Robot Wars

Robot Wars was a hit BBC (and later Five) television series produced by Mentorn Plc from 1997 to 2003. The final series was broadcast in 2003/2004 on Five, after the BBC canceled the show after Robot Wars Extreme Series 2. At its peak, the show drew in several million viewers every episode, and was one of the most popular programs broadcast on BBC 2.

The first use of the term Robot Wars actually originates from the USA, where it was a San Fransisco based robot competition from 1994 to 1997. Robot Wars in the USA later evolved into Battlebots, which is still running today.

The UK show ran for nine series, including the two 'Extreme' series. There were additional series filmed for specific sectors of the global market, including two seasons of Robot Wars Extreme Warriors with U.S. competitors for the TNN network (hosted by Mick Foley), and two seasons of Dutch Robot Wars for distribution in the Netherlands.

Robot Wars produced many elements of robot combat that are now common place in the live events that have succeeded it - House Robots, the arena hazards and the term 3-2-1 Activate! all originate from the show.