it rammed it into the wall. Using its spikes to hold the wheels, Bigger Brother pushed Disc-O-Inferno into Shunt. Both Shunt's axe and Bigger Brother's flipper missed, and Disc-O-Inferno found itself free. With its weapon not working and clearly on the defensive, Disc-O-Inferno purposely drove itself straight into the pit, giving the match to Bigger Brother.

Round 1 of the Semi-Final saw Bigger Brother fighting the 6th seeds Dominator 2. "That's going to be interesting, we might be flying later tonight!"

- Chris Hall of the Dominator 2 team afraid of Bigger Brother before the battle

Bigger Brother started cautiously and avoided early attacks from Dominator 2 before getting underneath the front of its opponent and flipping it over. Bigger Brother tried to push Dominator 2 against the Arena wall, but righted its opponent, and Dominator 2 came in with an axe attack and pushed Bigger Brother into the CPZ. Bigger Brother quickly escaped and lifted its opponent up a few times, but without managing to flip it over, and Dominator 2 continued to attack with the axe. Bigger Brother then went into the CPZ and was picked up and carried around the Arena by Sir Killalot, before being dropped upside-down. Bigger Brother self-righted but had clearly lost its mobility and Sir Killalot picked it up again before cease was called, and the judges went for Dominator 2.

Bigger Brother wasn't out though, as it went into the losers' melee along with 4th seeds Hypno-Disc and 10th seeds Spawn Again, both of which it had fought before. In the melee, Spawn Again started by attacking Hypno-Disc. Bigger Brother came in and was attacked by Hypno-Disc, but it easily brushed off the impact, taking no real damage. Then, after another attack on Bigger Brother, Hypno-Disc slammed into the arena wall and immediately broke down, leaving two robots to fight. As Hypno-Disc was paraded around the arena by Sir Killalot, the other two robots had become locked together, but Killalot was able to free them. As Hypno-Disc was counted out, Bigger Brother activated the pit release button, but was immediately flipped against the Arena wall by Spawn Again. However, this attack seemed to knock out Spawn Again and Bigger Brother was able to self-right and push Spawn Again into the pit of oblivion.

Reinstated, Bigger Brother had to fight Terrorhurtz to reach the Grand Final. Despite not being seeded, Terrorhurtz had previously taken out the seeded Panic Attack in its heat and Spawn Again in the first round of the semi-final. The robots came together but Bigger Brother could not get underneath its opponent and Terrorhurtz attacked with its axe several times, before pushing Bigger Brother into the arena wall. This attack looked to have immobilised Bigger Brother and Refbot came in to investigate, but then it suddenly sprung back to life again. Terrorhurtz quickly responded and attacked Bigger Brother again in the CPZ, but both were attacked by Shunt and Sergeant Bash. Terrorhurtz escaped, but Bigger Brother had stopped moving again in the CPZ and Terrorhurtz activated the pit release button, as Bigger Brother was counted out. "Tears at the end of it all for the runners-up in the last series. Bigger Brother go no more."

- Jonathan Pearce as Bigger Brother is counted out.

To finish the battle, Bigger Brother was thrown by the floor flipper and pitted by Shunt, leaving Terrorhurtz to go through to the Grand Final.

Extreme 2
"By now the Watts family should know what's what about Robot Wars!"

- Jonathan Pearce as Bigger Brother enters the Arena for the All Stars.

After reaching the Semi-Finals of the Sixth Wars, Bigger Brother returned for the All-Stars tournament. In the first round, it was against S3 and Firestorm 4, both of which it had fought before, although Ian Watts and Philippa Forrester claimed they had never fought Firestorm before.

