Robot Wars: The First Wars/Heat C

Heat C
The Robot Wars Logo from the introduction titles
Series	The First Wars
Winner(s)	Robot the Bruce
Trial	Football
First Broadcast	6 March 1998
Original channel	BBC Two
Preceded by	Heat B
Succeeded by	Heat D

"Amid reports that robot wars are now breaking out all over the world, the European Union, with the backing of the United Nations, today announced that it would do "Everything in its power to halt the spread of this vicious and vile disease". They would rather we did a programme on daffodils and bunny rabbits. But we're not going to. What we are going to do is get on with the Docklands Chainsaw Massacre, and meet the 6 robots who tonight will compete for death or glory!"

— Jeremy Clarkson's introduction

Heat C of Robot Wars: The First Wars (also referred to as Heat 3 or Show 3 in recaps) was the third of six heats which determined the Grand Finalists of Robot Wars: The First Wars. The episode featuring Heat C was originally broadcast on 6 March 1998 on BBC Two.

Competing robots

	Cruella
	Weight	81.2kg
	Dimensions	0.91m x 0.82m x 0.34m
	Speed	15mph
	Turning Circle	0m
	Ground Clearance	0mm
	Power	2 x Sinclair C5 motors
	Weapons	Circular saw
From: University of East London
Team Members: Philip Martin, Martin Smith & Kanesh Lingham

	Plunderbird 1
	Weight	77.7kg
	Dimensions	1.00m x 0.70m x 0.36m
	Speed	7mph
	Turning Circle	0m
	Ground Clearance	8mm
	Power	12V motor
	Weapons	Circular saw, steel spike
From: Bordon, Hampshire
Team Members: Mike Onslow, Bryan Kilburn & Jon Dilley

	WYSIWYG
	Weight	10.8kg
	Dimensions	0.80m x 0.57m x 0.20m
	Speed	10mph
	Turning Circle	0m
	Ground Clearance	34mm
	Power	10V motor
	Weapons	None
From: Edmonton
Team Members: Michelle Wheeley

	Robot The Bruce
	Weight	84.6kg
	Dimensions	0.82m x 0.52m x 0.37m
	Speed	4mph
	Turning Circle	0m
	Ground Clearance	50mm
	Power	24V electric motor
	Weapons	Brute force
From: Ipswich
Team Members: George Francis & Mick Cutter

	Wedgehog
	Weight	24kg
	Dimensions	0.90m x 0.80m x 0.30m
	Speed	4mph
	Turning Circle	0m
	Ground Clearance	2mm
	Power	2 x Electric motor
	Weapons	Pickaxe
From: London
Team Members: Chris Glaister, Joe Wentworth & Hugo Elias

	Dreadnaut
	Weight	92.6kg
	Dimensions	1.45m x 0.92m x 0.75m
	Speed	5mph
	Turning Circle	0m
	Ground Clearance	0mm
	Power	12V Starter motor
	Weapons	Forklift
From: Nuneaton
Team Members: Ken Feltwell & David Vowles

Gauntlet

Cruella

Cruella passes Shunt

Cruella drove out of the turntable and tried to go down the left route, but was blocked by Shunt. Cruella persisted, pushing Shunt and eventually turning around it when the house robot backed up. Cruella moved forwards, and knocked down the silver skittles, allowing Shunt to rejoin and start pushing Cruella. Shunt trapped Cruella and forced it towards the ramp as time ran out.

Dreadnaut

Dreadnaut crosses the line

Quick out the blocks, Dreadnaut moved to the left route, but bounced off the block separating routes. This ricocheted Dreadnaut back and into Shunt. Dreadnaut escaped and moved further down the course, only to be pushed back by Dead Metal. Dead Metal and Shunt both tried pushing Dreadnaut, but left a clear space for it to drive through, so Dreadnaut managed to complete the Gauntlet.

Dreadnaut up in smoke

"Hang on a minute, what's this? Dreadnaut's blown some sort a fuse, it's on fire! This could be major, major trouble, they'll have to repair this quickly. Otherwise, they'll be forced to retire!"

— Jonathan Pearce as Dreadnaut billows smoke.

However, after the run, Dreadnaut started smoking as the wires caught fire. The team returned to the pits realising that the robot needed a full rewiring, and therefore despite its impressive run in the Gauntlet, they could be forced to retire.

Plunderbird 1

Shunt axes Plunderbird 1

Plunderbird 1 wedged

Plunderbird 1 tried to move down the left route, but drove into Shunt. The house robot pushed Plunderbird 1 back and pinned it next to the ramp. Stuck on a grille, Plunderbird 1 struggled to escape, allowing Shunt to turn around and hack away at the robot with the axe until time ran out.

