Robot Wars TV Recordings

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Robot Wars is recorded at least once a year, often twice or more. It is held in a huge venue. Recently, it is being filmed at RAF Newton, Bingham, near Nottingham. In the many years since it all begun, it has been filmed in London, Hertforshire, outskirts of London from the docklands to Shepperton and now in its present location of Nottingham.

At the recordings, there will be a shop allowing you to buy any Robot Wars merchandise that you want such as t-shirts, pullbacks, mini bots, radio controlled toys, posters etc. There will probably also be some roboteers selling some of their own products and merchandise. Also at the venue, there will be snack and drinks bars selling burgers, hot dogs, chips and the usual and places to eat. Once you are allowed in, there is usually an exhibition area featuring props and old props from old Robot Wars series as well as replica robots. You will also get the chance to look into the pits, take pictures, meet and talk to some of the roboteers, see some robots up close and get autographs from the roboteers.

When you go into the arena, you are given a seat. Then, sit back and enjoy the experience! Photography is strictly prohibited in the arena and mobile phones must be switched off at all times. Watch battles, live and as it happens, up close, smelling the burning rubber and hearing the metal roar and crumple out of shape. Between battles, you will be entertained, get to show your banners, be asked questions to win prizes, there may be banner prizes, you will watch old battles on the screens above the arena and also you will have to do famous chants such as "3 2 1 Activate", "Pit Pit Pit", "Drop Drop Drop", "Flip Flip Flip", "Burn Burn Burn" and so on to get you warmed up for the next battle. Once the arena has been set up for the next battle, arena hazards and house robots activated, the battle will commence. After the battle, Craig Charles will usually do his bit and interview the teams.

It is a great, unforgettable experience for the whole family to enjoy. You will also see how the programme is put together and you will see, first hand, behind the scenes and how it is all made.

Above: The giant disused RAF aircraft hangar where they have filmed the several previous series of Robot Wars, including the Sixth Wars (in July 2002), Extreme 2 (October 2002) and the Seventh Wars (August 2003). The giant opening in it is where you enter as well as where roboteers enter go get to the pits. Outside is the place where audience members enjoy their food before it is time to enter.

The tent outside the hangar which houses the Robot Wars Shop. Go here to get anything Robot Wars related. Message to the dads: Take caution when bringing your kids into the shop, you may go home broke!!!

This is the roboteer's entrance. You can see some of their cars, where they are unloading their robots and bringing them into the pits. In the opening, you can see some of the pits and some of the audience members trying to get a glimpse.

Enjoy this page where I have described some recording experiences I have recently been to.

Click on the below links to quickly go to one of the Robot Wars recordings that I have been to:

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Robot Wars Extreme Warriors

In January 2002, they filmed the American series of Robot Wars, Extreme Warriors Series 2. It was filmed at Shepperton Studios, Shepperton, West London. There were many battles. The house robots were also there. So now I know how they make the TV show. I saw the flipper, the flame pit, the pit and all that. I saw how they controlled that (there are some blokes around the corner of the arena pressing a load of buttons making all the arena weapons work), I also saw the house roboteers coming out and activating and deactivating the house robots. Then they went into their secret cupboard and controlled the house robots. I saw all the camera men and all the crew who make Robot Wars possible for the TV. The camera kept on panning across the audience watching us all cheer when we were told to and holding up banners showing them off to the camera. I made a banner saying Robots Rule. It was always a wonderful atmosphere. It was a noisy show and it was just so exciting to see Robot Wars up close and in real life. I know how they make it now and it is just a wonderful feeling. Because it was the American series, we were all given American flags to wave and they had an American presenter (Mike Foley) from WWF. It was a great day out (I know I keep saying it but it was). Between battles, they had lots of safety procedures. Everything was done slowly and safely. The house robots were deactivated safely and then the arena was cleared before the next robots came out to fight. While all this was going on (and it did take a while because robots back stage broke down frequently before the next fight and they had to be quickly repaired before loading them on to the arena which took lots of time) we had games, competitions and quizzes with prizes as entertainment. It was ACE! Before we went into the main studio, we had a chance to walk through the pits seeing all the robots being repaired and there was also a small museum and exhibition with robots and robot pieces on display. There were many replicas of the house robots, some contestant robots were on display, the pinball stuff was there and also the Razer team was there signing autographs and giving away things. It was the perfect day out and I can't wait for the next recording! Anyway, I wasn't allowed to take pictures in the pits or the studio but I was in the exhibition area so here are two of the pictures I took on this day.

