Robot Wars Extreme: Series 1

Robot Wars Extreme: Series 1
Presenter(s)	Craig Charles
Pit reporter(s)	Julia Reed
Commentator	Jonathan Pearce
Judges	Noel Sharkey Martin Smith Myra Wilson Mat Irvine
No. of episodes	17
Original channel(s)	BBC Choice BBC Two
Filming date	June-September 2001
Arena	Series 5-7, Antweight
First Aired	8 October 2001
Last Aired	21 December 2001
Repeat First	26 October 2001
Repeat Last	15 February 2002
Preceded by	Robot Wars: The Fourth Wars
Succeeded by	Robot Wars: The Fifth Wars

"This is Robot Wars Extreme, where being the best is just not good enough! To survive here, a robot needs to be stronger, more skillful and more downright destructive than ever before!"

— Craig Charles' introduction from Episode 4

Robot Wars Extreme: Series 1 was the first series of Robot Wars Extreme - a series of special episodes of the television game show Robot Wars. It was originally broadcast in 2001 on BBC Choice (the first of four series to debut on the digital channel) and repeated from 2001 until 2002 on BBC Two. The series was hosted by Craig Charles, the pit reporter was Julia Reed and commentary was provided by Jonathan Pearce.

For this series, the weight limit for heavyweights was increased to 100kg, a limit that remained with the show throughout the rest of its original run. Significant changes were also made to the presentation and editing of the series, with a brand-new title sequence and onscreen graphics suite being introduced. Though sharing a similar layout and hazards to the previous incarnation, the Arena was redesigned, giving Extreme Series 1 a very different style to the previous four series. These changes would all be retained until the end of the original Classic run.

Extreme Series 1 would be re-run on various channels following Robot Wars' entry into hiatus, including British networks Dave in 2010 and Challenge in late 2015. As of 2024, it is currently available on the streaming service Mech+ alongside Series 2, plus the main UK and first Dutch series.

Format

The series consisted of 18 separate competitions and one-off battles, spread over several episodes. Every episode featured up to five separate battles, usually a mix of the various competitions and battles which were running throughout the series. The exceptions were the two Annihilator shows and the Forces Special, which were episodes devoted to single competitions. The series also featured the UK broadcast of The Second World Championship.

Main Events

Whilst the series contained a variety of competitions in each episode, the 15 main episodes each had a designated "Main Event" that was advertised throughout the show. The main event was usually the last fight to be aired, with the exception of episodes 7, 10 and 14.

1. Challenge Belt - Behemoth vs The Steel Avenger
2. Mayhem - Hypno-Disc vs Wheely Big Cheese vs Ming 3
3. International Inferno
4. Vengeance - Razer vs Pussycat
5. Armed Forces Melee
6. Vengeance - Plunderbird 5 vs Sir Chromalot
7. Annihilator 1
8. All-Stars - Pussycat vs Stinger
9. House Robot Rebellion
10. All-Stars - Quarter-Finals
11. Flipper Frenzy
12. All-Stars - Semi-Finals
13. Tag Team Terror - Final
14. Annihilator 2
15. All-Stars - Final

Episode Guide

Main article: Robot Wars Extreme: Series 1/Episode Guide

Major Competitions

All-Stars

Main article: Robot Wars Extreme: Series 1/All-Stars

The All-Stars tournament featured "the best of the best", as was described frequently in the show. It was a single knock-out competition between robots that had been finalists or semi-finalists in UK or World Championships.

Robots Featured: Behemoth, Chaos 2, Diotoir, Dominator 2, Firestorm 3, Gemini, Hypno-Disc, Panic Attack, Pussycat, Razer, Stinger, 3 Stegs 2 Heaven, Tornado, Wheely Big Cheese, Wild Thing, X-Terminator

Round 1

• Chaos 2 vs X-Terminator: Chaos 2 won
• Diotoir vs Wheely Big Cheese: Wheely Big Cheese won
• Panic Attack vs Firestorm 3: Firestorm 3 won
• Hypno-Disc vs Behemoth: Behemoth won
• Wild Thing vs Dominator 2: Wild Thing won
• Tornado vs 3 Stegs 2 Heaven: Tornado won
• Razer vs Gemini: Razer won
• Pussycat vs Stinger: Pussycat won

Quarter Finals

• Wheely Big Cheese vs Chaos 2: Chaos 2 won
• Firestorm 3 vs Wild Thing: Firestorm 3 won
• Razer vs Behemoth: Razer won
• Pussycat vs Tornado: Tornado won

Semi-Finals

• Razer vs Firestorm 3: Razer won
• Chaos 2 vs Tornado: Tornado won

Grand Final

• Razer vs Tornado: Razer won

Tag Team Terror

Main article: Robot Wars Extreme: Series 1/Tag Team Terror

In this tournament, first seen in the Fourth Wars, robots were paired up into teams to fight each other. Only one robot from each team was allowed in the arena at a time and the teams could switch robots by 'tagging' them.