WYSIWYG

WYSIWYG and Shunt get caught on the ramp

WYSIWYG flew out of the turntable towards the ramp, but missed and slammed into a wall. WYSIWYG tried again, but got caught with the low ground clearance on the incline, requiring assistance from Shunt, which also got stuck. Dead Metal pushed Shunt, which freed WYSIWYG. WYSIWYG moved into the right route and struggled to turn around the first bend of the maze. As time ran out, WYSIWYG drove onto the grille in the corner.

Wedgehog

Wedgehog trapped on the spikes

Wedgehog moved into the maze, and took the corners slowly. When it passed them, Shunt pushed the pneumatic drills closer to Wedgehog, blocking a route. Wedgehog were forced around the springs on the grille and headed towards the spikes, which lifted Wedgehog off the ground. Time ran out while Wedgehog were still trapped.

Robot The Bruce

Robot The Bruce pushes Dead Metal

Robot The Bruce headed towards Shunt down the left route, and after a stand-off, drove around the House Robot, but was turned by a slam on the side by Shunt's scoop. Robot The Bruce pushed past the skittles and into Dead Metal. Robot The Bruce pushed Dead Metal towards the end zone as Shunt came in from behind and started axing Robot The Bruce. Robot The Bruce wriggled free, and Dead Metal yielded allowing Robot The Bruce to cross the line and complete the Gauntlet.

"Now, of all the driving I've seen in here, that's just about the best"

— Jeremy Clarkson

Results

Despite their reliability scare, the Dreadnaut team replaced their burnt-out drive motor with the one from the forks and were therefore able to continue, which meant the robot with the lowest distance - Plunderbird 1 - was eliminated as normal.

Rank	Robot	Distance
1	Robot The Bruce	Completed
2	Dreadnaut	Completed
3	Wedgehog	13.23m
4	Cruella	10.15m
5	WYSIWYG	5.55m
6	Plunderbird 1	4.81m

Trials (Football)

"Move over, Vinnie Jones. These are the real hard men of soccer. The rules are: score a goal and you go through."

— Craig Charles explains the Soccer round in The First Great War

Round 1

The five robots in the Trial

Robot the Bruce scores the first goal

Before the fight, a few teams added extra panels to their robots to try and cup the ball around the arena. Robot the Bruce was the first robot to the ball, hitting it away from the rest of the robots. Dreadnaut blocked Robot The Bruce's path to the ball and turned to knock it towards the goal. Wedgehog lined itself up to push the ball, but Dead Metal spun around and clipped it over the top of Wedgehog. Wedgehog quickly got back to the ball, but passed it to Robot The Bruce, which dribbled the ball into the goal.

Through: Robot The Bruce

Round 2

WYSIWYG takes some damage

Wedgehog steers the ball around Dreadnaut

WYSIWYG was the first robot to push the ball away, but didn't go further. Wedgehog moved in to take the ball, but were blocked by Cruella. WYSIWYG attacked the ball on Cruella and damaged its metal wedge, but Cruella started moving the ball. WYSIWYG was hit away by Dead Metal as Dreadnaut pushed the ball out of Wedgehog's grasp. Wedgehog repositioned itself and dribbled the ball all the way around Dreadnaut and nearly in the goal, where it went in with a little assistance from the House Robot.

"Can he finish? It's an open goal; you've gotta score here...but who did score?"

— Jonathan Pearce

Through: Wedgehog

Round 3

Cruella scores the third goal

Cruella blocked WYSIWYG as they both moved around the immobile Dreadnaut.

"Now, I'm not too sure if Dreadnaut is goal-hanging, I think he's suffering a reoccurence of that old injury."

— Jonathan Pearce

Cruella pushed the ball into Dreadnaut, which was also squeezed by Dead Metal. Cruella pushed the ball onto the curved wall, and after a few attempts freed the ball into open play. Meanwhile, WYSIWYG attacked Dead Metal and was knocked into the goal post, and Cruella eventually scored the next goal.

Through: Cruella

Round 4

Dreadnaut and WYSIWYG, both immobile

Before the fourth round, both remaining robots had 'broken down', and the Judges were called upon to decide which machine would progress. As both had failed to score, the robot deemed to have the 'most touches of the ball' was deemed to go through, which they declared was Dreadnaut. This marked the second instance in the series in which a stock robot (WYSIWYG) was eliminated at the Trial stage.

Through: Dreadnaut

Results

Rank	Robot	Result
1	Robot The Bruce	1st Goal
2	Wedgehog	2nd Goal
3	Cruella	3rd Goal
4	Dreadnaut	-
5	WYSIWYG	Least Possession

The Dreadnaut team later found they hadn't charged the robot's battery in time before the Trial, which resulted in Dreadnaut stopping midway through the second round.

