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"128 robots started out, only four remain: the grand finalists of Robot Wars: The Seventh Wars. It's the one we've all been waiting for!"
Jonathan Pearce's introduction

The Grand Final of Robot Wars: The Seventh Wars was a series of battles which determined the Grand Champion of Robot Wars: The Seventh Wars. It was fought between the four robots that had progressed through their heats and the Semi-Finals. There were two Grand Final Eliminators to decide which robots would make the Grand Final, followed by a play-off for third and fourth. Finally, the Grand Champion would be determined in the Grand Final. The episode featuring the Grand Final was broadcast on 7 March 2004 on Five.

Competing robots[]

Newcomers[]

Storm II S7
Storm 2 (seeded 16th, winner of Heat I, qualified from Semi-Final 2)
Weight 100kg
Dimensions 0.67 x 0.78 x 0.68m
Power 2 x Electric motors
Weapons Lifting arm
Strengths Unrivalled speed
Weaknesses Often hard to control
From: Ipswich, Suffolk
Team Members: Ed Hoppitt, Tim Bence & Meral Kolac
Typhoon 2
Typhoon 2 (winner of Heat O, qualified from Semi-Final 2)
Weight 98kg
Dimensions 0.68 x 1.00 x 1.00m
Power Petrol driven engine
Weapons Four rotating blades
Strengths Agility & devastating weapon
Weaknesses Unstable at low speeds
From: Edinburgh, Scotland
Team Members: F.O. Peter J. Bennett, Cpl. Gary Cairns & Sgt. Graeme Horne

Veterans[]

Tornado flail
Tornado (seeded 1st, winner of Heat E, qualified from Semi-Final 1)
Weight 100kg
Dimensions 0.25 x 0.85 x 0.75m
Power 2 x 750W electric motors
Weapons Interchangeable weapons
Strengths Durable chassis
Weaknesses Vulnerable to flippers
From: Sawtry, Cambridgeshire
Team Members: Andrew Marchant, David Gamble & Bryan Moss
X-Terminator S7
X-Terminator (seeded 11th, winner of Heat F, qualified from Semi-Final 1)
Weight 98kg
Dimensions 0.80 x 1.12 x 0.97m
Power 4.5KW electric motor
Weapons Vertical spinning disc
Strengths Extremely destructive
Weaknesses Does not like flippers
From: Belmont, Herefordshire
Team Members: Marlon Pritchard & Simon Baldwin

Eliminators[]

"The draw so important, look at that! Storm 2 against Tornado and Typhoon 2 meet X-Terminator!"
— Jonathan Pearce after seeing the draw for the Grand Final

Tornado (1) vs Storm 2 (16)[]

Storm Tornado 1

Tornado drives Storm 2 against the angle grinder

Storm 2 Tornado 1

Storm 2 inverts Tornado

The two similarly designed robots began to feel each other out until Storm 2 got to the side of Tornado and rushed it towards the arena wall. At the last second however, Tornado slipped off Storm 2's wedge and the latter crashed into the wall instead. Tornado sped away, turned around and met Storm 2 in a head-on collision, Tornado used its size to overpower Storm 2 and pushed it into an angle grinder. Tornado then rode over Storm 2 and Storm 2 used its lifting arm to lift Tornado up, but was not able to turn it over. Tornado sped away again and the two robots circled around each other until Storm 2 slipped underneath Tornado and was able to turn it over with its lifting arm. Now inverted, Tornado was unable to use its scoop and Storm 2 seized the opportunity to get behind the reigning champion. Storm 2 charged Tornado into the CPZ and slammed it into the wall where Tornado bounced back from the impact.

"A Storm and a Tornado out there, and a battle that is blowing hot and cold for both."
— Jonathan Pearce
Storm 2 vs tornado

Storm 2 rams Tornado into the arena wall

Tornado Pit Controversy

Tornado is driven onto the descending pit

Tornado rushed out of the CPZ but was again caught from behind by Storm 2 and slammed into the wall a second time. Storm 2 continue to pursue Tornado and delivered another slam into the arena wall before reversing Tornado into an angle grinder. Tornado tried to get an attack in on Storm 2, but its inverted scoop only resulted in it driving over the top of Storm 2, and as such, Storm 2 caught Tornado again and slammed it into the wall, Tornado again bouncing away. Storm 2 got behind Tornado again and followed it up with yet another slam, Tornado bouncing back all the same. At that point, Refbot activated the pit release button, Storm 2 took advantage and pushed Tornado onto the pit as it began to descend. However, the pit raised due to Refbot's interference and Tornado was able to carry on fighting.

