Robot Wars: Battle of the Stars

Battle of the Stars
The Battle of the Stars logo
Structure Information
Number of Competing Robots	8
History
Number of times held	2
UK Series	9
UK Incumbent Champion	Arena Cleaner Kadeena Machina

Robot Wars: Battle of the Stars aired on BBC Two over the Christmas period of 2016, having been filmed alongside Series 9. Two episodes were aired, featuring eight celebrities across both.

Battle of the Stars was the second iteration of Celebrity Robot Wars, and differed from Series 4's Celebrity Special, as the celebrities entered their own brand-new machines, rather than borrowing existing competitors.

Format

The celebrities competed with Loanerbots built by Robo Challenge which the celebrities had designed themselves. Each was paired up with a veteran Robot Wars roboteer acting as a 'mentor', who helped repair the robots and gave advice throughout the competition process. The celebrities were often joined by family and friends to form a full team.

The event was split into two shows, each featuring four robots. Robots first competed in a round-robin tournament reminisent of the Head to Head stage in the main Series 8 and Series 9, where they would face each of their opponents in one-on-one battles split across three rounds. Points earned through victories would be accumulated to form a combined total in the League Table - three for a knockout and two for a win via a Judges' decision. The two robots with the highest scores in the League Table faced each other again in the Grand Final, to determine a Battle of the Stars champion for each episode.

Competitors

Celebrity	Occupation	Mentor	Robot
Scott Mills and Chris Stark	BBC Radio 1 DJs	Dave Moulds	Arena Cleaner
Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock	Scientist, TV presenter	Shane Swan	Interstellar: MML
Jonathan and Alastair Brownlee	Triathletes	Gabriel Stroud	JAR
Suzi Perry and Dallas Campbell	TV Presenters	Craig Danby	The Cat
Jordan Stephens	Rapper in duo Rizzle Kicks, actor	John Reid	Dee
Kadeena Cox	Paralympic runner/cyclist	Ellis Ware	Kadeena Machina
Robbie Savage	Football pundit and former player	Jason Marston	Robo Savage
Neil Oliver	Archaeologist, historian, author, TV presenter	Will Thomas	Soldier Ant

TV presenter and comedian Jonathan Ross was invited to compete, having previously expressed interest over Twitter, but could not participate due to filming taking place while he was working in Japan.

All of the celebrities controlled either the robot's drive or weapon during the competition, with the exception of Neil Oliver, as Soldier Ant's drive and weaponry were both operated by his two children, Teddy and Archie.

Episode 1

Main article: Robot Wars: Battle of the Stars/Episode 1

The celebrities in Episode 1

The first episode was the first of Series 9, airing on December 28th, 2016. Repeats on Challenge began on 20th November 2018.

Competitors: Jonathan and Alistair Brownlee with JAR, Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock with Interstellar: MML, Suzi Perry and Dallas Campbell with The Cat, Scott Mills and Chris Stark with Arena Cleaner

Round 1 (Head to Head)

• Arena Cleaner vs Interstellar: MML: Arena Cleaner won by KO
• JAR vs The Cat: The Cat won by KO

Round 2 (Head to Head)

• Arena Cleaner vs The Cat: The Cat won by KO
• Interstellar: MML vs JAR: JAR won by Judges' decision

Round 3 (Head to Head)

• Interstellar: MML vs The Cat: Interstellar: MML won by KO
• Arena Cleaner vs JAR: Arena Cleaner won by KO

Grand Final

• Arena Cleaner vs The Cat: Arena Cleaner won

Episode 2

Main article: Robot Wars: Battle of the Stars/Episode 2

The celebrities in Episode 2

The second episode was aired on December 29th, 2016.

Celebrities competing: Robbie Savage with Robo Savage, Jordan Stephens with Dee, Neil Oliver with Soldier Ant, Kadeena Cox with Kadeena Machina

Round 1 (Head to Head)

• Kadeena Machina vs Robo Savage: Kadeena Machina won by KO
• Dee vs Soldier Ant: Soldier Ant won by Judges' Decision

Round 2 (Head to Head)

• Robo Savage vs Soldier Ant: Robo Savage won by KO
• Dee vs Kadeena Machina: Kadeena Machina won by KO

Round 3 (Head to Head)

• Dee vs Robo Savage: Dee won by Judges' Decision
• Kadeena Machina vs Soldier Ant: Kadeena Machina won by KO

Grand Final

• Kadeena Machina vs Robo Savage: Kadeena Machina won

Gallery

Sir Killalot promotes the Christmas specials

Robot Wars - Battle of the Stars- Preview - BBC

Official Preview/Opening

Trivia

• All the robots featured the same battery, motors and Ragebridge speed controllers, and all robots bar Dee used the same set of two wheels, largely due to them being stock components ordered by Robo Challenge.
• The possibility of Battle of the Stars was first hinted at when audience ticket distributors Lost in TV first revealed that Series 9 would feature recording blocks featuring celebrities. Battle of the Stars was officially revealed by Radio Times on November 22, 2016. BBC Two confirmed this information on November 24, revealing Scott Mills and Chris Stark as competitors.
• The Wilhelm Scream stock sound effect can be heard multiple times throughout the specials; namely during the introduction of both episodes, and in Episode 2 during a clip of Shockwave pushing Carbide in the Series 8 Grand Final.
• During the 2018 Challenge repeats, the first episode was listed as Series 8 Episode 7.