Destruct-A-Bubble

Destruct-A-Bubble
Participation Information
UK Series	4-5
Other Names	Millennium Doom (Original Name)
Team Information
Team	Team Destruct-A-Bubble
Team Members	Bill Cozens Lawrence Cozens Malcolm Burrells (Series 4) Peter Richards (Series 5)
From	Chelmsford, Essex (Series 4) Nounsley, Essex (Series 5)
Robot Statistics
Weight	100kg
Dimensions	0.94m x 1.00m x 1.20m
Power	36V wheelchair motors
Weapons	Overhead spike
Statistics correct as of its most recent show/competition appearance, or if not applicable, qualification attempt.

"You will get in trouble, if you mess with the bubble!"

— On a fan's banner

Destruct-A-Bubble was a heavyweight robot which competed in Series 4 and 5 of Robot Wars. One of the largest competitor robots to appear in the classic run, it initially fell in the first round in The Fourth Wars on a Judges' decision to Killerhurtz and Eric, and participated in the Sumo Basho side event. An updated Destruct-A-Bubble fared slightly better in The Fifth Wars, reaching the second round before being eliminated by Rick.

Design

Destruct-A-Bubble in Series 4 with its spike extended

Destruct-A-Bubble in Series 5

Destruct-A-Bubble was a large sphere-shaped robot made of carbon fibre and Kevlar with a flat bottom that ran on two-wheel drive. It was painted yellow with red hair and a cartoon style face complete with titanium eyebrows and featured a small decorative bowler hat on the top. Occasionally, a 'hairnet' to snag spinning weapons would also be implemented. Some parts came from a tractor, the robot had a steel chassis and it was bottom heavy which made it difficult to flip over. In Series 4, it had a two foot long pneumatic lance for its weapon, which was nicknamed 'the mother-in-law's tongue').

Destruct-A-Bubble was redesigned for Series 5 with an overhead spike salvaged from a screwdriver as its weapon powered by an old industrial floor scrubber motor and featured new shock activated electronic eyes.

Etymology

Destruct-A-Bubble's name comes largely from its spherical shape. The robot was originally named Millennium Doom, but the team changed its name at the last moment. The cause for the name change is unknown.

The Team

Team Destruct-A-Bubble in Series 4

The team in Series 5

Destruct-A-Bubble was the creation of the Cozens family from Essex. The team captain was Bill Cozens, who designed and built the robot and he was consistency joined by his son, Lawrence Cozens, who was Destruct-A-Bubble's driver. In Series 4, the pair were joined by Malcolm Burrells who operated the weapons, but Peter Richards took his place in the role for Series 5. Of the members, Lawrence was the only one who did not speak on camera.

In Series 4, Malcolm Burrells' unnamed young daughter was present in the team's post-battle interview while Bill Cozens was accompanied by two unnamed female team members for Destruct-A-Bubble's Sumo Basho performance where Bill drove the robot. The members all wore white shirts with an image of Destruct-A-Bubble printed on.

Qualification

Destruct-A-Bubble first attempted to qualify for Series 4 by participating in the Robot Mayhem live shows. Attending on 30 July 2000, it fought a tentative head-to-head against Team EyeEye walker Miss Struts. Destruct-A-Bubble initially struggled during the opening moments, which saw both competitors collide head-on. While untroubled by Miss Struts' lifter, it struggled to push its opponent from the front or side. However, an impromptu intervention saw an unidentified House Robot push Destruct-A-Bubble into Miss Struts; both competitors were directed towards the Pit, where a control error from Miss Struts ultimately sent it tumbling 'head first'. Destruct-A-Bubble was declared the winner and qualified for The Fourth Wars as a result. It would be similarly successful in qualifying for The Fifth Wars the following year, ironically being responsible for Team EyeEye not qualifying for the second series in a row after fighting Arnold A. Terminegger to a stalemate.