Robot Teams Competing: King B Powerworks & 101, Diotoir & Mega Morg, Comengetorix & Spawn Again, Major Tom & Bigger Brother, Cerberus & Thermidor 2, S.M.I.D.S.Y. & Sumpthing, Napalm 2 & Sir Chromalot, The Steel Avenger & Suicidal Tendencies

Note: Bigger Brother was originally paired up with Plunderbird 5. Major Tom was bought in as a reserve after Plunderbird 5 locked into forward drive upon being activated in the arena entry zone.

Round 1

• King B Powerworks & 101 vs Diotoir & Mega Morg: Diotoir & Mega Morg won
• Comengetorix & Spawn Again vs Major Tom & Bigger Brother: Comengetorix & Spawn Again won
• Cerberus & Thermidor 2 vs S.M.I.D.S.Y. & Sumpthing: Cerberus & Thermidor 2 won
• Napalm 2 & Sir Chromalot vs The Steel Avenger & Suicidal Tendencies: The Steel Avenger & Suicidal Tendencies won

Note: After the first round, Mega Morg broke down and couldn't continue, so Pussycat was brought in as Diotoir's substitute team-mate.

Semi-Finals

• Cerberus & Thermidor 2 vs The Steel Avenger & Suicidal Tendencies: The Steel Avenger & Suicidal Tendencies won
• Diotoir & Pussycat vs Comengetorix & Spawn Again: Diotoir & Pussycat won

Grand Final

• Diotoir & Pussycat vs The Steel Avenger & Suicidal Tendencies: Diotoir & Pussycat won

Mayhem & Annihilators

Mayhem

Main article: Robot Wars Extreme: Series 1/Mayhem

In the Mayhem, three robots fought against one another, with the winners qualifying for an annihilator. The annihilator featured six robots in the arena, with one robot being eliminated in each round until only one was left standing. There were two annihilators in total, and 12 mayhem qualifiers, 6 for each annihilator.

Robots Competing

• First Half: Aggrobot 3, Arnold A. Terminegger, Behemoth, Cataclysmic Variabot, Fluffy, Hypno-Disc, Killertron, Ming 3, Panzer Wraith, Pussycat, S.M.I.D.S.Y., Splinter, Stinger, Sumpthing, Thermidor 2, Wheely Big Cheese, Wild Thing, X-Terminator.

• Second Half: Atomic 2, Bulldog Breed 3, Comengetorix, Diotoir, Disc-O-Inferno, Fighting Torque, Gemini, Judge Shred 2½, King B Powerworks, MouseTrap, Napalm 2, Panic Attack, Shear Khan, Spirit of Knightmare, The Steel Avenger, The Spider, Tornado, Velocirippa.

Note: According to Robot Wars Extreme: The Official Guide, Bigger Brother, Firestorm, Suicidal Tendencies, Mega Morg, 101, 3 Stegs 2 Heaven, Spawn Again, and Plunderbird 5 were considered as potential competitors, although it is unknown whether any of these robots actually applied for the competition itself. It is known that Spawn Again, at least, was never scheduled to take part.

Mayhem

• S.M.I.D.S.Y. vs Pussycat vs Sumpthing: Pussycat won
• Wheely Big Cheese vs Ming 3 vs Hypno-Disc: Hypno-Disc won
• Arnold A. Terminegger vs Fluffy vs Wild Thing: Arnold A. Terminegger won
• Splinter vs Killertron vs Aggrobot 3: Splinter won
• Behemoth vs Stinger vs Thermidor 2: Thermidor 2 won
• X-Terminator vs Panzer Wraith vs Cataclysmic Variabot: X-Terminator won

• Atomic 2 vs Fighting Torque vs MouseTrap: Atomic 2 won
• Panic Attack vs Diotoir vs Shear Khan: Panic Attack won
• King B Powerworks vs The Steel Avenger vs Tornado: The Steel Avenger won
• Napalm 2 vs The Spider vs Gemini: Napalm 2 won
• Bulldog Breed 3 vs Spirit of Knightmare vs Judge Shred 2½: Bulldog Breed 3 won
• Velocirippa vs Disc-O-Inferno vs Comengetorix: Disc-O-Inferno won

Note: After winning their mayhem battles, Atomic 2 and Bulldog Breed 3 were forced to drop out after taking severe damage from Hypno-Disc in another battle. Fighting Torque and Spirit of Knightmare took their respective places in the annihilator.