Top Picture: In the exhibition area, a replica of Matilda and also the real contestant robots: Panic Attack and Bigger Brother. You can also see the mouse robot under the table. The House Mouse was the house robot used only for the pilot episode of Robot Wars and was never shown in the full TV show. Bottom Picture: A replica of the house robot Dead Metal. To the right of him, you can see the barrels from pinball.

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Robot Wars Extreme Series 2

In October 2002 they recorded the second series of Robot Wars Extreme Series 2 and I was there to see all of the action.

It was filmed in a big disused aircraft hangar (RAF Newton) in Bingham near Nottingham.

Above is a picture of RAF Newton where they filmed Robot Wars Extreme Series 2 and the Sixth Wars.

First I went into the little exhibition area they have there. There were robots on display that weren't in the recording. There was also Teddybot on display which was used for the Live Event which Sir K trashed up. There were other robots on display and parts from the pinball arena like the multi-ball release, the car gate, the big ball, barrels and lots of other things on display. There were also big screens showing the DVD of Sir K and the House Robots Archive Footage. I also bought a foam Sir K claw from the shop so I could hold it up when in the arena and also I bought a bit of the old arena floor. When they refurbished the arena, they cut up the old arena floor into small square tiles which I bought. All the oil staines and track marks from previous battling robots are still clearly visible on the arena floor.

Above is a picture of the small exhibition area with items on display.

After that bit of excitement, I went into the main exhibition hall where there were house robot replicas on display, big posters of the house robots on display, other pinball related items like the swinging spiky pendulum and I could also see into the pits. There were roboteers signing autographs and I got a few (Panic Attack, Razer, Tornado and Bigger Brother) to sign my arena floor tile. I saw robots up close and I even saw Philippa Forrester (one of my highlights of the day) in the pits interviewing some roboteers. Unfortunately I didn't get to talk to her but I did get a chance to talk to some other roboteers. They were busy filming in the pits.

Above are pictures of the exhibition area. just look at those crowds! You can also see pictures of robots and robots on display with roboteers signing autographs.

Above is a picture of Razer in the exhibition. Vincent Blood is there signing autographs and selling Razer posters. Behind him is the pits.

Above shows the pits. You can see all the roboteers' stuff including flags for international tournaments. I have drawn a red circle around Razer to bring it out so you know where it is in the picture and can see it and also to prove that I have been no more than three metres away from this wonderful and famous machine!

Also in the exhibition area, they had a bit of the stage used for Series 4 where Craig Charles stood on display and I went up there and pretended to be Craig Charles!

Then it was time to go into the arena.

Unfortunately I wasn't allowed to take any photographs in the arena.

In the arena, I got to see all the robots up close including the house robots, I also saw behind the scenes of Robot Wars and how they make it, I saw the cameras (and hopefully I got on to TV when waving up my banner and shouting Pit Pit Pit because the cameras were panning across the audience quite often), I saw all the arena effects such as the flame pits, the pit, the Drop-Zone etc. and I also saw them clearing up the arena between each battle such as sweeping up debris into a bin, resetting the pit for the next battle, activating and deactivating the house robots, fixing the arena side wall, moving immobilised robots from the arena and even fixing the doors of the arena (because Refbot accidentally reversed into one of the doors at top speed and completely smashed it up which needed repairing!).

Between each battle (because there was more than 30 minutes between each battle while they got the arena set up for the next round and sorted out the competitor robots in the pits) there were entertainments from two entertainers who did quizzes, competitions and gave away prizes. They also talked to the judges asking them questions and got the audience to do lots of shouting and chants such as "3 2 1 ACTIVATE", "Pit Pit Pit", "Burn Burn Burn", "Judges, you decide", "1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 OUT" and lots of cheering and shouting "YES and YEAH" and hopefully I got on to camera when the audience was being filmed doing all these crazy things for the TV.

Other entertainments included singing "Who let the bots out, who, who, who, who?" and "1 2 3 4 I declare a Robot War" and they even got us to do a Mexican wave which was good fun between battles may be for the television as cameras were always filming and moving about.

Often there were quite big gaps between battles because there were lots of technical faults with some of the newer and more unreliable robots with less experience who kept breaking down back stage and needed repairing before the next battle which kept holding battles up. The house roboteers got a bit bored too because all their house robots were working perfectly! I did see Dead Metal chase Refbot around the arena a few times and gradually sneaking behind him hoping to catch him between battles. Dead Metal got a red card and I also think Refbot should get a red card because remember he smashed the arena door earlier when pushing a robot off the arena!