Destruct-A-Bubble as it entered The Sixth Wars qualifier

Destruct-A-Bubble (with a different design) at The Sixth Wars qualifiers

Destruct-A-Bubble also attempted to qualify for Series 6. At the qualifiers, it appeared with two different designs, for reasons unknown. At the qualifiers, Destruct-A-Bubble fought Dantomkia, Maximus, and Iron-Awe 2. At the start of the battle, Maximus attacked Destruct-A-Bubble, cutting off a part of its swinging arm, whilst Dantomkia flipped over Iron-Awe 2. Dantomkia came in and flipped over Maximus and attacked Destruct-A-Bubble. The two continued battling until the end of the battle, with both surviving to the end. Dantomkia was judged to be the winner, Iron-Awe 2 was given a discretionary place to qualify, but Destruct-A-Bubble failed to qualify.

Destruct-A-Bubble as known to have attempted a second qualifier battle against X-Terminator, Broadsword and a third unknown robot armed with a bludgeoner described as looking similar to Inverterbrat. It is unknown who won the qualifier, regardless, Destruct-A-Bubble failed to qualify.

Robot History

Series 4

"Here we have something that doesn't really look like a robot."

— Julia Reed

Competing in Heat I, Destruct-A-Bubble's first round battle saw it go up against the number sixteen seed Killerhurtz and Eric, both of which lost in the first round of the previous series by driving into the Pit.

Eric flips Killerhurtz into Destruct-A-Bubble

Killerhurtz axes the top of Destruct-a-Bubble

Killerhurtz almost pulls Destruct-A-Bubble over

During the battle, Destruct-A-Bubble was initially unable to get up to speed to launch an attack on either of its opponents, who attacked each other. Eric later attacked Destruct-A-Bubble, trying to flip it, but the Bubble was able to shift away. Killerhurtz then intercepted a Destruct-A-Bubble attack on Eric and slammed it into the arena wall a few times, without firing the axe. Destruct-A-Bubble then got away as Killerhurtz and Eric returned to attack each other again. As Killerhurtz then axed Eric, Destruct-A-Bubble tried to deploy its tongue weapon on Eric, before Eric was released. Killerhurtz then attacked Destruct-A-Bubble again, breaking through the bubble with its axe. Killerhurtz was then able to get one more axe blow in on Destruct-A-Bubble before 'cease' was called for a Judges' decision. Destruct-A-Bubble was eliminated, mainly due to a lack of aggression.

"A little bit of plastic surgery will do for Destruct-A-Bubble. A little bit like the mother-in-law actually. Oh dear."

— Jonathan Pearce

Destruct-A-Bubble about to drive off the Sumo Basho ring

Destruct-A-Bubble also fought in the Sumo Basho competition of the Fourth Wars, it survived for 11.91 seconds in the ring against Shunt before driving straight off, placing it seventh on the leaderboard overall out of sixteen.

Series 5

"Destruct-A-Bubble's back, as ridiculous as ever."

— Philippa Forrester

In the first round of Heat K Destruct-A-Bubble was drawn up against newcomer Axe-C-Dent.

Destruct-A-Bubble and Axe-C-Dent lock weapons

From the off, the two robots collided, with Destruct-A-Bubble's weaponry trying to clamp down on Axe-C-Dent, but instead getting trapped with the latter's spinning hammer weapon. The two then separated, with Destruct-A-Bubble then bumping into the Refbot, before attacking Axe-C-Dent again. Destruct-A-Bubble then reversed away and slammed into the arena wall, but then it became apparent that Axe-C-Dent had been immobilised. Axe-C-Dent was subsequently counted out, and Destruct-A-Bubble was through to Round 2.

Craig Charles: "How far do you think you can go in this competition? There's a lot of big boys."

Peter Richards: "We'll go all the way."

— Post-battle interview

This glory did not last long, however. Destruct-A-Bubble was then due to fight the twenty-first seed Suicidal Tendencies in the second round of the heat, but after the latter broke down and retired, Destruct-A-Bubble found itself pitted against the reinstated Rick.

Rick flips Destruct-A-Bubble

Destruct-A-Bubble is attacked by Shunt who gets a red card from Refbot

Destruct-A-Bubble punctured and pitted

In the battle, Destruct-A-Bubble was flicked up by Rick's flipper a few times before soon afterwards coming to a halt. Shunt came out and axed it, before Rick came in and flipped it right over. Shunt came out again, axing Destruct-A-Bubble and righting it in the process, but it didn't matter, as Destruct-A-Bubble had stopped moving. Shunt also received a red card from the Refbot and then started attacking him. As the Refbot began counting out Destruct-A-Bubble, Rick came in again to flip it down into the Pit before the count was up, eliminating Destruct-A-Bubble from the competition.

