BBC

BBC
The 1997 BBC logo, used during both televised runs
Robot Wars Information
Market	United Kingdom
UK Series	1-6, 8-10, Extreme 1-2

The British Broadcasting Corporation (more commonly known as the BBC) is a British public service broadcaster first founded on 18 October 1922. It operates several television networks, radio stations and online services in the United Kingdom.

From 1998, the original UK version of Robot Wars was broadcast by a variety of BBC TV stations, namely BBC Two and BBC Choice, comprising six main series (Series 1 through to Series 6) and both series of the spin-off Robot Wars Extreme. This lasted until 2003, when Channel 5 (simply known as Five at the time) acquired the rights to the show for Series 7.

Following a 12-year hiatus, Robot Wars returned to television in 2016 for the reboot (later Revival Series) run, with BBC Two airing it once more for a further three series and 22 episodes. In 2018, the BBC decided not to commission a future series beyond Series 10, though this, Series 8-9 and the associated specials continue to enjoy repeat broadcasts on their UK networks as of 2023.

Robot Wars

BBC Two logo at the time of the Revival Series run (2016-2018)

Robot Wars was originally pitched to the BBC by Mentorn in 1995, with a specially-produced UK Open Competition being used to prove the viability of its concept as a television show. However, despite the competition gathering a favourable reception among executives and then-BBC Two controller Michael Jackson, it would not be until 1997 when the original TV series, developed from Marc Thorpe's US competitions of the same name, would be commissioned.

On 20 February 1998, the first series of Robot Wars premiered on BBC Two, the six-part series drawing high viewing figures in its Friday 6:25pm timeslot. Following this initial success, the BBC aired 127 more episodes of the original show in similar early evening slots. Following the switch to a 45-minute format for Series 3, a later 6:45pm slot was adopted, again on Friday evenings and initially with repeats at 11:20pm on the same dates.

Only one episode was specially aired on BBC One: the Series 4 Celebrity Special, although Radio Times listings suggest that repeats of Series 1 were also broadcast there between May and July 1999. The remainder would primarily air on BBC Two, with the exception of the final three episodes of Robot Wars Extreme: Series 2, as Five bought out the rights to Robot Wars before they could be shown.

BBC Choice logo from 1998-2003

Repeats of earlier UK Series, including Series 1, would also be broadcast on the digital-only channel BBC Choice in various early evening slots. Archived listings from the BBC Programme Index suggest that Series 1 was shown on Saturdays at 7pm between 10 July and 14 August 1999. In some instances, particularly throughout 2000, the show would feature in 5:30pm and 7:30pm slots, before gradually beginning to be shown on weeknights at 9pm. By 2001, the timeslots would again change multiple times, with a 7:30pm weeknight slot being standardised by late August. Series 4 repeats included the Northern/Southern Annihilator, Tag Team Terror and War of Independence specials. Meanwhile, BBC Choice would be one of the few channels to show the Series 3 International League Championship following its initial BBC Two premiere, doing so on 21 October 2000 at 7:45pm.

BBC Choice would also fully air Series 5-6, along with both series of Robot Wars Extreme, weeks - or sometimes even months - prior to their BBC Two debuts. Broadcast slots would again vary considerably, with most episodes generally airing at 7pm or 7:30pm; a Robot Wars Weekend block ran on 28-29 December, dedicated to the latter eight episodes of The Sixth Wars. On multiple occasions, individual episodes from earlier series would be aired out of broadcast order: examples included consecutive airings of the Series 4-6 Grand Finals over 4, 5 and 6 February 2003. BBC Choice was the only BBC channel to air the remaining episodes of Extreme 2 - the University Challenge, the Commonwealth Carnage and the European Championship - prior to subsequent showings on commercial networks and Mech+.

Episodes of the rebooted Series 8-10 - including the Battle of the Stars and World Series specials - could also be viewed on the online streaming service BBC iPlayer, usually for up to a month after their televised broadcasts.

Some international airings were also undertaken by the commercial BBC Worldwide subsidiary, namely the African broadcasts of Series 8 and 9 through the BBC Brit channel.

BBC 2 Ident, a robot specially built for use in BBC Two idents promoting the Classic Series

The BBC's involvement in Robot Wars extended beyond merely broadcasting the original and reboot series. During earlier series, a robot based on the BBC Two 1991-2001 ident package was commissioned for use in idents broadcast from Series 3 onwards. Built by Anthony Pritchard, BBC 2 Ident took design elements from each of the House Robots in use at the time, and would often make appearances in idents introducing the programme, as well as cameos within televised episodes themselves.

The BBC also run various regional and nationwide radio channels, which were used to promote upcoming broadcasts of Robot Wars. Interviews with roboteers, fans, and presenters of the show were also aired and/or published for marketing purposes, and the House Robots appeared in cross-promotional materials with other BBC properties from time to time (e.g. the 2017 What If Robots Replaced Teachers? promo). BBC branding was especially prominent on most merchandise releases throughout both of the show's runs (including toys, home media releases and books), with the BBC Multimedia subsidiary also responsible for publishing the five video game releases in the Classic era.

Special episodes

As well as 155 main episodes, the BBC also aired numerous special episodes and spin-offs which were considered separate to the main series:

• The Making of Robot Wars - a behind-the-scenes special following the creation and production of Series 1, airing on BBC Two as part of the main Series 2.
• The Best of Robot Wars - an end-of-series highlights compilation of Series 2, also broadcast by BBC Two. Clips were presented in short segments including those for "Best Stunts", "Best of the House Robots", "Worst Performances", and "Best Battles".
• Robot Wars Revealed - a 15-episode spin-off series containing behind-the-scenes material from the main Series 2, airing exclusively on BBC Choice.
• Meet the House Robots - a 5-minute preview episode shown exclusively on BBC iPlayer, promoting the UK premiere of Series 8. Beginning with short clips of battles from Series 2-5, it included profiles on the four returning House Robots along with clips from the then soon-to-be-launched series.

Trivia

• During the initial airings of reboot-era episodes, the official BBC Two Twitter account would often live-tweet alongside the broadcasts themselves, releasing exclusive animated GIFs of notable moments from a given episode.

External Links

• Official BBC Site
• BBC Two site
• Facebook
• BBC Twitter
• BBC Two Twitter
• YouTube