Annihilator 1

Main article: Robot Wars Extreme: Series 1/Annihilator 1

Robots Competing: Arnold A. Terminegger, Thermidor 2, Pussycat, Splinter, X-Terminator, Hypno-Disc.

• Sixth: Thermidor 2
• Fifth: X-Terminator
• Fourth: Hypno-Disc
• Third: Splinter
• Runner-Up: Arnold A. Terminegger
• Winner: Pussycat

Annihilator 2

Main article: Robot Wars Extreme: Series 1/Annihilator 2

Robots Competing: Panic Attack, Spirit of Knightmare, Fighting Torque, Napalm 2, The Steel Avenger, Disc-O-Inferno

• Sixth: Fighting Torque
• Fifth: Napalm 2

Note: Napalm 2 withdrew from the competition as it was not fully mobile and had suffered serious damage from Round 1.

• Fourth: The Steel Avenger
• Third: Panic Attack

Note: Panic Attack had suffered terrible damage and the team were unable to fix it even within a "filler" battle, so it was forced to withdraw.

• Runner-Up: Spirit of Knightmare
• Winner: Disc-O-Inferno

Minor Competitions

Challenge Belt

Main article: Robot Wars Extreme: Series 1/Challenge Belt

In this competition, Behemoth was given a special "belt". Any robot could fight them for the belt, and whoever won would keep it. In order to win the belt outright, three challenges had to be won.

• Holder: Behemoth
• Challengers (in order of challenge): The Steel Avenger, Stinger, Tornado (eventual holders), Comengetorix, Wild Thing, Chaos 2, Pussycat

Challenges

• Behemoth vs The Steel Avenger: Behemoth won
• Behemoth vs Stinger: Behemoth won
• Behemoth vs Tornado: Tornado won
• Tornado vs Comengetorix: Tornado won
• Tornado vs Wild Thing: Tornado won
• Tornado vs Chaos 2: Tornado won
• Tornado vs Pussycat: Tornado won

Wild Card Warriors

Main article: Robot Wars Extreme: Series 1/Wild Card Warriors

In this series of battles, six new robots were given a taste of life in the war zone by fighting a one-on-one battle against an experienced robot.

Robots Competing

• Veterans: Stinger, Behemoth, King B Powerworks, Dominator 2, Panic Attack, Hypno-Disc
• Newcomers: Ajjay, The Spider, Draven, The Executioner, Axe-Awe, TX-108

Note: Pussycat was originally due to take part in the competition, but was replaced by King B Powerworks at the last minute.

Note: the battle between Hypno-Disc and TX-108 was never televised.

Battles

• Stinger vs Ajjay: Stinger won
• Behemoth vs The Spider: Behemoth won
• King B Powerworks vs Draven: King B Powerworks won
• Dominator 2 vs The Executioner: Dominator 2 won
• Panic Attack vs Axe-Awe: Panic Attack won
• Hypno-Disc vs TX-108: TX-108 won

Vengeance

Main article: Robot Wars Extreme: Series 1/Vengeance

This series of battles featured two robots who had a score to settle fighting each other.

Robots Featured: 101, Bigger Brother, Comengetorix, Diotoir, Firestorm 3, King B Powerworks, Mega Morg, Ming 3, Napalm 2, Panic Attack, Plunderbird 5, Pussycat, Razer, Sir Chromalot, Stinger, Thermidor 2, Tornado, X-Terminator

Battles

• Stinger vs Tornado: Tornado won
• X-Terminator vs Panic Attack : Panic Attack won
• Razer vs Pussycat: Pussycat won
• Diotoir vs Firestorm 3: Firestorm 3 won
• Plunderbird 5 vs Sir Chromalot: Sir Chromalot won
• King B Powerworks vs 101: 101 won
• Ming 3 vs Mega Morg: Ming 3 won
• Plunderbird 5 vs Mega Morg: Plunderbird 5 won
• Bigger Brother vs Comengetorix: Bigger Brother won
• Thermidor 2 vs Napalm 2: Thermidor 2 won

Single Battle Events

Armed Forces Melee

Main article: Robot Wars Extreme: Series 1/Armed Forces Melee

In this battle, robots from the Army, Royal Navy and Royal Air Force (RAF) battled each other in the arena.