It was great to see it all live and all the action for real. I saw all the house robots and Growler just shocked me. The power of Growler is phenomenal as he stormed across the arena doing 360^o skid turns and chasing all the robots, it was all excellent. I also got to touch Sir K's claw! I also saw Mr P being dressed up to look like a French man for some reason. Everything looks bigger than it does in real life! Dead Metal was creating sparks and Sir Killalot was having fun playing with the debris on the arena floor caused by the drop zone which was great fun to watch seeing this oven and parts of a Rover car falling to the floor crushing the robot beneath and then Growler pushed the the remains into the pit!

And now, I will tell you about the battles I saw. The first was between Razer and Pulverisor and of course Razer won as he completely punctured them and crushed their opposition. The next battle was a Minor Meltdown which is aimed at the young roboteers who drove the robots such as Joe and Ellie Watts from the Bigger Brother team. Bigger Brother won and they also had time to take on Growler! Not wise! Well done Bigger Brother! After that battle, Shunt and Dead Metal came on replacing Sir K and Growler on the arena. The next battle was a middle weight competition. They filmed the shots they use for the statistics shots and they filmed the house robots and then it was "3 2 1 ACTIVATE" as robots got smashed up in the arena. Dead Metal created loads of sparks and Shunt pushed the robots against the arena side wall, axed and then flipped them. It was great to see! The judges had to decide on that one. Then there was another middle weight battle and another minor meltdown battle with lots more action and robots beating each other up. The house robots were up to there usual tricks too.

After those battles, Craig came on doing his usual talking after the battle summing up the score and who won from the previous battle and confirming any judges decisions.

Then there was the entertainments and then the next battle with more house robots and more contestant robots. Excellent!!

Then that was it and off I went on the long journey all the way home very tired and lacking a lot of energy with all that shouting and cheering I did when I was there!

Above is a picture of the pits. At the bottom right of the picture, you can see the Razer team fixing their robot. They are wearing red T-Shirts. On the left of the picture, you can see the crew filming in the pits. I have drawn a red circle around Philippa Forrester to prove that I have actually been there and seen her in real life and that she has been in the same room as me!

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Robot Wars Seventh Wars Recording

The Seventh Wars was recorded at RAF Newton in August 2003 and I was there to witness all the fun and action in the arena.

This has definitely been the best recording I have ever been to and one of the best 3 hours of my life! It was packed full of action! We got there a little early so we had time in the shop and outside eating our snacks. Then it was time to go in. There wasn't a big exhibition this time, there were only a few replicas of the house robots and props used in the pinball competition on display. Also in this area was roboteers selling their merchandise and here I got a chance to look into the pits, take some pictures, talk to some roboteers, see some robots up close, get some autographs from the roboteers and I even saw some glimpses of Jayne Middlemiss, the lovely new presenter for Robot Wars. I took some pictures of her but unfortunately they haven't come out very well as she was on the other side of the pits. I couldn't talk to her either because she was on the opposite side of the pits, being filmed while interviewing some roboteers. A small glimpse and then she was gone! Now, I can say I have been in the same room as the Queen of Robot Wars!

There wasn't much time in the pits area until it was time to go into the arena. The show went very quickly, battles were every 10 minutes, unlike the previous recordings I have been to so there wasn't much time for between battle entertainments but there was some like last time. The battles were action packed and some of the most destructive I have ever seen. These battles were superb because all the battles we saw were heat finals so the winners were semi-finalists so they were top quality robots fighting! This meant that they were very advanced and reliable robots which meant more carnage and less time waiting for the next battle because robots in this recording didn't break down unlike last time. Stuart, the director introduced the robots, the roboteers, got us to cheer while the camera filmed the action in the arena and it was all metal mayhem! I saw some of the best robots ever built fight! It was a brilliant atmosphere too! It went so quickly too and it didn't seem long until it was all over and I went home with withdrawal symptoms and I just can't wait for the next recording!

