ROBOT WARS BBC2, Friday nights
As the autumn TV schedules attack our screens, one programme which is guaranteed to conquer a large audience, especially the young lads, is the fourth series of Robot Wars. Presented until now by Charles Craig and Philippa Forrester, it is one of the rare shows where the amateurs take the limelight of stardom.
If you have never watched it, I should explain the set-up. Small groups of friends or relatives build a remote-controlled robot - usually of the wheeled or tracked variety. These are equipped with various weapons, which can include anything from a circular saw, or a vicious hammer, to a wedge with which to overturn an opponent. During the heats these robots fight one another in single combat in a specially-designed arena, in front of a crowd of baying enthusiasts, until a winner emerges. The arena includes a number of traps and the predatorial house robots like Dead Metal or Sir Killerlot which can turn on either of the competitors if they come in range.
Live event
At present the show has rocketed in popularity with many of the robots and their teams having almost a cult status. During the summer there was a well-attended 'Robot Wars Live Event' in a warehouse complex near St. Albans. Some of the star robots, like 'Plunder-storm' and 'Razer', were on show and the teams available for conversation. Preliminary rounds for the coming TV series took place before audiences of around 700 parents and kids to wild acclaim. The new addition to the house robots, 'Refbot', put in an appearance. There was also an exhibition from the Royal Engineers Bomb Disposal robots, a robotic lawn mower and the presence of not a few folk in their wheelchairs was another reminder of the possible more useful applications for robotics.
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