"Tornado's been caught! Oh just away! The champions were very nearly out!"
— Jonathan Pearce as Tornado avoids defeat

Storm 2 pushed Tornado into the CPZ but Tornado escaped as the clock began to tick down. Storm 2 then nagged away at Tornado in the last few seconds before cease was called.

"Tornado here, I think, on the brink of defeat at the penultimate hurdle of their title defence. I don't think we're gonna see a repeat of Chaos 2's historic title defence."
— Jonathan Pearce on Tornado as the clock ticks down

With both robots still mobile; the judges had to make a decision. The judges voted in favour of Storm 2, thus ending Tornado's 12-match winning streak in the UK Championship and their reign as Robot Wars grand champion.

Winner: Storm 2

X-Terminator (11) vs Typhoon 2[]

XTerminator Typhoon 2 1

Typhoon 2 comes in with a shattering attack

X-Terminator Typhoon 2

X-Terminator resorts to the pit release

Typhoon 2 immediately darted away as it began to get its weapon up to speed and X-Terminator gave chase. Typhoon 2 easily outmaneuvered the much slower X-Terminator and was able to get its weapon going.

"X-Terminator, I think it's missed its chance, I think they've missed their chance..."
— Jonathan Pearce fears for X-Terminator as they fail to stop Typhoon 2 spinning up to speed

X-Terminator continued the pursuit until Typhoon 2 closed in and attacked it, but X-Terminator withstood the force of the attack. Typhoon 2 attacked X-Terminator again, damaging its spinning disc and causing it to stop spinning. X-Terminator rushed to the pit release button to open up the pit, but this only allowed Typhoon 2 to spin up again.

"X-Terminator now impotent, Typhoon senses they can come in for the kill."
— Jonathan Pearce as X-Terminator is rendered weaponless

Typhoon 2 attacked X-Terminator in quick succession, the damage now becoming more apparent as the front scoop of X-Terminator began to buckle. Typhoon 2 hit X-Terminator twice more, both attacks causing it ricochet away and nearly fall down the pit. Typhoon 2 then began to spin up again, but while attempting to close in on X-Terminator with another attack, Typhoon 2 hit the arena wall and shattered it. Typhoon 2 managed to land a blow on X-Terminator, tearing a piece of its scoop off just before cease was called.

"X-Terminator hopes bashed, our arena smashed!"
— Jonathan Pearce
Arena wall damage

The damage caused to the arena wall

Typhoon 2 vs x-terminator

Typhoon 2 watches the immobilised X-Terminator

Typhoon 2's shattering of the arena wall completely shocked the production crew, who had not expected the arena wall, made of bulletproof glass to shatter like it had, plus the fact the impact had also bent a steel support girder. This brought recording to a stop for that day, whilst a replacement panel was delivered and installed.

The fight resumed the next day, the judges allowing Typhoon 2 to get up to the speed it was at before the fight was stopped beforehand. However, the restarted fight was over as soon as it started, as one hit from Typhoon 2 took out X-Terminator's batteries and immobilised it straight away.

"And as soon as we've started again... I think we'll have stopped again because for me, X-Terminator has just been beaten."
— Jonathan Pearce

X-Terminator was counted out by Refbot before Dead Metal pushed it into the pit, ending its championship hopes.

Winner: Typhoon 2

Playoff[]

Tornado (1) vs X-Terminator (11)[]

XTerminator Tornado 1

X-Terminator is thrown over by Matilda

XTerminator Tornado 2

Tornado rams X-Terminator against the arena wall

X-Terminator had sustained severe damage after its previous battle with Typhoon 2. The team were able to get X-Terminator into working condition, the disc being able to spin again, however, the front scoop was damaged too much and was not able to be reattached. This proved to be X-Terminator's achilles heel, as Tornado quickly got underneath X-Terminator and pushed it around the arena and into the arena wall.

"I don't think X-Terminator was ever gonna be fully ready for this playoff..."
— Jonathan Pearce doubts X-Terminator's chances

Tornado got behind X-Terminator and shunted it into Matilda's CPZ, but X-Terminator managed to escape and attempted to use its disc on Tornado, but was only able to scratch the now former UK champion's scoop. X-Terminator veered too close to Matilda and was caught by Matilda's flywheel and flipped over. Tornado pushed X-Terminator back into Matilda, the house robot's flywheel hitting X-Terminator and flipping it the right way up again. Tornado shunted X-Terminator from the side into the opposite CPZ, before pushing it all the way across the arena into yet another CPZ.

