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"Tonight, experience rules, in some top class duels!"
Craig Charles introduces the All-Stars

The All-Stars Championship of Robot Wars: The Seventh Wars was the third and final Robot Wars All-Stars Championship, and was the second of three special episodes held at the end of Robot Wars: The Seventh Wars. The episode featuring the All-Stars tournament was broadcast on 21 March 2004 on Five.

Competing robots[]

"Top seeds, old favourites, fighting tonight, not least, because most of them have been kicked out of the UK championships, such has been the ferocity of our new generation robots!"
— Craig Charles describes the line-up

As with the previous two All-Star competitions, the championship was between robots that were either well-known or extremely successful. In contrast to the previous All-Stars event held in Extreme 2, which focused almost purely on the semi-finalists of the then-most-recent UK championship, the Seventh Wars All-Stars focused primarily on highly experienced teams that had at least five years of robot combat experience. Unlike past All-Stars events, achievements from outside Robot Wars were also considered - Dantomkia, for example, was selected as the team was highly experienced on the live circuit despite having only fought in two series of the show.

"Dantomkia at the time of the All Stars was not a new robot nor was its team. We had competed in battle bots and robotwars the year before and were old hands ( around 5 years) through the live circuit..we were reliable, a crowd pleaser and always up for a laugh hence we were asked. It was originally supposed to be called something else relating to long term service on robotwars but I refused to compete under that title because whilst we wernt new we were relatively unknown on the show so they changed it to "All Stars""
— Mike Lambert in 2020[1]
Kat 3 S7
Kat 3
Weight 98kg
Dimensions 1.16 x 1.25 x 0.82m
Power 2 x 1000W electric motors
Weapons Pneumatic axe
Strengths Strong armour
Weaknesses Driver
From: Addlestone, Surrey
Team Members: Keith Williams, Georje Williams & Julie-Ann Williams
Firestorm V
Firestorm 5
Weight 94kg
Dimensions 0.33 x 1.10 x 0.93m
Power 3KW electric motor
Weapons Flipper
Strengths Fast & manoeuvrable
Weaknesses 2 Wheel drive only
From: Langley Moor, County Durham
Team Members: Graham Bone & Hazel Heslop
Panic Attack 7
Panic Attack
Weight 99kg
Dimensions 0.33 x 1.36 x 0.93m
Power 750W electric motor
Weapons Lifter & ramming spikes
Strengths Battle experience
Weaknesses New driver
From: Roath, Cardiff
Team Members: Kevin Pritchard, Jamie McGarry & Paul Wier
Bigger Brother s7 Official image
Bigger Brother
Weight 98kg
Dimensions 0.34 x 0.77 x 0.94m
Power 2 x 750W electric motors
Weapons Spiked CO2 powered flipper
Strengths Bullet-proof construction
Weaknesses None
From: Brighton, East Sussex
Team Members: Joe Watts, Ian Watts & Ellie Watts
Behemothside
Behemoth
Weight 100kg
Dimensions 0.62 x 1.05 x 0.65m
Power 2KW electric motor
Weapons Pneumatic flipper & axe
Strengths 6 Wheel drive
Weaknesses Falls into pit too often
From: Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire
Team Members: Anthony Pritchard & Kane Aston
King B Powerworks S7
King B Powerworks
Weight 97kg
Dimensions 0.28 x 1.01 x 0.78m
Power 2 x 1500W electric motors
Weapons Spinning disc & spikes
Strengths Fast and tough
Weaknesses High ground clearance
From: Portchester, Hampshire
Team Members: Simon Harrison, Grant Hornsby & Ryan Hornsby
Pussycat All-Stars
Pussycat
Weight 100kg
Dimensions 0.55 x 0.91 x 0.72m
Power 3 x 750W electric motors
Weapons Rotating blade
Strengths Invertible
Weaknesses Only has 9 lives
From: Redditch, Worcestershire
Team Members: Stuart Barnwell & Amanda Barnwell
Dantomkia top
Dantomkia
Weight 96kg
Dimensions 0.36 x 1.18 x 0.83m
Power 2 x 750W electric motors
Weapons CO2 flipper
Strengths Reliability
Weaknesses Nervous driver
From: Chertsey, Surrey
Team Members: Michael Lambert, Daniel Lambert & Steven Gadsby