Having lost to both of these robots before, S3 included an anti-flipper plate, in the hope that flippers would fail to get underneath S3 and be driven onto the disc; however this proved to be their downfall. The battle began with Bigger Brother flipping over S3 from behind, but being pushed away by Firestorm. S3 then got stuck on its side, the anti flipper plates stopping them from falling back onto their wheels, leaving Bigger Brother enough time to push it to the side of the Arena and flip it out, achieving what it failed to do in its Series 5 battle. Firestorm then charged at Bigger Brother and overturned it, but it self-righted, only to be thrown over again, both robots were through anyway. "Over in a trice, which was nice"

- Jonathan Pearce, on S3

Bigger Brother was then drawn against reigning UK champions Tornado. "The other thing I say to the UK Champions is, what happens if Tornado is flipped? What use is that scoop then?"

- Jonathan Pearce foreshadows

Tornado, using its charity scoop, was immediately under pressure from Bigger Brother, who a number of times tried, but failed to flip Tornado. During one attack, Bigger Brother strayed too close to Sir Killalot, who pushed Bigger Brother into the angle grinders, but Bigger Brother escaped, only to be slammed back again by Tornado, who was suddenly had the upper hand. Tornado eventually let Bigger Brother go, but was immediately left to rue their error as Bigger Brother flipped Tornado over, leaving the scoop useless and a perfect gap for a flipper to exploit. Tornado, sensing their weakness, ran for the pit release. Tornado then tried pushing Bigger Brother, but failed to make any ground. Bigger Brother again flicked Tornado into the air, but did not re-right it. Tornado continued pushing, but Bigger Brother was equal to it, and in fact pushed back. Tornado retreated, and very nearly drove into the pit, but reversed just in time; however in its haste to attack, it got itself caught trapped between Bigger Brother's descending flipper and its shell, lifting all of Tornado's wheels off the ground, and allowing Bigger Brother to push Tornado towards the pit and in.

Bigger Brother then fought Firestorm 4 again in the Heat Final for the right to reach the All-Stars Grand Final.

Firestorm 4 immediately got stuck under the disc of doom, freed itself but got stuck again, however this proved a good thing as Bigger Brother ran up on the disc, which is slightly above floor level, and onto the wedge of Firestorm, being thrown onto its back in the process, but Bigger Brother easily self-righted. After riding on Firestorm's wedge, Bigger Brother bounced down and went on the attack, flicking Firestorm into the air, but not flipping it over. The two robots spent a lot of time pushing one another, before Firestorm flipped Bigger Brother onto its back by the arena wall, but once again Bigger Brother recovered. Bigger Brother missed an opportunity, as Firestorm was wedged under the angle grinders, leaving the sides open to attack, but Firestorm spun away before Bigger Brother could take advantage. Firestorm once again went on the offensive, this time pushing Bigger Brother across the arena and slammed it into the opposite wall. Sergeant Bash attempted to crush the side of Bigger Brother, as the two robots had strayed into a CPZ, but failed to and Firestorm carried Bigger Brother away on its wedge. Firestorm then pressed the pit release button, and Firestorm shoved Bigger Brother against the corner of the Arena, just failing to overturn it before the arrival of Sergeant Bash and Shunt, who axed the top of Bigger Brother. The two robots escaped, and met again in the centre of the arena. Bigger Brother this time went on the attack, as Firestorm's flipper appeared to have wedged open. Firestorm retaliated, and flipped over Bigger Brother, who had run out of CO2, and Firestorm pushed it into the pit

The Watts family returned for the Minor Meltdown competition, where Joe drove the machine and Ellie controlled the weapons. "Brothers and sisters working together, it's not always easy is it?"

- Philippa Forrester

In the first round, it fought Lambsy and Saw Point. Bigger Brother drove into Saw Point and attempted to flip it, before pushing it the length of the arena and tossing it onto its back. Bigger Brother pushed both robots across the arena, before putting Saw Point into Growler's CPZ, where Growler seized the immobile Saw Point. As Lambsy and Bigger Brother continued their battle, Growler slammed Saw Point into the side wall, dislodging one of its wheels. Bigger Brother pushed Lambsy into the pit release, flipping it over as Saw Point was counted out. Sir Killalot threw Saw Point around the arena, and Bigger Brother pitted Lambsy, but Saw Point was already out, and it was crushed underneath an array of car parts.