"Poor old X-Terminator, taking some damage again."
— Jonathan Pearce

Sir Killalot closed in and was clipped by X-Terminator's flywheel and a piece of armour was ripped off its arm. X-Terminator got out of the CPZ and appeared to break down, Tornado took advantage and rammed X-Terminator into the wall several times before activating the pit release button.

Tornado vs x-terminator

Tornado shoves the battered X-Terminator

XTerminator Tornado 3

X-Terminator is counted out

Tornado pushed X-Terminator back into the CPZ, ripping the pit release button off the wall in the process. Tornado attempted to push X-Terminator into the pit, but the arena floor had become slippery due to a hydraulic fuel leakage caused by Matilda accidentally damaging Sir Killalot's arm during the previous encounter in the CPZ, so Tornado was not able to get enough traction on the floor to push X-Terminator. Refbot counted out the battered X-Terminator and Matilda came in to damage it further with her flywheel before cease was called.

"Tornado, not first place in The Seventh Wars - third, some consolation."
— Jonathan Pearce

Winner: Tornado

Final[]

Storm 2 (16) vs Typhoon 2[]

7thWarsGrandFinal1

Storm 2 lifts Typhoon 2

7thWarsGrandFinal2

Typhoon 2 breaks the arena wall for the second time in the Grand Final

Typhoon 2 started to spin up and rushed around the arena while Storm 2 closed in. Typhoon 2 hit Storm 2, but merely glanced off its wedge, the impact causing Typhoon 2's spin speed to slow down. Typhoon 2 quickly rushed away to spin up again while Storm 2 slowly followed it across the arena. Eventually, Typhoon 2 was up to speed and closed in, it hit Storm 2 and both robots deflected away from each other. Storm 2 again chased after Typhoon 2 as it began to spin up. Typhoon 2 hit the arena wall and then grazed Storm 2 before carrying on speeding around the arena. Storm 2 pursued Typhoon 2 for a short while until Typhoon 2 hit Storm 2 once again, but this time the impact knocked Typhoon 2 back into the arena wall and stopped it spinning instantly. Now seeing an opportunity, Storm 2 quickly approached the static Typhoon 2, slid underneath it, and lifted it up with its lifting arm, trying to topple it over.

"If it does go over, it's all over!"
— Jonathan Pearce as Storm 2 tries to topple Typhoon 2

Storm 2 manuevered around, trying to gain some momentum to flip Typhoon 2 over, but this failed and Typhoon 2 dropped off Storm 2's arm and back onto the arena floor. Typhoon 2 got away, but was having trouble spinning back up, and Storm 2 chased them into the CPZ where Matilda was waiting. However, Typhoon 2 sped out of the CPZ and crashed into Refbot. As Typhoon 2 was still attempting to spin back up, Storm 2 caught it and ran it towards the arena wall and again got underneath to lift Typhoon 2 up, but was still not able to turn it over. The pursuit began once more, and Typhoon 2 was finally able to start spinning. However, as Storm 2 closed in it near the arena wall, Typhoon 2 slammed into the wall and shattered it for a second time in the episode. The battle was instantly stopped so the damage could be repaired.

"Cease is called! They've smashed the arena! Second time this has happened in the Grand Final!"
— Jonathan Pearce
Typhoon2deflection

Typhoon 2 is recoiled into the air

Typhoon 2 Storm 2 3

Storm 2 pushes Typhoon 2 up against the arena wall

Once the arena wall was repaired, the two robots were back in the arena to restart the battle. Again, the judges allowed Typhoon 2 to spin up to the speed it was at before it smashed the wall. With the battle now started again, Storm 2 shot straight towards Typhoon 2, not giving it a chance to attack. The two glanced off each other twice in quick succession, followed by a third hit. This hit from Storm 2 caused Typhoon 2 to recoil from the attack and jump into the air. Typhoon 2 landed on Storm 2, but got off and Storm 2 then pushed Typhoon 2 into Matilda's CPZ before briefly lifting it up with its arm. Storm 2 kept the aggression on Typhoon 2 as it caught it on its wedge and lined up a drive, but as it travelled across the floor, Typhoon 2 caught the edge of the unopened pit and very nearly toppled over. Typhoon 2 rolled into the pit release button to open it up, and now free, used the opportunity to get spinning up once more. Storm 2 closed in where Typhoon 2 glanced off it and flew towards the pit. Another hit from Storm 2 caused Typhoon 2 to glance off and nearly fall down the pit again.