Format[]

Following an identical format to the heats of the main competition, the Series 7 All-Stars began with the eight competitors fighting in two four-way 'Eliminators'. Two winners from each advanced to the second round (Semi-Finals), where two more robots would be eliminated. The winning Semi-Finalists would then face each other in a head-to-head Final, the victor being crowned the All-Stars champion.

Eliminators[]

Kat 3 vs Firestorm 5 vs Panic Attack vs Bigger Brother[]

"House robots, your days are numbered!"
— Joe Watts of Team Big Brother before the battle
All stars eliminator A

Firestorm 5 initiates the rebellion against the House Robots

Immediately, all four robots converged on Shunt, and Firestorm 5 was the first to slide beneath the house robot and flipped it over. Bigger Brother and Firestorm 5 both attacked Shunt again, with Firestorm 5 wedging itself on the arena side wall in the process. Shunt's axe flailed as it tried to self-right, accidentally nudging Firestorm 5 off the wall in the process. Refbot cleared the four competing robots away, and Cassius Chrome seized Kat 3 and shoved it across the arena. As it escaped, Firestorm 5 retaliated by pushing Cassius Chrome along the arena, but did not flip it.

"This is tremendous stuff, so much experience out there - durable machines."
— Jonathan Pearce
Bigger Brother All-Stars

The pit retracts to save Bigger Brother

Refbot in pit

Refbot reverses into the pit

Cassius Chrome bumped both robots off, and targeted Kat 3 again, shoving it back towards the arena side wall. Both Panic Attack and Firestorm 5 then attacked Cassius Chrome from the sides, causing the sole House Robot to flee. Meanwhile, Refbot activated the pit release button, and Bigger Brother was on the panel already. Bigger Brother couldn't drive away, as the descent had already began and Bigger Brother's ground clearance was too low, so the descent was halted, and the pit was raised so Refbot could free Bigger Brother, allowing the descent of the pit to fairly continue. As Bigger Brother joined Panic Attack in attacking Cassius Chrome, Refbot accidentally reversed into the pit itself, the pit then quickly raised again to let the Refbot out.

Firestorm V vs Panic Attack

Firestorm 5 wedges under Panic Attack

""You bring that pit back up" says the Refbot."You don't get rid of me that easily.""
— Jonathan Pearce

Firestorm 5 and Bigger Brother tried to flip Cassius Chrome, but they were unsuccessful, and Firestorm 5 pushed Panic Attack into Cassius Chrome, with the two competitors then shoving the house robot the length of the arena.

"Rules? What rules?"
— Jonathan Pearce as the frenetic action continues
Cassius chrome gets a black eye

Kat 3 gives Cassius Chrome another black eye

Drop Zone fail

The Drop Zone misses its mark

As Bigger Brother and Kat 3 attacked Cassius Chrome, Kat 3's axe caused the House Robot's eye to fall off. All four robots ganged up on Cassius Chrome. Panic Attack hoisted Cassius Chrome off the ground, before being aided by Bigger Brother. Meanwhile, the floor flipper and The Drop Zone flipper both activated in an unsuccessful attempt to stop the rampaging robots.

Panic Attack vs Cassius Chrome

Panic Attack and Bigger Brother lift Cassius Chrome

"How do the judges mark this by the way? Two machines have to through to the second round of the All-Stars... on style, on aggression, on damage, but on control?! Has any one single machine been strictly under control out there? It's been sheer roboteering lunacy!"
— Jonathan Pearce

Cassius Chrome appeared to have lost power as it was pushed towards the pit by Panic Attack, who then left it up against the arena side wall by the pit release button, as it was obvious to see that Cassius Chrome couldn't drive and was consequently immobilised. Bigger Brother also tried to flip Shunt out of the arena but couldn't do so. And Refbot came in to protect Shunt from being flipped out. After this, all four competitors decided to leave it alone, and decided to turn on the Refbot, for a clean house robot sweep.

