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
First Aired	October 8, 2001
Last Aired	December 21, 2001
Repeat First	October 26, 2001
Repeat Last	February 15, 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 featured new titles when it was originally broadcast in 2001 on BBC Choice 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.

Between the summer and winter seasons of 2010, Extreme Series 1 was re-run on the British TV channel Dave, amongst rumours of a return for the show. During December 2010, Dave finished repeating Extreme 1, and started broadcasting re-runs of Robot Wars Extreme: Series 2. Dave currently have the rights to both series of Robot Wars Extreme and rerun the series occasionally. Challenge showed repeats of Extreme Series 1 from November 30th to December 18th 2015.

Format

The series consisted of 18 separate competitions and one-off battles, spread over several episodes. Every episode featured 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

• Chaos 2 vs Wheely Big Cheese: 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: Bigger Brother, 3 Stegs to Heaven, Plunderbird 5, Suicidal Tendencies, 101, Mega Morg, Firestorm 3 and Spawn Again were all due to compete, but were forced to withdraw from the tournament for one reason or another. Arnold A. Terminegger, Cataclysmic Variabot, Fluffy, Panzer Wraith, Disc-O-Inferno, Shear Khan, The Spider and Velocirippa fought in their places

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, 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
• Panic Attack vs X-Terminator: 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

Exhibition

Robot Wars Magazine detailing Exhibition

Exhibition was an event showcased in issue 20 of the Robot Wars Magazine. The concept of the event was to challenge roboteers and their claims of what their robots can achieve (such as pulling a Land Rover), by proving such claims are true whilst inside the arena. However, the event was scrapped for unknown reasons.

Single Battle Events

Armed Forces Melee

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

In this battle, robots from the army, navy and RAF battled each other in the arena.

Anvil (RAF) vs Mega-Hurts (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.

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

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

People's Challenge

The People's Challenge was an event to be held in the first series of Robot Wars Extreme. The concept of this event was that the robots competing were chosen by the viewers. Fans would post their ideas for fights on the internet, before a vote was held to determine the most popular. These would then be discussed on the show itself, whereby the most popular or interesting battle would take place.

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

Forces Special

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

In this special episode, robots from the forces were given their own show. Robots from the army, navy and RAF were joined by robots from the police, submarine service and fire service.

Robots Competing: Anvil (RAF), Shockwave (Police), Sub-Version (Submarine Service), Mega-Hurts (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 Mk 2 (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 Mk 2 (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

Trivia

Robot Wars Extreme 2001 competitor tags

• All competing teams were given metal tags reading "Robot Wars Extreme 2001 Competitor".