- "Phew! We only just managed to finish this issue in time. Everything in the RWM offices has been going barmy as we get ready to cover the next wars. By the time you read this, we'll be camped out in the studios getting all the news and pics from the Fourth Wars - the new teams, old favourites, presenters, audience - you name 'em, we'll get 'em! ... Oh and if you spot any of us at Robot Mayhem or the filming, make sure you say hello!"
- — Message from The Editors, Page 3
Issue 5 of Robot Wars Magazine was released on 26 July 2000. It contained interviews with new presenter Julia Reed and Team Behemoth, as well as giving a detailed look at Sir Killalot.
Features[]
- Robot Report - The latest Robot Wars news, along with other stories about robots. This month’s top stories; the arrival of Julia Reed as Pit Reporter, upgrades to the House Robots and some of the newcomers appearing in the then-forthcoming Fourth Wars.
- Birth of the Beast: Drilla Killa – The fifth of the Birth of the Beast features, looking at Sir Killalot, with an interview with operator Colin Tilley.
- Team Profile: Attack Of The 50ft Robot – An interview with Team Behemoth.
- Robot Wars Club - News for club members, advertising the then-upcoming Robot Mayhem live event, featuring the Series 4 qualifiers. Also included A to Z of Contestant Robots, Lucky Numbers, Caption Competition and information on how to join with form.
- Exclusive Interview - Killa-Jules - An interview with Julia Reed, the newest Robot Wars Pit Reporter, replacing the pregnant Philippa Forrester.
- Classic Clash - Flipped Disc - A summary of the final battle of The Third Wars, where Chaos 2 triumphed over Hypno-Disc, with photo highlights.
- The Seeds of Doom - An look at the Series Four seeds.
- Brain Scan: Adam Clark – An interview with prolific roboteer and the man in charge of the Robot Wars website, Adam Clark.
- Static - Letters and online messages from fans, puzzles, quiz questions, and a preview of "Next Issue".
Comic[]
The Origin of Shunt – The comic begins at the Verkhoyansk nuclear power plant in Siberia, on New Year's Eve 1989. The water-cooled reactor is running dangerously hot, so two repair robots named Razumikhin and Raskolnikov are sent in to solve the problem. However, Razumikhin stops responding as the staff then loses visual contact with both robots. A fire control robot named NEVA is deployed to investigate what had happened, and the staff are shocked and amazed to see the two repair robots meld together and fuse with the reactor core, creating Shunt. Shunt takes out NEVA with its axe, and the scientists must call for help - to stop a chain reaction that could threaten the world!
In part 2, which takes place the very next day, TARPA is called in to solve the crisis. Adam enters the reactor chamber in a prototype radiation-proof reaction suit. He is shocked to see that the robot is evolving, and can now repair itself through self-replication. The robot tries to shunt Adam into the core, but Adam manages to break off the robot's nuclear rod, powering it down and allowing him to capture it. It is soon discovered that while Shunt got its power from the nuclear core, it had a mutated component that allowed it to self-replicate. Realizing the dangerous potential of this part, it is stored in the Mir space station orbiting the Earth to keep it out of the wrong hands, especially the likes of General McCarthy. Shunt is also taken into TARPA's custody.
Competitions[]
- Game Boy - A competition to win a Game Boy Color and a Joytech GBC Action Pack, containing a carry case, screen magnifier and light, a link cable, battery pack, charger and adaptor. 20 runners-up would receive an Action Pack. The question was "What is the name of the new Robot Wars presenter?", with the answer being Julia Reed.
- Down Boy! 12 Teksta toys were available to win. The question was What was the name of the black and white robot in Series III that looked like a dog?, with the answer being Pitbull.
Subscription Offer[]
A special deal was offered to readers who subscribed - 12 issues for the price of 11.
Posters[]
- Sgt Bash (2 pages)
- Philippa Forrester (1 page)
Free Gift[]
A holographic keyring of one of the House Robots was included with this issue. Five different holographic keyrings were available, one for each House Robot.
Adverts[]
- Walking With Dinosaurs (Page 13)
- The Big Knights video (Page 16)
- FBX Magazine (Page 23)
Gallery[]
Credits[]
- Editor: Mike Collier
- Art: Peter Fickling
- Sub-Editor/Writer - David Hayles
- Designer: Steve Dobson
- Picture Researcher: Emma Peel
- Editorial Assistant: Kelly Austin
- Advertising: Theresa Davies
- Marketing Executive: Marion Slaughter
- Marketing Manager: Helen Northard
- Marketing Assistant: Tessa Gemmel
- Production: Morag Gillet, Jo Beattie, Sarah Howell
- Circulation Manager: Simon Young
- Associate Publisher: Alfie Lewis
- Publisher: Lindsaye Fox
- Editor, Boys' Magazines: Jason Loborik
- Editorial Director, Family Group: Nicky Smith
- Director, Family Group [UK Region]: Gillian Lasker
- Managing Director, BBC Worldwide [UK Region]: Peter Teague
- Contributors: Sarah Armstrong-Prior, Jacques Gunther, John Ross, Alan Craddock, Adam Clark, Bill Hobbins, Davey Moore
- Photography: Chris Capstick, Sharron Price, Richard Open, Mike Collier, David Hayles
- Thanks: Chris Reynolds and Visual Effects crew, Behemoth Boys, Julia Reed, Adam Clark
Errors and Omissions[]
- On Page 25, the alternative spelling for Dreadnaut XP1's name, "Dreadnaut XP-1", is incorrectly spelt "Dreadnought XP-1".
Trivia[]
- The list of seeds was quite different to that seen on the show, but this is not due to mistakes, rather information that wasn't known at the time of writing - Thing 2 would be named "Wild Thing", Blade's Big Bruva and Trident would drop out, "Big Brother 2" would be known as Bigger Brother, Aggrobot would enter as "Aggrobot 2", X-Terminator would become X-Terminator 2, and Plunderstorm would be "Plunderbird 4". Centurion and Suicidal Tendencies are also absent from the list, as they were given last-minute seedings when Blade's Big Bruva and Trident withdrew.
- The two repair robots in the comic, Razumikhin and Raskolnikov, are named after Dimitri Prokofich Razumikhin and Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov, respectively, from Fyodor Dostoyevsky's 1866 novel, Crime and Punishment.
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