Firestorm V pitted

Firestorm 5 drives straight into the pit

Kat 3 vs Bigger Brother

Kat 3 misses Refbot to strike Bigger Brother

However, Firestorm 5 suddenly drove itself into the pit of oblivion after deflecting off the Refbot in a charge. Finally, Kat 3 accidentally axed Bigger Brother, when actually trying to hit the Refbot, causing the roboteers to finally turn on each other.

"Oh, the truce is obviously off! Kat 3 has spiked Bigger Brother, and at last, the competing machines are having a go at each other!"
— Jonathan Pearce
End of eliminator

Bigger Brother falls into the pit to join Firestorm 5

Kat 3 then ran away from the other competitors, Bigger Brother shoved Panic Attack against the angle grinder, then chased after Kat 3, with Panic Attack in hot pursuit. Kat 3 slammed into the pit release button again in panic, before being scooped up by Bigger Brother. Bigger Brother then tried to push Kat 3 down into the pit, but Kat 3 just escaped the robot's grasp, and Bigger Brother suddenly lost control, reversed, and fell into the pit itself.

"Bigger Brother is trying to get itself down the pit, and does so! Well, now I've seen virtually everything here..."
— Jonathan Pearce

Qualified: Kat 3 & Panic Attack

Behemoth vs King B Powerworks vs Pussycat vs Dantomkia[]

"Please don't attack the house robots again"
— Jonathan Pearce pleads to the roboteers, with reference to the previous battle
Pussycat vs King B Powerworks

Pussycat disables the drive of King B Powerworks

Dantomkia vs Behemoth

Dantomkia throws Behemoth out

Pussycat began to carry out its plan to attack King B Powerworks, while Behemoth and Dantomkia circled each other. Pussycat snapped the right drive chain of King B Powerworks on the first hit of its double-blade weapon, resulting in King B Powerworks spinning in circles for the rest of the fight. From then on in the battle, Pussycat failed to get a good catch on King B Powerworks. Dantomkia ran into Behemoth head on, but couldn't get underneath, and backed away before Behemoth could flip Dantomkia instead. Pussycat and King B Powerworks then started circling each other, with neither hitting the other with their weaponry. Dantomkia then rammed Behemoth into the arena side wall, before sliding in from the back of Behemoth, having failed to get underneath it from the front. Dantomkia rushed Behemoth into the unoccupied CPZ and flipped it swiftly out of the arena.

"Dantomkia trying to prise a way under the side and lift Behemoth's 100 kilos out! And that's exactly what they do!"
— Jonathan Pearce
Dantomkia vs King B Powerworks

Dantomkia disposes of the beaten King B Powerworks

Interrupting the battle between Pussycat and King B Powerworks, Dantomkia then came in as Pussycat drove away for a run-up on King B Powerworks, Dantomkia tried to push King B Powerworks. King B Powerworks drove up Dantomkia's front at the same time, but Dantomkia couldn't then push King B Powerworks forwards at all. Pussycat then came in and landed one swift blow, catching both robots with the blade weapon, forcing Pussycat to topple over onto its side. King B Powerworks' resistance weakened noticeably, and Dantomkia took advantage of the weakness and charged forward towards the arena side wall on the other side of the arena, before then tossing King B Powerworks out of the arena as well.

Craig Charles: "You're through to the Semis, didn't really do much in there though"
Stuart Barnwell: "We went straight after King B3, which we planned, and we jammed their wheel up...and then King B was dead, and we knocked the chain off their weapon..."
Craig Charles: "So you did do quite a bit then?"
Stuart Barnwell: "Oh, we did"
Craig Charles: "I'll shut my mouth then"
— Stuart Barnwell arguing his case for Pussycat's performance

Qualified: Dantomkia & Pussycat

Semi-Finals[]

Panic Attack vs Dantomkia[]

Dantomkia vs Panic Attack

Dantomkia defeats a former champion for the second time

Prior to this battle, Sir Killalot had leaked oil all over the arena floor, which hampered traction on both robot's wheels. Both robots unsuccessfully rammed each other for a while in the centre of the arena, until Panic Attack got underneath Dantomkia and lifted it up with its lifting forks, however Dantomkia managed to get away quickly.

