The Pits

For the arena hazard fully known as the Pit of Oblivion, see The Pit.

The Pits

The Pits was a designated area in Robot Wars filming venues, where competing teams and roboteers could maintain and prepare their robots for combat, Gauntlet or Trial events. Located adjacent to the main arena, it also featured walkways and entry gates for competitor and House Robots to access the arena when required. Most of the show's behind-the-scenes action (even untelevised moments) took place here, including interviews, repairs and testing.

An area for The Pits was always included in every incarnation of the arena, including the one originally assembled for the 1994-1997 US competitions. It would contain multiple areas serving different purposes for roboteers, the production crew, and even audience members.

Workbenches

The Pits were mostly made up of a large area designated for workbenches where competitors were stationed outside of the arena. Each team had their own workbench assigned to them, even those who failed to qualify, were selected as reserves, withdrew from the main competition, or competed exclusively in side events. The workbenches were used to place the robots on during storage and maintenance, as well as any additional items such as tools and spare components, enabling them to be worked on by their teams in between rounds. Some teams chose to decorate their work areas during the course of their appearances, such as lining them with posters of their robot or other paraphernalia.

Team Power's workbench in Series 3 - note that the workbench is not sectioned off from others

13 Black undergoing safety checks from a Robot Wars Tech Crew member at Series 5

Growler undergoes maintenance in the House Robot Pits area

Panic Attack on its workbench during Series 7

Team Roaming Robots work on Ripper in The Pits during Series 7

Team Ming being interviewed at their workbench in Series 7

Team Make Robotics' workbench in Series 8

Team Titanium work on Big Nipper during Series 10

From Series 1-4, each workbench was merely a worktop; from Extreme 1 and Series 5 onwards, each workbench/work area was sectioned off from others. In Series 8-10, there was a return to the previous layout, with each team being given separate workbenches lit by fluorescent tubes.

These workbenches proved ideal for the teams to have their pre-first round interviews, to introduce and describe their robots, or have a presenter or Pit Reporter interview the team and survey the robot themselves.

In addition to competitors' workbenches, there were also small work areas for the House Robots, which were maintained by the Robot Wars technical crew. The House Robot Pit area (manned by the BBC Visual Effects team in the Classic era, and Robo Challenge in the Revival Series) was typically located at the end of the Pits closest to the arena itself.

Walkways

Alongside the main workbenches, along the perimeter of the Pits, were walkways for members of the audience to walk by to reach their seats. The railings that separated these walkways from the workbenches were low, so the audience could see some of the robots being prepared for battle at a close, but safe distance.

Judge Noel Sharkey issues his briefing to the Extreme 1 Tag Team Terror finalists, filmed in front of the 'tunnel' walkway (Extreme 1, Episode 13)

Separate walkways were also present for competing teams to wheel their robots into the arena, changing appearance in between series. In series filmed between 2001 and 2002 (including Series 5 and Extreme 1), this took the form of an enclosed tunnel with an entrance/exit arch formed by a deconstructed Robot Wars logo. Pre- and post-battle interviews would usually take place at this entrance, along with staged WWE-style conflicts between the roboteers in the case of Extreme 1 and the American series Robot Wars: Extreme Warriors.

"We shot an entryway interview with all the teams for the tag-team finals. They took a couple of takes, and kept asking the builders to make it "beefier". It was real WWF stuff."

— Mark Joerger, recollecting his experiences of Extreme Warriors Season 1 filming

Gabriel 2 and Team Saint receive a 'Guard of Honour' in Series 10, Heat B

Throughout the Revival Series (Series 8-10), an open walkway became one of the main focal points in pre- and post-battle sequences. Footage of teams and their robots making their way to and from battles would be played, often with fellow roboteers - and members of the live audience - watching and cheering them on from either side. A notable instance of walkway footage in this era captured the 'Guard of Honour' received by Gabriel 2 in Series 10, Heat B, following its famous Group Battle performance against Carbide.

Entry Gates

Cassius Chrome is prepared in one of the Entry Gates during Series 7

The Pits also contained openings which lead to the arena, known as entry gates. These again were separated from the walkways for the audience to walk through to reach their seats. The entry gates lead either straight into the arena or to the roboteering team's workbenches. For the first three series, there was just one large entry gate, for all competitor and House Robots to enter.

From Series 4 onwards, there were three different entry gates (often nicknamed bullpens). The left-most (Gate A) and right-most (Gate C) gates were primarily used by competitors to enter and exit the arena in between events, with the middle gate (Gate B) being used exclusively for the House Robots. This was until Series 7, when Gates A, and B were available for all robots to enter.^Citation?

