Robot Wars: World Series (also referred to as the Robot Wars International Specials) was a series of two special episodes aired on BBC Two as part of Robot Wars: Series 10. The first episode aired on 31 December 2017[1], and the second on 7 January 2018[2].
Both episodes were international specials, featuring eight robots from the United Kingdom - including the reigning British champion Eruption - and eight representatives of other countries.
As of 2024, both World Series specials are available to stream on Mech+, alongside the main Series 8-10 and the 2016 Battle of the Stars specials.
Over five years following their initial premieres, both episodes were repeated on BBC Two on 14 and 21 January 2023.[3][4]
Format[]
In each episode, four robots represented the United Kingdom and four robots represented the 'Rest of the World', with each side having a designated 'captain'. The role of the captain was to provide moral support and tactics to the rest of their side's members, and they were present in the control booth in all battles, including the ones they were not involved in.
In each episode, six battles were fought - the first two being a tag-team battle and the remaining four being head-to-heads. The winner(s) of each battle were given points; three for a knockout and two on a judges' decision. The final head-to-head was between the two captains, whereby five and four points were allocated for a knockout or judges' decision win respectively.
Competitors[]
| UK Representatives | Rest of the World Representatives |
|---|---|
| Apollo | Cathadh (United States of America) |
| Big Nipper | Cobra (Belgium) |
| Concussion | Diotoir (Republic of Ireland) |
| Eruption | Rabid M8 (Portugal) |
| Gabriel 2 | Terror Turtle (Canada) |
| Sabretooth | THE BASH/Tough as Nails (The Netherlands) |
| Terrorhurtz | TMHWK (The Netherlands) |
| Thor | Weber (Russia) |
- NOTE 1: After THE BASH proved to be irreparable, it was directly replaced by Tough as Nails
- NOTE 2: Robots listed in bold were designated captains of each team
Some competitors, such as Portugal's Team REC and the American Team Toad, arrived without a robot of their own, and thus were required to rename and modify a loanerbot to participate with.
It is known that Team MAD selected many of the UK representatives just after qualifying for the main series[5].
Carbide was also selected to compete as the captain of Team UK within the second episode, but Team Carbide voluntarily handed their title over to Eruption after their battle during the Grand Final in the UK championship[6]. Push to Exit was invited to compete, but Shane Swan declined after being disappointed with his performance in the main competition. Nuts 2 was also due to appear in the second episode, but was replaced by an unknown representative due to damage sustained by Carbide.[7]
Episodes[]
Episode 1[]
- Main article: Robot Wars: World Series/Episode 1
The first episode aired on New Year's Eve of 2017.
Competitors: Apollo, Cobra, Diotoir, Gabriel 2, Rabid M8, Sabretooth, Terrorhurtz, TMHWK
Tag Team Battles
- Apollo (UK) & Gabriel 2 (UK) vs Cobra (BEL) & TMHWK (NED): Apollo & Gabriel 2 won by Judges' decision
- Terrorhurtz (UK) & Sabretooth (UK) vs Diotoir (IRE) & Rabid M8 (POR): Terrorhurtz & Sabretooth won by KO
Head-to-Head Battles
- Sabretooth (UK) vs Cobra (BEL): Cobra won by Judges' decision
- Terrorhurtz (UK) vs TMHWK (NED): Terrorhurtz won by KO
- Gabriel 2 (UK) vs Rabid M8 (POR): Rabid M8 won by Judges' decision
- Apollo (UK) vs Diotoir (IRE): Apollo won by KO
Episode 2[]
- Main article: Robot Wars: World Series/Episode 2
The second episode aired on January 7th of 2018.
Competitors: Big Nipper, Cathadh, Concussion, Eruption, Terror Turtle, THE BASH, Thor, Tough as Nails, Weber
Tag Team Battles
- Eruption (UK) & Big Nipper (UK) vs Weber (RUS) & THE BASH (NED): Eruption & Big Nipper won by KO (After this battle, THE BASH withdrew and was replaced by Tough as Nails)
- Thor (UK) & Concussion (UK) vs Cathadh (USA) & Terror Turtle (CAN): Thor & Concussion won by KO
- NOTE: Team UK forfeited the three points to Cathadh and Terror Turtle due to a rule break in the tag team battle
Head-to-Head Battles
- Thor (UK) vs Tough as Nails (NED): Thor won by Judges' decision
- Big Nipper (UK) vs Terror Turtle (CAN): Big Nipper won by KO
- Concussion (UK) vs Weber (RUS): Concussion won by KO
- Eruption (UK) vs Cathadh (USA): Eruption won by KO
Gallery[]
References[]
- ↑ http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b09lczm4
- ↑ https://digiguide.tv/programme-details/BBC+2+HD/7+January+2018/19:00/Robot+Wars+Special/Entertainment
- ↑ https://www.bbc.co.uk/schedules/p00fzl97/2023/01/14
- ↑ https://www.bbc.co.uk/schedules/p00fzl97/2023/01/21
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GRA6F8KfBcY
- ↑ https://twitter.com/TeamCarbide/status/950088129142239234
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wpWaypZI2Io
Trivia[]
- This was the second two-part series of special events to be aired over the end-of-year period as part of the reboot, after Robot Wars: Battle of the Stars.
- Due to airing after Christmas, these episodes were not included in Robot Wars - The Complete Compendium 2017, with Episode 1 being the only episode to air in 2017 and not be included.
- These specials were the first example of a reigning British champion defending its country since Tornado's participation in the European Championship, due to Typhoon 2's withdrawal from The Third World Championship.
- The Netherlands was the only country besides the United Kingdom to be represented by more than one robot during the World Series.
- Apart from Gabriel 2, all of the UK representatives fought in the 10 Robot Rumble.
- Of the four captains only Cathadh was making its debut, the other three had competed before; likewise Diotoir was the only one not to have made a Semi-Final or Grand Final of the main championship.
- The competing teams in the World Series episodes were expressly forbidden from mentioning Brexit, the recent political change which could theoretically have provided motives for European teams to defeat British teams and vice versa.
- "We filmed a lot of special shots with the team and some interviews. Funny trivia: The word “Brexit” was forbidden. We made a lot of jokes about it and during one of these recordings a producer got mad and said: "Pretend we live in a universe where Brexit never happened!”"
- — Jeroen van Lieverloo
External Links[]
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