In Round 2, Bigger Brother fought Rick. The beginning of the battle was filled with excitement, but neither robot could land a blow on the other. Rick partially flipped Bigger Brother, but it landed on its wheels. Bigger Brother flipped Rick over, when suddenly Dead Metal's blade came rolling across the Arena floor, disappearing in the crack between the arena wall and floor. The pit descended, and Rick fled, with Bigger Brother in pursuit. Rick attempted to right itself, despite being invertible, it could not use its flipper while upside down, thus it failed. Rick broke down in the CPZ, and placed on the Disc of Doom. It flew off quickly, but Bigger Brother could not push it because of the spin. Dead Metal pushed Bigger Brother away, but was also spun to one side. It caught Rick and pitted it.

"I think Joe has inherited his dad's talent for driving"

- Philippa Forrester before the Final

In the Final, Bigger Brother lined up a drive, and charged down Lambsy. Ellie Watts fired Bigger Brother's flipper at the perfect time, and Lambsy was thrust onto its side, a position from which it could not recover, as it was lying on its open jaws. After activating the pit, Bigger Brother reversed into the stranded Lambsy, pushing it into the pit, and winning the battle in just 27 seconds. Bigger Brother became the Minor Meltdown Champion.

Series 7
Returning as the 4th seeds, Bigger Brother was drawn against newcomers U.R.O. and Typhoon 2, along with returning team Colossus.

Typhoon 2 failed to get spinning, whilst Bigger Brother repeatedly flipped the invertible U.R.O., causing it enough damage to become immobilised. Colossus had already been flipped, leaving Typhoon 2 and Bigger Brother. Bigger Brother flipped over Typhoon, immobilising it and attempted to re-right Colossus. However, Refbot counted out Colossus moments before Colossus landed on its wheels and started moving again, before driving into the pit. "And Bigger Brother has virtually beaten everyone here!"

- Jonathan Pearce

In the second round, Bigger Brother faced Iron-Awe 2.1. With the fourth seed Bigger Brother having a reputation for flipping robots out of the Arena, and Iron-Awe being a team with machines that had been flipped out of the Arena three times before, the odds were weighed heavily in favour of Bigger Brother, which Team Iron-Awe recognised. "We always get a difficult second round. This is no exception. However, we have fought Bigger Brother before. We know they're a good robot, we have on occasion beaten them, so we know they can be beaten, and we have the weaponry to do it"

- Gilbert Grimm

The battle started favourably for Bigger Brother, which started quickly, flipping Iron-Awe 2.1 over and into Refbot, before flipping them back onto their wheels. The Heat favourites bumped into Shunt, who was out of his CPZ, and Iron-Awe 2.1 took advantage of this brief distraction, getting its flipper underneath and flipping them over the wall - and out of the competition, one of the biggest shocks in Robot Wars history.

"Terrific battle. That's what Robot Wars is all about. Stack 'em, and pack 'em, rack 'em, and flip 'em... and Bigger Brother are out! The seeds have gone!"

- Jonathan Pearce

As veterans of five wars, Bigger Brother entered the All-Stars championship at the end of the series. In the first round, it fought Panic Attack, Firestorm 5, and former Tag Team partners Kat 3. However, before the battle, Joe Watts announced that he and the other competitors were planning to the House Robots. Immediately, all four robots converged on Shunt, and Firestorm 5 was the first to slide beneath the house robot and flipped it over. Bigger Brother and Firestorm 5 both attacked Shunt again, with Firestorm 5 wedging itself on the arena side wall in the process. Shunt's axe flailed as it tried to self-right, accidentally nudging Firestorm 5 off the wall in the process. Refbot cleared the four competing robots away, and Cassius Chrome seized Kat 3 and shoved it across the arena. Whilst Cassius Chrome battled the competitors, Refbot activated the pit release button. and Bigger Brother was on the panel already and couldn't drive away, as the descent had already begun and its ground clearance was too low, so the descent was halted, and the Refbot shoved Bigger Brother off and away, allowing the descent of the pit to continue.