Team MAD pose for Apollo's 'hero shot' in Series 8

For Series 8-10, the entry gates were positioned in the middle of three sides of the arena. As in Series 4-6, two gates were reserved for competitors, the other for House Robots. Access to these parts of the arena - along with the main combat zone - was provided by twin sliding doors integrated into the outer bulletproof glass enclosure. Before each Group Battle in Series 8-9, teams posed with their robots at their designated entry gate, while their robot was being announced and CO₂ jets fired behind them.

As the Series 8-10 entry gates did not extend to the arena corners when raised, it was sometimes possible for competing robots to get trapped within the open spaces, or small components to fly through the gaps into the surrounding Trenches. One example of the latter involved Thor's anti-spinner plate, which reached and bounced off the outer wall after Carbide ripped it off during the Series 8 Grand Final.

Testing Area

Neil Savage in the Series 2 test area with a disassembled Parthian Shot

Raizer Blade in the Series 4 testing area

The back of the Pits contained a small testing area, for roboteers to test their robots and check that they were working properly. This area was available for use by all competitors, but was mostly used by teams who were struggling to get their robots to run, such as Raizer Blade prior to its Series 4 Heat Final, and The Parthian Shot prior to its aborted Gauntlet run in Series 2. The testing area was essentially a large square or rectangular area sectioned off by safety railings; as such, it was located at the far back of the Pits to minimise the risk of potential accidents.

Sabretooth in the testing area during Series 9

The testing area returned for Series 8-10 in the form of a mini arena, complete with a metal floor, inner walls with railings and an outer protective enclosure. The test arena was primarily used by competing robots to perform safety tests before the main competition began, and would also be used by roboteers to test their robots' weapons and drive systems in between battles. A notable example of the latter occurred in Series 9, Heat A, where a previously-damaged Sabretooth was put into it to test its drum weapon before its Head-to-Head battle against Jellyfish. As with the original series, it was located at the back of the Pits complex.

Throughout the Revival Series, the main arena was also used for testing on a case-by-case basis. For example, prior to filming of Series 10, several spinner-wielding robots - such as Apex, Triforce and Tauron - performed tech-checks and weapon tests in the main arena, as their weapons were considered too powerful for the test arena to contain safely. Some, such as Magnetar, would use both arenas for various stages of pre-filming testing.

Exhibition Areas

In later series of the Classic run, exhibition areas would be set up in The Pits for audience members to visit before entering the arena for televised recordings. In most iterations, these areas contained non-functioning replicas of the core House Robots in use throughout Series 3-5, along with the Robot Wars Museum, a collection of props, House Robot components and set pieces from prior series.

Exhibition areas were first documented to have been present at the 2000 Robot Mayhem live event, which served as the official qualifiers for Series 4. These also included static displays from established UK competitors, as well as a chance for visitors to meet and receive autographs from the roboteers who built and entered them. Props seen in the 'Museum' portion varied from time to time. Some of these included the original Judges' table from Series 1-3, retired stock robot Eubank the Mouse, an early prototype for Refbot, framed posters for the original 1994-1997 US competitions run by Marc Thorpe, and the upper balcony of the Series 4 arena façade.

According to the 2002 souvenir programmes for Series 6 and Extreme Series 2, this component was referred to as the Robot Wars Experience, allowing audience members the opportunity to see roboteers maintaining their robots in the main workbench complex. PlayStation 2 and Nintendo console demo kiosks were also present - showcasing the then most-recent video game releases - along with interactive displays, a replica control pod, the Hall of Champions, and performances from costumed entertainers (Primo the Robot and Zane the Android) in the Extreme 2 iteration. Skeletron - Ray Tait's rope-climbing robot from the sister show Techno Games - would perform demonstrations in the Hall of Champions area during the latter series.

Replica of Dead Metal used in exhibition displays

Prototype for Refbot, on display alongside a piece of Sgt. Bash's original armour

The balcony for the Series 4 arena, on display during filming of Extreme 2

Razer on display with a number of its trophies

PlayStation 2 demo kiosks, allowing audience members the chance to play Robot Wars: Arenas of Destruction

Replicas of Shunt and Matilda (along with Eubank the Mouse) on display in Series 7

Trivia

• The Pits complex for Series 4, filmed at Park Street Studios, St Albans, would later be used for Techno Games 2001, which was filmed at the same venue.