"Dreadnaut is dismantled yet again. Will they be ready in time for the Semi-Final?"

— Craig Charles as Dreadnaut is seen to again in The First Great War

The Dreadnaut team managed to fix the problems as best as they could before deciding they would need to test it.

"Dreadnaut lives to fight again, IF it can be put back together again in time. Fingers crossed that the motor will keep its cool."

— Craig Charles hoping for Dreadnaut to not burn out in the Semi-Final in The First Great War

Arena

Semi-Finals

Robot The Bruce vs Cruella

Robot the Bruce drives up onto Cruella

Cruella drives onto the grille

"It's the box against the wedge, no weapons on board either."

— Jonathan Pearce

Robot The Bruce charged at Cruella, but the wedge of Cruella got underneath Robot The Bruce and started pushing it away. Robot The Bruce reversed off the wedge and tried to push again, but instead drove up the wedge. Cruella started spinning, but were stopped as Robot The Bruce caught the side. Cruella kept lifting Robot The Bruce up on the wedge, and eventually tried driving away, but drove onto the grilled, where it got stuck.

"Oh! That's suicide surely! What on earth is Philip Martin doing? He's on the grille, he won't get off there now."

— Jonathan Pearce

Winner: Robot The Bruce

Dreadnaut vs Wedgehog

Dreadnaut pushes Wedgehog into Sergeant Bash

Wedgehog moved towards Dreadnaut and fired the axe but missed. Dreadnaut lined up a charge, pushing Wedgehog into Sergeant Bash, where the House Robot tried to cut it with the circular saw, which fell off.

"Oh, the saw's gone again! Poor old Sergeant Bash has lost his saw blade! That looks like a halo."

— Jonathan Pearce

Shunt drags both robots away from the grille

Dreadnaut starts smoking

Dreadnaut had the forks stuck in the side of Wedgehog and dragged it across the arena. Dreadnaut tried to push Wedgehog onto a grille, but Shunt and Matilda stopped it getting pushed there. Dreadnaut backed up but stopped and started smoking, while Wedgehog now free from the forks, began ramming back. Immobilised, Dreadnaut was eliminated after it's third successive breakdown.

"There's smoke from Dreadnaut! Its gone again, the engine! And surely this is Wedgehog's Semi-Final now! He's smokin'!"

— Jonathan Pearce

Winner: Wedgehog

Final

Robot The Bruce vs Wedgehog

Philippa Forrester: "Are you nervous at all?"

George Francis: "A little bit. I didn't do too well against the last wedge one, it took a little bit of doing."

— George Francis learns from over-confidence

Wedgehog were the underdogs, as Robot The Bruce was 4 times heavier than them. However, the team hoped to use the wedge as a weapon in the same way that Cruella did.

Wedgehog and Robot the Bruce circle each other

Robot the Bruce rams Wedgehog onto the grille

The two robots met in the centre of the arena, and skirted around the sides of each other. Robot The Bruce backed up and realigned itself, pushing Wedgehog from the side. Wedgehog were pushed across the arena and onto the grille, getting stuck, and could only hit the grille with its pickaxe in vain.

"It could all be over very, very quickly. He's on the grille...I don't think he's gonna get out of there. Are you sure to take on a grille with that thing?"

— Jonathan Pearce after Wedgehog gets shunted onto a grid.

Matilda and Sgt Bash slice into Wedgehog

Robot The Bruce slammed Wedgehog as the House Robots joined in the fight. Sergeant Bash cut into Wedgehog with the repaired saw, while Matilda left a large gash in the side of Wedgehog as Robot The Bruce and Shunt tussled. After enough punishment from the House Robots, cease was called and Robot The Bruce earned its place in the Grand Final.

"Matilda's in, looking for a few scraps, as usual, Shunt takes on Robot the Bruce, but I think it's too little too late! Robot the Bruce is the winner!"

— Jonathan Pearce as the fight ends

Heat Winner: Robot The Bruce

Trivia

• Just like Heat A, a genuine competitor was defeated in the Gauntlet by a stock robot, in this case WYSIWYG.
• The unreliability of Dreadnaut was seen in this episode, breaking down three times across the episode.
• The heat final between Wedgehog and Robot the Bruce is ranked equal 19th in the Shortest Battles in UK Robot Wars, at 27 seconds.
• For the Football Trial, Dead Metal was adapted to work without his circular saw, with his arm being modified to feature a large tyre intended to steer the ball away. This attachment would also be seen in the British Bulldog Trial from the previous Heat, as well as being used as a thwacking device in various Arena battles from this series.
• Dead Metal was also absent from the Heat Final, the first time that a UK Series battle was run with fewer than four House Robots.
• In the results table for the trial, the word "Possession" was spelled incorrectly as "Possesion".