Jeremy Clarkson presented the first series, before being replaced by Craig Charles for the rest of the original run, with co-hosting duties taken by Philippa Forrester (1998–2000, 2002–2003), Julia Reed (2000–2001) and Jayne Middlemiss (2003–2004).

The revival aired three series and five specials on BBC Two from 11 July 2016 to 7 January 2018, presented by Dara Ó Briain and Angela Scanlon.

The series received six million viewers in the UK during its peak in the late 1990s, and the format went on to become a worldwide success which has aired in 45 countries.

[3] Robot Wars was the brainchild of Marc Thorpe, a designer working for the LucasToys division of Lucasfilm.

[4] In 1992, Thorpe had the initial idea for robot combat sport after unsuccessfully attempting to create a radio-controlled vacuum cleaner.

[5] In 1994, Marc Thorpe created Robot Wars and held the first competition at the Fort Mason Center in San Francisco.

[citation needed] Gutteridge and one of his producers Steve Carsey created a television format based on the Robot Wars concept.

However, it was not until 1998 that a subsequent Controller of BBC Two, Mark Thompson, fulfilled Jackson's promise and actually commissioned 6 episodes.

[citation needed] The three person judging panel consisted of Noel Sharkey (head judge on every series: 1998–2003, 2016–), Eric Dickinson (1998), Adam Harper (1998–99), Martin Smith (1999–2003), Myra Wilson (2000–01), Mat Irvine (2001–03), Sethu Vijayakumar (2016–) and Lucy Rogers (2016–).

[citation needed] Viewing figures dropped significantly in the early 2000s, reaching only 1.2 million in the sixth series - the final to be broadcast on BBC Two.

[10] After Robot Wars ended, an edited half-hour version of this series aired on Fox Kids (later Jetix) from 2004, on Bravo from after 2004, on Dave from 2010 and on Challenge & Sky History from before 2016.

[11] The revived series was hosted by Dara Ó Briain and Angela Scanlon with Jonathan Pearce returning as commentator.

[15] A second rebooted series was commissioned with a first celebrity special in 16 years, in which celebrities, such as Olympians Kadeena Cox and Alistair Brownlee and Jonny Brownlee, TV presenters Suzi Perry, Neil Oliver and Maggie Aderin-Pocock, singer Jordan Stevens and radio presenters Scott Mills and Robbie Savage had bespoke robots designed for them by eight major roboteers, who mentored them during the specials.

[17][18] Following the 10th series, it was revealed that the BBC had decided not to renew the show for an 11th, and Robot Wars has been axed for the second time, the complete cancellation was met with backlash from fans.

[23] Charles, well known as playing the character Dave Lister in the science fiction-themed sitcom Red Dwarf,[24] was seen as taking the programme and its contestants more seriously than Clarkson and was more enthusiastic while presenting it.

When the programme moved to Channel 5 for the seventh series, Forrester did not return for unknown reasons, so Jayne Middlemiss took over the pit reporter duties.

These phrases were announced by the director, Stuart McDonald and became a recognisable part of the series for the entire duration of its run.

[28] In 2016, Dara Ó Briain and Angela Scanlon were announced as the hosts of the eighth series, with Jonathan Pearce returning as commentator.

This robot conveyed officiating signals (such as counting out immobile competitors) on the arena, gave occasional nudges to help battles along and could deploy a fire extinguisher where necessary.

[citation needed] For Series 8, new versions of Matilda, Shunt, Dead Metal and Sir Killalot were constructed.

Visually, all four look similar to their predecessors, but with significant differences: Dead Metal's head has been enlarged with glowing eyes, Matilda's back-mounted fins have been replaced with smaller crocodilian scales, spikes appear on her frill, her eyes are now red and her whole head section now flips up; Shunt has enlarged wheel protectors and metal chimneys replacing the smokestack; and Sir Killalot's armour and helmet has been entirely redesigned.

The increasing sophistication of weaponry from contestant robots – most notably demonstrated by Hypno-Disc in Series 3 – as well as arena hazards prompted producers to enclose the arena entirely in a perspex box 20 feet (6.1 m) high from Series 4 onwards, to protect the audience and production team from debris.

There were also pullback and ripcord toys of the Series 3, 4, 5, 6, Extreme 1 and Extreme 2 Competitor Robots, with the exception of Apollo, Behemoth, Carbide, Eruption, Kronic the Wedgehog, Mute, Road Block, Storm 2 and Typhoon 2 as Hexbug took over from Logistix Kids which are Chaos 2, Dantomkia, Firestorm, Hypno-Disc, Panic Attack, Pussycat, Razer, Stinger, Tornado, Wheely Big Cheese and X-Terminator 2.

[citation needed] There were customisable kit toys of the House Robot Matilda and competitors Hypno-Disc and Panic Attack.

The range included all of the Series 3, 4, 5 and Extreme 1 House Robots along with competitor robots Chaos 2, Dominator 2, Firestorm, Gemini, Hypno-Disc, Mega Morg, Panic Attack, Plunderbird 5, Pussycat, Razer, Suicidal Tendencies, Tornado, Wheely Big Cheese, Wild Thing and X-Terminator 2.

Along the same lines an "Ultimate Archive Collection" was released showing exclusive footage of the House Robots and their operators along with some of their greatest battles and most embarrassing moments.

The Complete Compendium 2017 contained Series 9 and 10, along with the "Battle of the Stars" specials, were released on 11 December 2017 as a 5-disc DVD box set.

Items available included mugs, glasses, mobile phone covers, toiletries, stationery, clocks, watches, bedding, curtains and clothing.