"Oh, Bigger Brother's on the pit, get off there! The pit is descending, and Bigger Brother were very very nearly gone... the Refbot's down!!"

- Jonathan Pearce

As Bigger Brother joined Panic Attack in attacking Cassius Chrome, Refbot accidentally reversed into the pit itself, the pit then quickly raised again to let the Refbot out. Firestorm 5 and Bigger Brother tried to flip Cassius Chrome, but they were unsuccessful, and Firestorm 5 pushed Panic Attack into Cassius Chrome, with the two competitors then shoving the House Robot the length of the Arena.

"How do the judges mark this by the way? Two machines have to through to the second round of the All-Stars... on style, on aggression, on damage, but on control?! Has any one single machine been strictly under control out there? It's been sheer roboteering lunacy!"

- Jonathan Pearce

All four robots ganged up on Cassius Chrome. Panic Attack hoisted Cassius Chrome off the ground, before being aided by Bigger Brother. Meanwhile, the Drop Zone and the arena floor flipper both activated in an unsuccessful attempt to stop the rampaging robots. Cassius Chrome appeared to have lost power as it was pushed towards the pit by Panic Attack, who then left it up against the Arena side wall by the pit release button, as it was obvious to see that Cassius Chrome couldn't drive and was consequently immobilised. After this, all four competitors decided to leave it alone, and decided to turn on the Refbot, for a clean House Robot sweep. However, Firestorm 5 suddenly drove itself into the pit of oblivion after deflecting off the Refbot in a charge.

"Oh, the truce is obviously off! Kat 3 has spiked Bigger Brother, and at last, the competing machines are having a go at each other!"

- Jonathan Pearce

Finally, Kat 3 accidentally axed Bigger Brother, when actually trying to hit the Refbot, causing the roboteers to finally turn on each other. Kat 3 then ran away from the other competitors, Bigger Brother shoved Panic Attack against the angle grinder, then chased after Kat 3, with Panic Attack in hot pursuit. Kat 3 slammed into the pit release button again in panic, before being scooped up by Bigger Brother. Bigger Brother then tried to push Kat 3 down into the pit, but Kat 3 just escaped the robot's grasp, and Bigger Brother suddenly lost control, reversed, and fell into the pit itself.

"Bigger Brother is trying to get itself down the pit, and does so! Well, now I've seen virtually everything here..."

- Jonathan Pearce

Bigger Brother was originally scheduled to fight in the House Robot Rebellion alongside Behemoth, but it was replaced with Gravity.

Results

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Wins/Losses

 * UK Wins: 20
 * UK Losses: 11
 * US Wins: 1
 * US Losses: 1

Outside Robot Wars
Bigger Brother contested and won the Heavyweight category at the RobotsAtWar Charity Event in 2001, beating Dominator 2 in the Final.

The team also entered Techno Games with a weaponless version of Bigger Brother called Big Bro. It competed in the Football (teaming up with British Bulldog, a weaponless version of Bulldog Breed and going by the team name Team BB), the Assault course in which it came 3rd overall both series, the Sumo (where it won the gold medal in 2002, but lost to All Torque in Round 1 in 2003) and the Tug of War.

Bigger Brother entered Season 2.0 of BattleBots with little success, defeating only Mauler 51-50 when it self-destructed and then losing to Voltronic. It reappeared in later seasons under the name Little Sister. This robot had a bright yellow shell and extra armour on the flipping arm, and no top wheel guards in Season 4.0 and 5.0. It reached the top 32 in both Season 3.0 and 4.0. In Season 3.0, it beat Botknocker-19 and Gammatron before losing to BioHazard, but won one of the consolation rumbles. In Season 4.0, it notably lost to Killerhurtz in the only battle in which two British robots fought each other on BattleBots, having previously beaten Bender, it then won the Royal Rumble. However it lost its only battle of Season 5.0 to Greenspan.