Typhoon 2 struck Storm 2 once more and then again, but Storm 2 stayed on the attack and slowed Typhoon 2 down to halt. By now, Storm 2 had slowed down, but was still trying to keep up with Typhoon 2, which could no longer spin back up. Storm 2 pushed Typhoon 2 into the wall and then into the CPZ where Matilda closed in, but both robots quickly escaped and retreated to the other end of the arena. Storm 2 caught Typhoon 2 again and managed to line up a more powerful drive to slam Typhoon 2 into the CPZ. Unfortunately for Storm 2, it hit the arena wall itself and the impact was strong enough that it dislodged a panel from its front, which was now hanging loose as it pushed Typhoon 2 out of the CPZ. Both robots lingered around the arena in the last few seconds and Storm 2's loose panel fell off just as cease was called for the fight to go to a judges' decision.

"Oh what's happened to Storm 2, they've taken some damage on the front! Where on earth did that happen! That is major damage, major damage to Storm 2... has the Grand Final turned again? What a twister this was!"
— Jonathan Pearce as the late twist unfolds
Panel

The damaged wedge panel from Storm 2, a decisive factor in the Judges' decision

Damage Carries More Weight

Craig Charles gives the decision to Team Typhoon

In making their decision, the judges examined both robots, ruling that Storm 2 had won on control and aggression, and Typhoon 2 had won on style and damage. As damaged carried more weight in their scoring criteria, they declared Typhoon 2 as the new UK Champion of Robot Wars.

Team Typhoon Trophy

Team Typhoon lift the trophy

Seventh Wars Grand Champion: Typhoon 2

Craig Charles: "There's a new terror in the war zone"
Jayne Middlemiss: "Cue the applause"
Craig Charles: "There's a brand new champion"
Both: "On Robot Wars!"
— Craig and Jayne's sign-off
Typhoon 2

Typhoon 2, the Seventh Wars Grand Champion

Aftermath[]

As with the previous series, the final battle between Typhoon 2 and Storm 2 ended in controversy, this time largely as a result of the influence Storm 2's wedge panel had on the judges' decision. Typhoon 2, while noted by Martin Smith as having no 'significant or bodywork damage', also had a drive chain dislodged by Storm 2 towards the end of the battle, which Gary Cairns later explained formed part of its dual independent drives which would have minimised any effects on the robot's mobility.

"As the robot was designed with two independent drive systems, either of which could drive the robot with the other down, I had no reason to suspect there was damage to the robot and so it didn't cross my mind during the post match interview."
— Gary Cairns, explaining Typhoon 2's drive systems and the effects of the dislodged drive chain[1]

The chain itself had also become dislodged in Typhoon 2's eliminator battle against X-Terminator, following direct damage sustained to one of its wheels. As in the final, the Scottish machine did not encounter any significant mobility issues as a result.[1]

When interviewed by Jayne Middlemiss, Smith stated that even with Storm 2's panel to consider, it was 'not obvious' which robot had scored the highest on damage, though it is unclear what significance Typhoon 2's chain had on the final decision. Both teams were left surprised and disappointed by the outcome, with Ed Hoppitt saying that he was 'gutted', but nevertheless content with Storm 2's durability compared to other opponents faced by Typhoon 2. Cairns, in equal disbelief, stated to Craig Charles that he thought Storm 2 would receive the victory, a view he reaffirmed in later years while again citing the wedge panel as the most decisive factor.[1]

Trivia[]

  • This was the first time since the Second Wars that the UK Grand Champion was a newcomer and/or an unseeded robot (not including the Third Wars which had no seedings).
  • Strangely, in each fight, a robot that managed to throw another robot out of the arena fought one that hadn't.
  • Interestingly, Tornado's Series 7 performance matches that of Roadblock's in the Second Wars, in that it returned to the wars as reigning champion, finishing 3rd that year and the robot that defeated it lost to the new champion which was also a newcomer.
  • This Grand Final featured the final appearances of X-Terminator and Typhoon 2.
  • Despite featuring a Robot Wars high of eleven of this weapon type at the Semi-Final stage, Series 7 is the only Grand Final episode in the show's history where none of the competitors were armed with a flipper.

References[]

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