"This is tactical and tense."
— Jonathan Pearce sums up the opening moments of the fight
Dantomkia vs Panic Attack

Dantomkia flips a robot out of the arena for the last time in classic Robot Wars

Dantomkia then slid underneath the side skirts of Panic Attack, and tossed it over onto its back, showing the slogan Hello Mum on the underside of Panic Attack. Panic Attack showed no signs of self-righting, even though Dantomkia hung back and watched for several moments. Dantomkia then drove underneath Panic Attack, ran into the arena side wall and threw the champions of the Second Wars out of the arena.

"No, you don't really want to do that, unless you're gonna toss him out, and that's what happened!"
— Jonathan Pearce

However, 'cease' was not called, as Dantomkia then attacked Dead Metal, flipping it up several times, but not flipping it over.

Dantomkia vs dead metal & growler

Dantomkia lifts Dead Metal

"Is this necessary? Is it wise?"
— Jonathan Pearce, as Dantomkia attacks Dead Metal

Suddenly, Growler came in to help out, resulting in both House Robots getting stuck together, both unable to move apart, effectively meaning Dantomkia had beaten them. Dantomkia then activated the pit release button, but Refbot yellow-carded Dantomkia, and 'cease' was called before anything could be achieved. This battle saw the 60th and final Out of the Arena flip in the original run of Robot Wars.

Winner: Dantomkia

Kat 3 vs Pussycat[]

"This one is a cat fight!"
Jayne Middlemiss
Kat3 vs Pussycat

Kat 3's axe shaft strikes Pussycat

Pussycat vs Kat 3

Pussycat makes contact with its blade

This fight played out very similarly to the two robots' previous encounter in the Iron Maidens competition of Extreme Series 2, in a long, close battle. Neither robot was able to inflict any visible damage in the opening moments; Kat 3's axe could only land passing blows at best, and Pussycat's blade was not cutting into the armour or weaponry of Kat 3. Pussycat could only occasionally scratch the sides of Kat 3, but not creating any holes. However, damage to the armour of Kat 3 eventually began to become visible, but this was mostly superficial, and Kat 3's mobility and weaponry seemed unharmed. Kat 3 then activated the pit release button, before ramming Pussycat again. The design of the two robots meant that when they were side by side, neither robot's weapon could land a blow.

"I don't think they can get their weaponry really into full effect here, you see, side by side, the axe is gonna miss, and so to the blade."
— Jonathan Pearce as the stalemate continues
Kat 3 vs Pussycat

Neither robots' weapons could damage the other whilst side by side

Kat 3 Bent Axe

The damage to Kat 3's axe head, shown in the closing seconds of the battle

Kat 3's axe head then bent as Pussycat moved for the axe of Kat 3 to hit Pussycat's blade. Cease was then called as time ran out, resulting in a judges' decision. It took a fair while for the judges to decide the winner, but like the previous encounter between these two robots, the judges finally gave it to Pussycat.

"That little circular saw of yours, does some damage, doesn't it?"
Craig Charles, to Stuart Barnwell, after the battle

Winner: Pussycat

Final[]

Dantomkia vs Pussycat[]

Dantomkia Pussycat Psycho

Dantomkia flips Pussycat into Mr. Psycho's CPZ

Dantomkia took superficial damage from Pussycat's weapon, but rammed it into the arena side wall, almost flipping it out. It repeated the flip, but Pussycat just bounced back down. However, Pussycat landed a critical blow on Dantomkia's aerial, which caused Dantomkia to suddenly stop moving.