Bigger Brother appeared in the 2010 series of reality TV show Big Brother alongside Titan, a humanoid robot used for advertisements. As part of a task, Titan had turned some of the housemates into "robots" by way of making them dress in cardboard robot costumes, and the other housemates were given a chance to beat Titan by beating him in robot combat in a specially-made arena in the House Garden, with a Pit and low arena walls. Here, Titan "drove" Bigger Brother whilst the housemates used modified remote controlled cars, and had to survive three minutes in order to win. Bigger Brother emerged victorious in the resulting battle, immobilising all of the opponents in varying ways- pitting three of them, turning one on its side, crushing one against the arena wall, and flipping the other out of the arena, much to the surprise of the housemates.

Ian Watts still owns Bigger Brother and occasionally uses it for engineering demonstrations at the University of Brighton, where he works as a lecturer.

Bigger Brother has competed in many live events after Robot Wars ended. Most recently, it appeared at the 2018 Robots Live! event at Burgess Hill, where it once fought Apollo and Behemoth in a three-way melee, but lost after getting stranded against the wall.

Bigger Brother was among other former competitors that appeared in the 2018 Robonerd event on display.

Appearances in Merchandise

 * Bigger Brother/Robot Wars: Extreme Destruction (GBA)

Trivia

 * Bigger Brother is notably the most successful robot to have never won a judges' decision in UK Robot Wars. The only time the machine was ever awarded victory in a match that went to the judges was the playoff for the Tag Team Terror in Nickelodeon Robot Wars.
 * Bigger Brother entered more competitions including Robot Wars (Robot Wars, Techno Games and BattleBots) than any other British robot.
 * Bigger Brother was the highest seed (number 14) to lose its seeding the following series, but then gain it back again the series after that.
 * Bigger Brother has had more Tag Team Terror team-mates than any other robot, with three different partners.
 * Despite fighting in three Tag Team Terror competitions, Bigger Brother lost in the first round of all three of them, and only won Tag Team battles when it was effectively fighting alone due to its partner breaking down. (In the third place playoff in the Series 4 tournament, when Plunderbird failed to move at the start of the battle, and the third place playoff in the Nickelodeon tournament, where Kat 3 had to withdraw before the battle.)
 * Before the first round of Series 4, Joe Watts predicted they would beat Chaos 2, unintentionally foreshadowing what would happen the next series.
 * In the list of all robots that competed in Series 4 that was shown at the beginning of the Grand Final episode, Bigger Brother was mistakenly listed as 'Big Brother II'.
 * Bigger Brother is the highest seed (number 4) to be flipped out the arena.
 * Bigger Brother is the only number 4 seed to fail to reach the first round of the semi finals.
 * Bigger Brother failed to reach the Semi-Finals only when Philippa Forrester was not the year's pit reporter.
 * Bigger Brother is the only robot to have faced all Grand Champions from Series 2-7, leaving Roadblock as the only champion it never fought, excluding the champions of the rebooted series.
 * This also gives Bigger Brother the joint record of highest number of champions faced, equal with Team Hurtz and Cold Fusion Team, both of whom only failed to fight Typhoon 2 and Apollo.
 * With 21 combat wins, Bigger Brother places ninth in the rankings of the most wins in Robot Wars, ahead of Dominator 2 but behind Hypno-Disc.
 * Of the fifty robots to return from Series 4 to compete in Series 5, Bigger Brother is one of only ten to perform better in its Series 5 appearance. The others are Razer, Firestorm, Diotoir, Prizephita Mach 2, Kat 3, Reactor, Rick, Destruct-A-Bubble and Clawed Hopper.
 * Bigger Brother is one of three robots to lose both a battle and an award to the same robot in the same series. The other two are The Creature losing Best Design to Gemini in The Fourth Wars, and The Big Cheese losing Best Engineered to Chaos 2 in The Third Wars.
 * In 2003, Bigger Brother received an Honorable Mention in The Combat Robot Hall of Fame, in recognition of its team, flipper and combat records in Robot Wars and BattleBots (both under its original name and as Little Sister).

Honours
Nominations
 * Best Design Award - Robot Wars: The Fifth Wars