"Your bubble's burst."

— Craig Charles to the defeated Destruct-A-Bubble team

After the fight, the team discovered that the cause of their breakdown was a sweet wrapper lodged in the removable link. This was Destruct-A-Bubble's final appearance.

Results

Wins/Losses

• Wins: 1
• Losses: 2

Series Record

Series	Destruct-A-Bubble Series Record
The First Wars	Did not enter
The Second Wars	Did not enter
The Third Wars	Did not enter
The Fourth Wars	Heat, Round 1
The Fifth Wars	Heat, Round 2
The Sixth Wars	Failed to qualify
The Seventh Wars	Did not enter
Series 8	Did not enter
Series 9	Did not enter
Series 10	Did not enter

Gallery

Official Series 4 image

Destruct-A-Bubble in the arena during Series 4

Destruct-A-Bubble in the Sumo Basho during Series 4

The insides of the Series 4 Destruct-A-Bubble

Destruct-A-Bubble's name misspelled on the leaderboard

Destruct-A-Bubble in the arena during Series 5

Destruct-A-Bubble after its Series 6 qualifier

Outside Robot Wars

Destruct-A-Bubble in July 2025

Destruct-A-Bubble made an appearance at the Uckfield Festival in 2000 where it fought Mincer. Through the use of its spear, Destruct-A-Bubble filled Mincer with holes.

"I am not too sure if the damage was caused by the pneumatic spike or it was self-inflicted by trying to ram it. Looking at the position of the holes, probably a bit of both, still a good humoured battle"

— Team Tristate website on Destruct-A-Bubble's battle with Mincer

Destruct-A-Bubble made a surprise reappearance as a display piece at Extreme Robots Newcastle in July 2025 after Team Roaming Robots gained possession of the robot from the original team. Later that October, Team Roaming Robots shared early progress on restoring the robot to working condition. A full drive test was completed the following day.

Destruct-A-Bubble in battle at Extreme Robots Gloucester in November 2025

On 8 November 2025, Destruct-A-Bubble would return to combat after 24 years at the Extreme Robots event in Gloucester. Its first battle following restoration was a "Fight Club" melee against P04 and The Hungry Hippo; though Destruct-A-Bubble survived the full duration, it ended up losing to The Hungry Hippo. It later took part in a second Fight Club match over the weekend, once again featuring P04, with Raphael, Double Backflip and Hunterbird 1 also being present.

Appearances in Merchandise

• Robot Wars: The Game

Destruct-A-Bubble as a counter for Robot Wars: The Game (top-left)

Trivia

• In Series 4, the team intended to equip Destruct-A-Bubble with a "hairnet" specifically to snag spinning weapons. However, entanglement devices were prohibited from the show, so it was not used.
• On the leaderboard for the Series 4 Sumo Basho, Destruct-A-Bubble's name was misspelt Distruct-A-Bubble, a mistake that was frequently made in the original Robot Wars Magazine as well as other publications.
  • Destruct-A-Bubble was erroneously referred to as Destructor in the first issue of the Titan Robot Wars Magazine, during a section on the Series 6 qualifiers.
• Of the fifty robots to return from Series 4 to compete in Series 5, Destruct-A-Bubble was one of only ten to perform better in its Series 5 appearance. The others were Razer, Bigger Brother, Firestorm, Diotoir, Prizephita Mach 2, Kat 3, Reactor, Rick, and Clawed Hopper.
• Both of Destruct-A-Bubble's appearances were in a heat that was broadcast before a heat that Clawed Hopper appeared in. Both fell in the first round in the Fourth Wars, and the second round in the Fifth Wars.
• Every robot to have eliminated Destruct-A-Bubble in the televised series would go on to lose to a robot with a gripping or crushing weapon.
• All of Destruct-A-Bubble's opponents were robots that either had or would lose in the first round of a UK Championship.
• Two of Destruct-A-Bubble's appearances were in an episode where a robot was reinstated.
  • In addition, two of Destruct-A-Bubble's appearances were in episodes that contained a quick immobilisation, one of which was inflicted on Destruct-A-Bubble itself.
• Shunt was present in all of Destruct-A-Bubble's battles.