Robot Wars: The First Wars/Heat A

"Man may have tempered the spectre of nuclear evil. But tonight I have the unenviable task of reporting that warfare has been taken out of man's hands. We're now at the mercy of machines, and a battle, the likes of which we've never seen before, is about to begin. Outside the studio, women have lashed themselves to the railings. Britain is about to witness the birth...of Robot Wars, which is all about robots...fighting."

- Jeremy Clarkson's introduction

Heat A of Robot Wars: The First Wars was the first of six heats which determined the Grand Finalists of Robot Wars: The First Wars. The episode featuring Heat A was originally broadcast on February 20, 1998 on BBC Two. This heat was the pilot of Robot Wars.


 * The first ever episode of Robot Wars naturally hosted a great deal of firsts.
 * Famous competitors such as Roadblock, Killertron and Team Nemesis were seen here for the very first time. Jeremy Clarkson and Noel Sharkey, along with Philippa Forrester, Jonathan Pearce and the House Robots, were first seen in this episode too, due to it being the pilot episode.
 * The début of Nemesis, from the Republic of Ireland, signified the first competitor from outside the United Kingdom to compete in Robot Wars.
 * Roadblock was the first robot to complete the Gauntlet.
 * Nemesis became the first robot to defeat Shunt in the Sumo (Roadblock also did this, but fell off itself afterwards, so was deemed to have survived rather than won)
 * In addition to this, there was a particular controversy over the actions of Grunt, the stock robot. Grunt was one of three stock robots to compete in Series 1, and, under the control of an experienced driver, it completed the Gauntlet with ease. This meant that Barry, one of the legitimate competitors, was eliminated at the Gauntlet stage. Grunt proceeded to dive off the podium in the Sumo. Team Power lamented on their website, because they felt that Barry would have been perfect for the Sumo.
 * At the end of the Arena Semi-Final fight between Roadblock and Nemesis, a member of the camera crew tripped over the arena wall, landing a short distance from Nemesis and Matilda who had been caught on a grille. This incident was cut from the broadcast version, but shown in a compilation of highlights and bloopers from Series 1 in Robot Wars: The First Great War.

Nemesis vs Roadblock
Both robots started slowly but Roadblock was able to use its circular saw to slice through the polka dot fur of Nemesis, before the Irish machine retaliated by piercing a hole in the side of Roadblock. Steering away, Roadblock drove into Matilda's CPZ, and impaled itself on the spikes, trapped by Matilda and Nemesis. Roadblock escaped, used its wedge to push Nemesis back, and Sergeant Bash came to set it on fire. "The Nemesis boys all want to go to space and they're in the air! They're in the air! And they're on fire!"

- Jonathan Pearce's excitement as the fur ignites for the first time

The battle was immediately stopped and Nemesis' fur was extinguished. Roadblock was automatically given the victory. "Its gone from an armchair to a three-piece suite."

- Hender Blewitt

Nemesis' defeat here was mostly due to, as revealed on the video compilation of the first series, being unable to go backwards as the result of its speed controllers being burned out after its successful run in the sumo.

Winner: Roadblock

Killertron vs Shogun
Shogun moved forward, before driving over near the grilles. It tentatively moved towards Killertron, reversing away as Killertron's axe came swinging forward. Killertron spun, battering Shogun with its axe, and Shogun eventually drove over the grille and got stuck. "Doesn't seem to be able to dodge Killertron, who seems to be having some sort of fit...oh, Shogun's stuck! On the grille! And Killertron comes in, for the kill!"

- Jonathan Pearce

Killertron cornered its foe and struck with its axe. Sergeant Bash interceded, but its circular saw made contact with Killertron and flew clean off. Cease was called, as Shogun was clearly immobile. "I enjoyed that. You put that pickaxe, which I like a lot, into his skin!"

- Jeremy Clarkson

''It was revealed that problems with the speed controllers caused Shogun's poor driving, and that Sergeant Bash's circular saw had fractured a wire in Killertron. However, it managed to be fixed in time.''

Winner: Killertron

Killertron vs Roadblock
In a very anticipated final, both robots drove towards each other. Killertron fired its axe prematurely, but managed to retract and swing again in time to hit Roadblock. Roadblock's scoop proved effective, slipping beneath Killertron twice in quick succession and pushing it into the side wall. Killertron was left in Sergeant Bash's CPZ, but easily dodged the Sergeant to escape. It then drove up onto Roadblock and beached itself there. "It's piggy-back time!"

- Jonathan Pearce

Roadblock carried Killertron around in circles, and eventually Killertron rolled onto its back, helpless. Roadblock had won the first ever heat of Robot Wars.

Heat Winner: Roadblock