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"This is Robot Wars Revealed, where we put on the camouflage, go deep undercover and delve behind the trenches of Robot Wars. We discover what life is like in The Pits, we dig for dirt with the contenders' own video diaries, and come up for air in the arena, to witness revving chainsaws and clashing steel."
— Philippa Forrester's introduction for Episode 9 (Heat I)

Robot Wars Revealed was a spin-off series of the British television game show Robot Wars. It was originally broadcast from 1998 to 1999 on BBC Choice, based on and aired directly after the initial run of The Second Wars.

Presented by Philippa Forrester, the series featured numerous interviews and behind-the-scenes footage of competitor teams taking part in The Second Wars. Much of the footage from The Pits was otherwise not used in the main series, and was accompanied by video diaries of a few selected robots being designed, built and tested ahead of the main competition. Insights into the show's production (e.g. House Robots and preparations for Gauntlet, Trial and Arena events) were also shown, as were segments where Mat Irvine evaluated the technical aspects of robots making it to later stages of each episode.

The above were interspersed with highlights of Gauntlet, Trial and Arena events from the corresponding main episodes. A major difference over the main Series 2 footage was the absence of commentary from Jonathan Pearce, though highlights from The First Wars leave Pearce's commentary intact. In place of commentary, the footage was presented with a natural arena ambience without the extra sound effects heard in the main series, but retaining battle or robot entrance music depending on the clips used.

Almost 22 years after the last episode was known to have been broadcast on BBC Choice, Mech+ announced the addition of the complete series to their streaming service on 6 May 2022. The entirety of Robot Wars Revealed was initially streamed live that evening, with the episodes being added to their On Demand service the following day.[1]

Episode Guide[]

NOTE: Some broadcast dates are taken from the archived BBC Programme Index[2] and do not necessarily reflect the initial airings of certain episodes.

Series No. Episode Series 2 Episode Broadcast date
1 Episode 1 Heat A 6 November 1998
2 Episode 2 Heat B 13 November 1998
3 Episode 3 Heat C 20 November 1998
4 Episode 4 Heat D 27 November 1998
5 Episode 5 Heat E 4 December 1998
6 Episode 6 Heat F 11 December 1998
7 Episode 7 Heat G 23 December 1998[3]
8 Episode 8 Heat H 8 January 1999
9 Episode 9 Heat I 15 January 1999
10 Episode 10 Heat J 22 January 1999
11 Episode 11 Heat K 5 February 1999
12 Episode 12 Heat L 12 February 1999
13 Episode 13 Semi-Final 1 22 January 2000
14 Episode 14 Semi-Final 2 2 September 2000
15 Episode 15 Grand Final Unknown

Availability[]

According to a confirmation letter received by John Denny, Robot Wars Revealed was initially aired on BBC Choice on a Wednesday 5:30pm slot, following on from the corresponding main episodes being shown on BBC Two. Repeats would initially be shown at the same timeslot on Fridays. Highlights of some episodes - such as Episode 7 - are also confirmed to have featured as part of Chill on Choice, a programme highlighting a selection of shows being broadcast by BBC Choice at the time.[3]

"They went out on (the then new) BBC digital TV service [BBC Choice] to entice people into getting digital set top boxes. Thing is- hardly anyone had bought them at that time."
Simon Harrison on the disappearance of Robot Wars Revealed

Until May 2022, most of the series was considered to be lost media, with only two recordings of the spin-off show initially resurfacing online. These recordings were of Episodes 7 and 9 (based on Heat G[4] and Heat I[5] respectively), representing two surviving episodes out of a total of 14, or 15 if the original Chill on Choice listing from the BBC Programme Index archive is counted.[2] The Mech+ airings later reconfirmed that 15 30-minute episodes of the main series were produced, covering the Heats, both Semi-Finals and the Grand Final of Series 2.

The video wall background seen in intros and outros - containing behind-the-scenes and video diary material - was also reused for a number of Craig Charles' presenting segments in The Best of Robot Wars. Unlike Revealed, the one-off special was aired on BBC Two and initially preserved online in its entirety by VHS recordings.[6][7][8] Video diary footage from multiple episodes was also included in the "Summary" section of Robot Wars: The Constructor's Guide, featured on the original UK VHS release of Robot Wars: The First Great War.

Robin Herrick of the Cold Fusion Team was known to have purchased a physical video copy of Episode 4 (based on Heat D) directly from Mentorn. This episode was unusual in that it contained behind-the-scenes material Herrick recorded for Bodyhammer's entry into The First Wars. Herrick referred to the series by the title Robot Wars Uncovered, although it is unknown whether this was an alternative official name used by Mentorn.[9]

"Not many people will have seen Robot Wars Uncovered on BBC Choice (digital) which is a shame because in many ways it's more interesting than the main series. We bought a video from Mentorn of the show we were on. The video diary bits (including a supposed sneak shot of the bare chassis) are from Series 1 - for some reason they didn't use any of the Series 2 material I recorded. You'll probably have to wait for Series 3 to see that!"
— Robin Herrick on the Robot Wars Revealed episode based on Series 2, Heat D[9]

On 4 May 2022, Mech+ released a teaser trailer briefly featuring a digitally-restored Robot Wars Revealed title card, confirming the series' addition to their streaming service on 7 May.[10]

Trivia[]

Philippa Forrester glasses RWR E12

Philippa Forrester in her sign-off from Episode 12; one of the few occasions where she wore glasses in televised episodes

  • In multiple episodes, Mat Irvine referred to the Arena Semi-Finals as the Quarter-Final stages - the only occasions they were referred to as such in official Robot Wars media.
    • Likewise, the Heat Finals were occasionally referred to as the Semis or Semi-Final stage, an example occurring during Irvine's segment on Onslaught in Episode 7.
  • In her intro and outro links for Episodes 10, 11 and 12, Philippa Forrester is seen wearing glasses - the only occasions where she did so in televised Robot Wars media.
  • The outro and Robot Wars Club advertisement for each episode featured the closing titles music from Robot Wars: The First Wars as its backing track.

References[]

External Links[]

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