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Robot Wars back on BBC

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Butts

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Has anyone noticed the trailer on BBC I Player for what I assume is the return of the show to it's spiritual home.

Who can forget it's 1st presenter a certain Mr Clarkson :p

They have beefed up the House Robots threefold by weight in some cases. Matilda, Killalot and the rest are more formidable than ever.

I used to love it when competitors bots used to attack the house bots and vice versa

Any other fans out there ?

ps Craig Charles should have been retained :idea:
 
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SS4

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I shall wait an see. Sometimes reboots serve as reminders as why the original went off the air
 

Harbornite

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I remember this from years back, there were repeats on recently. I didn't know that Jezza had once presented it.
 

cf111

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I loved Robot Wars, it was great fun. It's a shame they couldn't bring back Craig Charles (or indeed Jezza!) to present it but I think Dara O'Briain is a good choice too.
 

Peter Mugridge

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Channel 46 has just spent a couple of months running through the entire previous runs - and my son is now a fan and is eagerly awaiting the new series. He recently went to the Robot Wars touring show in Guildford with my wife on a trip organised by her care agency.

It's already been filmed; all six episodes were filmed in one day at a venue in Glasgow - I know someone whose son went to the filming.

As I understand it, there will be a 2017 series as well, and also 2018 - but in 2018 it will be renamed Extreme Robots - which seems to me to be a bit pointless and confusing.
 

Phil.

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The only thing is - they're not robots. Robots are automatons whereas the machines on "Robot Wars" are radio controlled.
 

JamesRowden

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The only thing is - they're not robots. Robots are automatons whereas the machines on "Robot Wars" are radio controlled.

"Robot" simply means a machine which does the job that a human would otherwise do. Fighting is a job that humans would otherwise do. Therefore they are robots. Also, I expect that autonomous robots would be permitted in Robot Wars so long as they could be instantly turned off by remote control.
 

TheEdge

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Well the trailer looks pretty darn fine! :D

I do wonder if there has been any return of some of the semi-regular competitors of the classic series, like Razer and Chaos. Maybe even the frankly insane Hypnodisc. Or the one that used to be covered in felt and caught fire every time.
 

DarloRich

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This programme is just remote control car racing with added angle grinders.

Not one of these alleged robots has the ability to shape shift, become self aware, time travel, fire a gun or even ride on a Harley Davidson.
 

Butts

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This programme is just remote control car racing with added angle grinders.

Not one of these alleged robots has the ability to shape shift, become self aware, time travel, fire a gun or even ride on a Harley Davidson.

But it's damned good fun when a bot is literally eviscerated :p
 

TheEdge

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Not one of these alleged robots has the ability to shape shift, become self aware, time travel, fire a gun or even ride on a Harley Davidson.

Now, I'm not sure about that.

Sir-Killalot-2.0-767x421.jpg


New Sir Killalot is clearly self aware, look at that face, he is having an existential crisis!

"Why was I built only to destroy?"
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
And confirmation of the whereabout of Sgt Bash. Deployed to Syria to fight ISIS.
 

90sWereBetter

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I'd rather they brought back the Gauntlet and Trials that were used in the first two series. Rather than the show just being an orgy of destruction, these involved skill and concentration. It also meant teams had to build their robots carefully if they wanted to get through them.

I dunno, I rewatched Series 3 and 4 recently, and they weren't as good as I remembered them as a kid. I just hope the new series takes its cues from the early series, and not the joke that was Robot Wars Extreme...
 

Kite159

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I'd rather they brought back the Gauntlet and Trials that were used in the first two series. Rather than the show just being an orgy of destruction, these involved skill and concentration. It also meant teams had to build their robots carefully if they wanted to get through them.

I dunno, I rewatched Series 3 and 4 recently, and they weren't as good as I remembered them as a kid. I just hope the new series takes its cues from the early series, and not the joke that was Robot Wars Extreme...

Agreed there, extra bit of skill to avoid getting grounded on the seesaw
 

HSTEd

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The big thing is that Jonathan Pearce is apparently back.
He made the old series and hopefully he can make the new one.
 

Harbornite

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It's on now!

Also, Angela Scanlon is growing on me, I first saw her on the one show on a feature about robot wars. It's a bonus that she's Irish!
 
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Harbornite

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Agreed. There were some great moments, like when Behemoth flipped one of nut's cluster bot.
 

TheEdge

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I thought it was good, took a while to get going and the 4-way battles need to be filmed better, its a bit hard to follow those.

Moment of episode one was the 16 foot parabolic flight of the cluster bot!

Shows the BBC does know how to refresh a format without ruining it. Cut the fat out and keep the good stuff rather than the Top Gear method...
 

JoeGJ1984

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I thought it was good. I did miss though when a robot was immobilised they allowed the house robots out of their CPZs to destry the robot; a tradition of the original. I suppose that was partly due to the group stage format they used (as the robot then has other battles rather than being out of the competition as in the original which used a knockout format).

One disadvantage the knockout format has is that a competitor can be eliminated after only one bout. they had an opportunity to do something about this with the group format but didn't - a robot can still go out after just one bout so we won;t see any more of Razer). I think the format really lends itself to a knockout tournament but nice to see more bouts with a group stage.

I saw a list of some returning robots and i didn't mention Chaos 2 or Hynodisc so I presume they're not taking part (would have liked to have seen them again).

Personally I think that fighting other robots was always the show's essence rather than the gauntlet and trials of the first two series.
 

richw

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The only thing is - they're not robots. Robots are automatons whereas the machines on "Robot Wars" are radio controlled.

"Robot" simply means a machine which does the job that a human would otherwise do. Fighting is a job that humans would otherwise do. Therefore they are robots. Also, I expect that autonomous robots would be permitted in Robot Wars so long as they could be instantly turned off by remote control.

Having studied Robotics as part of my degree, they meet all three of Asimov's rules of robotics, which are:

1.A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
2.A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
3.A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Laws

The only arguable rule they don't meet is rule 3, if they become immobilised.

Regarding the 1st episode, I enjoyed the "wars" but was rather bored by the ongoing chat!
 

TheKnightWho

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Having studied Robotics as part of my degree, they meet all three of Asimov's rules of robotics, which are:

1.A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
2.A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
3.A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Laws

The only arguable rule they don't meet is rule 3, if they become immobilised.

Regarding the 1st episode, I enjoyed the "wars" but was rather bored by the ongoing chat!

Asimov's rules of robotics are terrible, though, so not really a great system to go by ;)
 

Tracked

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Not one of these alleged robots has the ability to shape shift, become self aware, time travel, fire a gun or even ride on a Harley Davidson.

That's next series.

Just caught up with it, relived a bit of 1998 without the aid of the cheapo student lager I'd have been drinking in 1998, but it was alright. Preferred Craig Charles as presenter though
 

DasLunatic

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That's next series.

Just caught up with it, relived a bit of 1998 without the aid of the cheapo student lager I'd have been drinking in 1998, but it was alright. Preferred Craig Charles as presenter though

So would I, but it probably clashed with filming for Red Dwarf XI and XII...
 
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