- "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.
- Challenge Belt - Behemoth vs The Steel Avenger
- Mayhem - Hypno-Disc vs Wheely Big Cheese vs Ming 3
- International Inferno
- Vengeance - Razer vs Pussycat
- Armed Forces Melee
- Vengeance - Plunderbird 5 vs Sir Chromalot
- Annihilator 1
- All-Stars - Pussycat vs Stinger
- House Robot Rebellion
- All-Stars - Quarter-Finals
- Flipper Frenzy
- All-Stars - Semi-Finals
- Tag Team Terror - Final
- Annihilator 2
- 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: 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[1].[2]
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
- 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
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.
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.
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 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
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[3]
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 two additional events 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.[4] 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.[5]
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 and tipping over a Ford Cortina car.[6]
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.
References[]
- ↑ Private correspondence between RobotManiac and Darren Hayden-Ball in 2020
- ↑ Robot Wars Extreme: The Official Guide
- ↑ Robot Wars Magazine, Issue 20, p.26
- ↑ Robot Wars Extreme: The Official Guide, p.105
- ↑ http://web.archive.org/web/20010529011110/http://www.robotwars.co.uk:80/challenge.html
- ↑ Robot Wars Magazine, Issue 20, p.27
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