Anvil (Royal Air Force) vs Mega-Hurts (Royal Navy) vs Rhino (Army)

Winner: Anvil

Flipper Frenzy

Main article: Robot Wars Extreme: Series 1/Flipper Frenzy

This battle featured all the robots with the best flippers in the arena together.

Wheely Big Cheese vs Thermidor 2 vs Bigger Brother vs Chaos 2

Winner: Thermidor 2

German Melee

Main article: Robot Wars Extreme: Series 1/German Melee

This battle pitted various German robots against each other. The purpose of this was to see which robot would be representing Germany in The Second World Championship.

Flensburger Power vs Nasty Warrior vs Ansgar vs Golem

Winner: Ansgar

House Robot Rebellion

Main article: Robot Wars Extreme: Series 1/House Robot Rebellion

This battle gave contestant robots the chance to take on the house robots.

Plunderbird 5, Stinger & Scorpion vs Dead Metal, Shunt & Matilda

Winner: Stinger (by surviving to the end of the battle)

International Inferno

Main article: Robot Wars Extreme: Series 1/International Inferno

This battle featured robots from the four domestic championship hosting countries across the globe battling each other in the arena.

Flensburger Power (GER) vs Manta (USA) vs MaxiMill (NED) vs Panic Attack (UK)

Winner: Panic Attack

International Mayhem

Main article: Robot Wars Extreme: Series 1/International Mayhem

In this battle, robots from Belgium and the Netherlands teamed up to take on the reigning UK champion.

Chaos 2 (UK) vs Alien Destructor (NED) & Philipper (BEL)

Winner: Chaos 2

UK vs Germany

Main article: Robot Wars Extreme: Series 1/UK vs Germany

In this battle, a robot from the UK took on a competitor from Germany.

Hypno-Disc (UK) vs Nasty Warrior (GER)

Winner: Nasty Warrior

Weight Championships

Antweight

Main article: Robot Wars Extreme: Series 1/Antweight Championship

This battle featured antweight robots (no more than 150g) battling each other in a specially built miniature arena.

Pants vs Little Nipper vs Anty B vs Combatant vs Legion vs Razzler vs Anto

Winner: Combatant

Featherweight

Main article: Robot Wars Extreme: Series 1/Featherweight Championship

This battle featured featherweight robots (no more than 12kg) battling in the main arena.

RC Warrior vs Beef-Cake

Winner: Beef-Cake

Middleweight

Main article: Robot Wars Extreme: Series 1/Middleweight Championship

This battle featured middleweight robots (no more than 54kg) battling in the main arena.

Typhoon vs Zap vs Hard Cheese vs Mammoth vs Genesis vs Doom

Winner: Typhoon

In addition there was slated to be a single-battle lightweight championship, but it was canceled after Team Zap pulled out.

Special Episodes

Forces Special

Main article: Robot Wars Extreme: Series 1/Forces Special

A small tournament dedicated to robots entered by armed forces and emergency services from across the United Kingdom. Robots from the Army, Royal Navy and Royal Air Force (RAF) were joined by robots from the Police, Submarine and Fire Services.

Robots Competing: Anvil (Royal Air Force), Shockwave (Police), Sub-Version (Royal Navy, Submarine Service), Mega-Hurts (Royal Navy), Rhino (Army), Oblark (Fire Service)

Round 1

• Anvil vs Shockwave vs Sub-Version: Shockwave eliminated
• Mega-Hurts vs Oblark vs Rhino: Rhino eliminated

Semi-Finals

• Anvil vs Oblark: Anvil won
• Mega-Hurts vs Sub-Version: Mega-Hurts won

Final

• Anvil vs Mega-Hurts: Anvil won

The Second World Championship

Main article: The Second World Championship

At the end of the series, a special episode was shown featuring the UK broadcast of the Second World Championship. The championship featured 16 robots from around the world competing to become the second world champion.

