Team Big Cheese

Team Big Cheese
Team Big Cheese in Extreme 1
Participation Information
UK Series	2-5, Extreme 1
Team Information
Team Members	Roger Plant John McGugan (Series 3-5, Extreme 1) Paul Otten (Series 3-4) Murray Wharf (Series 5, Extreme 1)
Home Town	Langport, Somerset

Team Big Cheese was a relatively successful team from Langport, Somerset, that competed in Series 2-5 of Robot Wars and the first series of Robot Wars Extreme.

The Team

Roger Plant, controlling The Mule independently in Series 2

The team was founded by Roger Plant, who served as captain and initially entered Series 2 on his own. Plant is a very experienced engineer and a retired RAF serviceman, having travelled the world and worked with deep-sea explosives during his career. He remained captain throughout Team Big Cheese's appearances, being later joined by John McGugan for Series 3-5 and Extreme 1, and Paul Otten for Series 3-4. Otten left the team before Extreme 1/Series 5, and was replaced by Murray Wharf for those series.

Team Big Cheese competed with three robots, all of which were heavyweights:

• The Mule, which reached the Heat Final and won the 'Best Engineered' award in Series 2.
• The Big Cheese, a large wedge-shaped robot with a lifting arm, which again reached the Heat Final in Series 3 and was nominated for the 'Best Engineered' award in the same series.
• Wheely Big Cheese, the team's most successful robot, reaching the Semi-Finals in Series 4-5, and notable for its exceptionally large pneumatic flipper.

Team Big Cheese are also notable for holding the record for the highest and furthest out of the arena flip in Robot Wars history, with Wheely Big Cheese throwing Axe-Awe out from the middle of the arena in Heat H of Series 5.

Robots

• The Mule
• The Big Cheese
• Wheely Big Cheese (Series 4)
• Wheely Big Cheese (Series 5/Extreme 1)

1/4

Name	Weight Class	Series
The Mule	Heavyweight	Series 2
The Big Cheese	Heavyweight	Series 3
Wheely Big Cheese	Heavyweight	Series 4-5, Extreme 1

Wins/Losses

• Wins: 10
• Losses: 8

Series Record

• The Mule with Roger Plant and the Best Engineered award.
• Team Big Cheese with The Big Cheese.
• Wheely Big Cheese and The Mule on display at Welsh ComicCon, 2014.
• Wheely Big Cheese and Glitterbomb at Wales Comic Con, 2016.

1/4

Main Series	Team Big Cheese Series Record
The First Wars	Did not enter
The Second Wars	Heat Final with The Mule
The Third Wars	Heat Final with The Big Cheese
The Fourth Wars	Semi-Final, Round 1 with Wheely Big Cheese
The Fifth Wars	Semi-Final, Round 1 with Wheely Big Cheese
The Sixth Wars	Did not enter
The Seventh Wars	Did not enter
Series 8	Did not enter
Series 9	Did not enter
Series 10	Did not enter
Robot Wars Extreme	Appearances
Series 1	Entered with Wheely Big Cheese
Series 2	Did not enter

Outside Robot Wars

The Series 4 model of Wheely Big Cheese after being sold to Team Hydra

Team Big Cheese did not compete after Series 5, with Robot Wars: The Ultimate Guide suggesting that the team lacked the funds required to enter and maintain their robots. After initially attending several live events with Wheely Big Cheese, Roger Plant sold all of the team's machines shortly after Robot Wars finished its initial run. The Series 5 model of Wheely Big Cheese was bought by Team Xbotz, while the Series 4 model, after having a series of new owners, was eventually bought by Team Hydra in September 2008. Team Hydra has since been in the process of rebuilding the Series 4 Wheely Big Cheese into fighting condition. As of 2016, the Series 5 Wheely Big Cheese continues to appear at events as a static display, notably Wales Comic Con.

The Big Cheese and Small Cheese in 2013

Meanwhile, The Mule was sold on eBay to a currently unknown buyer, as was The Big Cheese. The latter was sold for £500, but has since been sold to Joseph Prophet, again across eBay, for only £50. Prophet has since rebuilt The Big Cheese, and has formed Team ThunderCheese, which took The Big Cheese to Robot Wars live events as a display model. Prophet built a new featherweight called Small Cheese, which also competed at those live events. The Mule, meanwhile, continues to appear at events as a static exhibit, its most recent appearance being at the 2014 Wales Comic Con, where it was displayed alongside Wheely Big Cheese.

Trivia

• Team Big Cheese are one of three competitors (along with Killertron and Atomic) to lose to the eventual UK Champion in the Heat Final of one series and go on to reach the Semi-Finals in a subsequent series. This happened with The Big Cheese's loss to Chaos 2 in Series 3 and Wheely Big Cheese's subsequent runs to the Semi-Finals of Series 4-5.