"What's happened here with Dantomkia? What has happened with Dantomkia? This whole All-Stars final has turned! They were on top, they were pressurising Pussycat, and to use a very high tech term - they conked out..."
— Jonathan Pearce

Pussycat hooked it with its blade and dragged it around, Pussycat then activated the pit release button. Pussycat nudged Dantomkia towards the pit of oblivion, but both Cassius Chrome and Mr. Psycho came out of their CPZs and attacked Pussycat, not allowing it to finish the battle.

"They remember the earlier mayhem!"
— Jonathan Pearce as Pussycat is chased by the house robots
Mr Psycho Pussycat

Mr. Psycho punishes Pussycat

Cassius Chrome Pussycat

Cassius Chrome and Pussycat lock horns

While the two House Robots attacked Pussycat, the Refbot counted out the immobilised Dantomkia machine.

"Dantomkia is a beaten machine, and this is a stunner. Dantomkia, counted out? Pussycat, the All-Star champion? How unlikely was that in the opening moments of this All-Star final?"
— Jonathan Pearce as Refbot counts out Dantomkia
All stars final

Pussycat making its run-up, to secure the title of All-Stars Champion

Mr Psycho vs Pussycat

The victorious Pussycat is hammered in the pit

Pussycat's 14 mph speed and great agility had kept it out of harm's reach from the house robots, for a while, before Cassius Chrome then grabbed Pussycat and charged at great speed into the arena side wall, however, Pussycat then had some breathing space to escape. Pussycat then attempted to end the battle by pitting Dantomkia, but Mr. Psycho shoved Pussycat aside and put Dantomkia on the edge of the pit. As Pussycat came charging in to pit Dantomkia itself, Mr. Psycho turned, catching the defeated machine with its claw, and pitting it, with an unstable Pussycat then toppling into the pit as well. Mr. Psycho then slammed its hammer down onto Pussycat while it was in the pit. Nevertheless, Pussycat was named as All-Stars champion.

"Pussycat taking some late welly!"
— Jonathan Pearce, after Mr. Psycho hammers the pitted Pussycat

All-Stars Champion: Pussycat

"They'll go down in legend, and robotic folklores, we've got an All Star Champion, here on Robot Wars!"
— Craig Charles' sign-off
Pussycat7

Pussycat, the Series 7 All-Stars Champion

Trivia[]

  • As the penultimate original Robot Wars episode broadcasted, the All-Stars was the most recent televised appearance of five of the eight competing robots in Robot Wars - Bigger Brother, Pussycat, Panic Attack, Kat 3 and Firestorm, although Team Big Brother and Stuart Barnwell would also appear in Series 8 with other robots.
  • According to Suren Balendran, Supernova was invited to participate, but had to decline because the team had university exams[2].
  • With the exception of Dantomkia, all the competing teams had participated in at least five prior UK Championships.
    • The final was between the oldest and youngest competing teams.
  • This was the third time that Firestorm drove itself into the pit.
  • Dantomkia threw three robots out of the arena in this episode, breaking Firestorm's record of seven Out of the Arena flips by reaching nine.
  • Of five battles, this was the only time that a battle containing both Firestorm and Panic Attack had Panic Attack come out victorious and progress to the next stage of the competition.
    • The only other grudge match was with Pussycat and Kat 3 from the Iron Maidens tournament, albeit with different drivers. Unlike Panic Attack, Kat 3 did not achieve vengeance. Both battles were held in round two and went to a judges' decision, with the decision going in favour of Pussycat.
  • In this episode, there were four successful immobilisations of House Robots, with Shunt, Dead Metal, Growler and Cassius Chrome all attacked and immobilised by competitors.
  • Two teams that had fought in 6 wars and two teams that had fought in 5 wars went out in the first round, and one team that had fought in 6 wars and one team that had fought in 5 wars went out in the second round.
  • Only Dantomkia and Firestorm 5 had reached the semi-finals of concurrent UK championship.

References[]

  1. Correspondence with Wiki user Drop Zone mk2
  2. Correspondence between User:Toon Ganondorf and the Supernova Facebook page, 24 October 2016

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