Robots Competing: Chaos 2 (UK), Manta (USA), Ansgar (Germany), Mastiff (Italy), Firestorm 3 (UK), Drillzilla (USA), NEAT Machine (The Netherlands), Whirlpool 70 (Sweden), Razer (UK), The Revolutionist (USA), Diotoir (Republic of Ireland), Flensburger Power (Germany), Tornado (UK), Panzer Mk2 (USA), Philipper (Belgium), Yeborobo (South Africa).

Heats

• Chaos 2 (UK) vs Manta (USA) vs Mastiff (ITA) vs Ansgar (GER): Manta won
• Whirlpool 70 (SWE) vs Drillzilla (USA) vs NEAT Machine (NED) vs Firestorm 3 (UK): Drillzilla won
• Diotoir (IRE) vs Flensburger Power (GER) vs Razer (UK) vs The Revolutionist (USA): Razer won
• Panzer Mk2 (USA) vs Tornado (UK) vs Philipper (BEL) vs Yeborobo (RSA): Tornado won

Semi-Finals

• Drillzilla (USA) vs Manta (USA): Drillzilla won
• Razer (UK) vs Tornado (UK): Razer won

Final

• Drillzilla (USA) vs Razer (UK): Razer won

Proposed Events

People's Challenge

"This is the chance to witness the ultimate fight - yes, that's right, this time YOU call the shots! The People's Challenge is a series of blistering beat 'em ups, as chosen by subscribers to the Robot Wars website's Back Room. Every battle is bound to be a classic!"

— The People's Challenge event in the original Robot Wars Magazine

Frequently mentioned on the official Robot Wars website alongside media such as the original Robot Wars Magazine and Robot Wars Extreme: The Official Guide, the People's Challenge was one of three additional events known to have been proposed for Extreme 1. The concept was that the robots competing were chosen by viewers and fans, with battle ideas being posted on the official website before a vote was held to determine the most popular suggestions.

According to The Official Guide, this would have allowed the possibility for previously-unseen battles between veteran competitors to take place, such as Chaos 2 against Mortis (though the latter would ultimately not appear in any series beyond Series 4) or Razer against Hypno-Disc. Match-up suggestions would be discussed online and on the show itself, with the most popular or interesting suggestion taking place in the televised competition; the Robot Wars Magazine, however, implied that multiple suggestions would take place as televised battles. An alternative take on the People's Challenge concept was presented on the official website itself, allowing viewers to submit draws for potential head-to-head battles between two competitor robots each from Series 4.

The winning "match-up" was between Hypno-Disc and Razer, but both teams declined, and the event never went ahead.

Exhibition

Robot Wars Magazine detailing Exhibition

A second untelevised event mentioned in the original Robot Wars Magazine, Exhibition would have involved teams demonstrating their robots' capabilities through non-combat challenges. Examples of possible challenges given by the magazine included pulling a Land Rover (which was to have been performed by Tornado) and tipping over a Ford Cortina car.

Pinball

"Got a call from Joe Shaw, the new associate producer at Robot Wars. We are one of 40 existing teams have been provisionally invited to take part in a second series of Robot Wars this year, to be called Robot Wars Extreme. It will feature more pinball, melees, tag teams, annihilators etc."

— Team Tornado diary entry from 3rd April 2001, mentioning a proposed Pinball event

According to correspondence between Team Tornado and then newly-appointed associate producer Joe Shaw, a Pinball event similar to the Series 3 and Series 4 competitions was initially proposed as one of the returning events from prior UK series. This information was first revealed to invited teams as early as April 2001, suggesting that it was included in early plans for Extreme 1 before being dropped closer to filming. Team Tornado themselves publicly confirmed their interest in taking part in this proposed event alongside a hypothetical Sumo competition.

Trivia

Robot Wars Extreme 2001 competitor tags

• All competing teams were given metal tags reading "Robot Wars Extreme 2001 Competitor".
• Official Robot Wars media suggests a very different selection of robots for the Mayhem qualifiers, suggesting these were revised over the course of filming.
  • Robot Wars Extreme: The Official Guide also lists Close Shave as one of the antweight competitors in place of Anty B and Razzler, although Close Shave withdrew after the Antweight Championship was postponed to a different filming day.
• Extreme Series 1 was filmed in two blocks, the first of which took place at Earls Court in July 2001 and the second at Elstree Studios in August and September 2001. Filming for the first block took place alongside the filming of Robot Wars Extreme Warriors: Season 1, and the second block was filmed alongside UK Series 5 and Dutch Series 1.

External Links

• Robot Wars Extreme: Series 1 on Mech+