As I said, all the battles we saw (except for one) were heat finals so they were top quality 'bots fighting. Craig also did his links in between battles, interviewing the teams and then his sign off poem. There was a bit of time between some battles where Craig showed off his comedy style while he was doing some adverts for the Australian channel showing Robot Wars, Fox Kids where he made some promotional material for this saying things to the camera such as, "There is an evil lurking in our midst, it's Robot Wars on Fox Kids" and things like that. He told some jokes, pulled faces and the way he did things was very funny and made us all laugh no matter how many times he did it or pulled the same funny face! Great fun!

I won't reveal much but I will say some of the battles I saw. I saw a qualifier for the World Championship with two American robots fighting. Not much happened because one of them was dead just before the battle activated and Craig said, "They came all the way from the USA for that!"

I also saw Firestorm Vs Ripper (Ripper was a fantastic 'bot, apparently taking out two house robots earlier that day) and this battle was flipping fantastic! I also saw one robot everyone must really watch out for in the future, Typhoon. I think it is better than Hypno-Disc! It really did whip up a storm against Iron Awe and completely trashed them. This was my favourite robot of the show. They kept on hitting the poor defenseless opponent causing maximum damage, ripping up armour panels, sides and completely battered the robot which had to go home in several plastic bags! It was sheer carnage. Then the drop zone dropped an oven. Typhoon then chopped this into two pieces! Each time the two robots came together, sparks flew and the robots flew apart leaving carnage and debris in their paths. Iron Awe was eventually immobilised but Typhoon say that they have some "secret parts" which stopped their robot becoming immobilised!

I also saw SMIDSY, Storm 2, Atomic and Steel Avenger battling during the event and there were lots of damage caused in these. Another two robots I saw battling were Robochicken and Tough as Nails. Robochicken has really been improved this year and can give out some good flips!

During the show I saw, I saw one judges decision, one robot go into the pit, one robot being counted out by Refbot, one robot being crushed by an oven on the drop zone and three robots being flipped right out of the arena smashing into the bullet proof shielding protecting the audience from flying debris!

It was a great day out and I can't wait for the next recording!

Here are some pictures I took on the day:

Giant crowds of people flood the place looking into the pits and queuing up to go into the arena for the start of the next show.

Before you go into the arena for the show, you have time to gaze into the pits, get autographs, see robots etc. Above is a photo of one robot I saw in the pits being prepared for its next battle by one of the team members. It is Behemoth.

Kat 3 is the pits awaiting its next battle. Notice the safety cover over the sharp point on the axe. I wouldn't want to trip over and fall on that if it wasn't covered up! Weapons have to be protected so we don't get nasty injuries in the pits. Safety always comes first on Robot Wars!

Thermidor 2, the lobster robot with some safety bars over the flipper.

Tornado, Sixth Wars grand champion. Can they go all the way this year?

The famous Second Wars champions, the yellow bot, Panic Attack with its fork lifts.

Replica house robots: Shunt and Matilda as well as Mouse Bot which was used in the pilot episode of Robot Wars, never shown on TV before. Also, there are many other props used in past series of Robot Wars, mainly used in the pinball competition.

This picture shows the first area the audience goes through before entering the arena. There wasn't much of an exhibition, unlike all the previous recording I have been to, there were only some house robot replicas and items used in the pinball. There were lots of giant posters hanging from the ceiling of the house robots and the seeds. This area gave you a great chance to have a good look into the pits, see robots, meet roboteers, get their autographs etc.

I saw a few glimpses of Jayne Middlemiss being filmed with a camera crew while interviewing some roboteers. Unfortunately, she was on the other side of the pits so I couldn't talk to her or anything and the pictures I did take didn't come out very well because she was too far away. You can see the camera crew and Jayne interviewing the teams. Team Mute is on the right side of the picture with their robot.

Here, I have drawn a red circle around Jayne so you can easily see her in the above picture which didn't come out too well.

Replica Sir Killalot is surrounded by old Robot Wars memorabilia including items used in the pinball tournament such as the barrels, the car gate, tyres which went around targets that robots had to hit to score points etc. 

Panic Attack and Robochicken in the pits.

This shot shows all the exhibition material on display at the Seventh Wars recording which includes many items used in the pinball tournament (car gate, tyres, barrels, big ball etc.) as well as replicas of some of the house robots: Matilda, Sgt Bash, Sir Killalot and Shunt.

Above four pictures: The Pits! These pictures show you what the pits look like. You can see many tables where robots are placed and repaired. You can also see many of the robots in the pits and some roboteers.

The Pits can be seen in the far end of the picture. In the foreground, you can see many fans waiting to be told to enter the arena. This mass crowd stretched a long way in both directions!

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