- "I "discovered" RW in 1995 when a friend of mine brought back a home video he'd made in San Francisco of Marc Thorpe's Robot Wars - there was an event and he'd just gone along. So I thought, this was just about the most interesting, different, exciting thing I'd seen in years and I found out that an American lawyer called Steve Plotnicki had bought the rights from Marc. So I did a deal with him to create a TV show around the idea."
- — Tom Gutteridge summarises his role during Robot Wars
Tom Gutteridge is a British director and producer who founded the production company Mentorn and created Robot Wars for BBC Two in 1995, with the first series airing three years later.
Robot Wars[]
Tom Gutteridge's responsibilities with Robot Wars included the initial proposals and plans for the series, alongside commissioning and paying for the House Robots. He had initially pitched the idea to the Head of Entertainment at Channel 4, using footage from the original US competitions in San Francisco, although he was unsuccessful.
Gutteridge then pitched the show to the BBC, taking then-director of BBC Two Michael Jackson and scheduler Adam McDonald to see The Master, La Machine and Thor in person, American robots that Gutteridge himself had paid to fly over to the UK. Jackson was convinced by the prospect, but left his role a month later and was replaced by Alan Yentob. Due to this, it took until 1998 for Robot Wars to make it to television, where it was eventually picked up by the BBC thanks to the arrival of Mark Thompson, who Gutteridge was already friends with. Jeremy Clarkson and Philippa Forrester were then hired, and production commenced.
In a 2008 blog post, Gutteridge revealed an incident during the filming for The First Wars, which nearly fatally injured then Robot Wars presenter Jeremy Clarkson[1]. The incident occurred when the saw of Dead Metal came loose and hurled itself through the air, finding itself lodged inches away from the presenter.
- "Suddenly a circular metal blade (from a robot appropriately called “Dead Metal”) flew into the air at more than 200 miles an hour and embedded itself deep in a solid concrete wall just behind where Jeremy was standing."
- — Gutteridge explains the sawblade incident on his blog
Craig Charles presented the show from Series 2 onwards, though Gutteridge states the incident did not sway Clarkson's mind, and scheduling was the reason behind him not continuing[2].
- "It was nothing to do with the day we nearly beheaded him. It was all about what Jeremy wanted to do next, and Robot Wars wasn't right for him - and his schedule wouldn't fit a bit series."
- — Gutteridge explains Clarkson's departure in a 2012 Q&A
Robot Wars remained under Mentorn until the end of The Seventh Wars, with Gutteridge credited as Executive Producer alongside Stephen Carsey.
Gutteridge also orchestrated the overseas success of Robot Wars, calling it an "international hit". Before landing a deal with TNN to produce Robot Wars: Extreme Warriors, the show was pitched to Discovery to no avail. Comedy Central then approached Gutteridge with the intention of giving the show a comedic twist, which he outright declined.
- "A guy called Bill Hillary was head of the network ... and asked if he could have RW as a comedy show. I said no, it wasn't a comedy. And so we hung out for a better deal from elsewhere."
- — Gutteridge speaks about plans for an American spin-off of his Robot Wars
Outside Robot Wars[]
Mentorn[]
Gutteridge founded Mentorn in 1985, and it has since become the UK's largest independent production company, responsible for long-running shows such as Question Time and Traffic Cops. In more recent years, after Gutteridge's departure, Mentorn have produced several programmes for Sky, including An Idiot Abroad and Fish Town.
Gutteridge sold Mentorn to The Television Corporation plc, moving to the US in 2003 to become CEO of FreeMantleMedia North America Inc, who were the production company behind The Price Is Right and American Idol, but left this position in 2005.
BattleBots[]
Tom Gutteridge with Battlebots creators Greg Munson (right) and Trey Roski (left) in 2019
Gutteridge returned to the US in 2015, and was appointed executive producer for BattleBots on ABC. He has retained that role through the show's transition to Discovery and he is now also in charge of its distribution worldwide. Following a 2021 petition to have BattleBots aired in the UK again, Gutteridge took to Facebook to show his support for the idea.
- "If you get enough signatures, I will personally go marching into the broadcasters' offices in London and not leave until someone has bought the show."
- — Gutteridge shows support for UK airings of BattleBots
With the introduction of the BattleBots: Destruct-A-Thon live show in Las Vegas, Tom Gutteridge served as the show's scriptwriter.
Trivia[]
Gutteridge's Club membership card
- Gutteridge's favourite House Robot was Shunt, due to its reliability and efficiency in moving immobile robots up until the introduction of Shove.
- Gutteridge was a member of the Robot Wars Club and his membership number was 000001, making him the second official member after Marc Thorpe.[3]