Before appearing on UK TV,Robot Warswas first dreamt up over the pond.
The results ended up being less about cleanliness, and more about carnage.
This unexpected turn out made Thorpe realise that radio controlled robot fighting could be a big thing.
The seed ofRobot Warswas planted.
In 1994 Thorpe created the first incarnation of Robot Wars.
During 1997, events took a turn for the worse for Marc Thorpe.
The deal went through, and led to the creation of theRobot Warswe all know.
Thorpe was effectively robbed of his own creation.
He announced his intention to stage his own tournament fearing the cancellation of Robot Wars 98.
This would be called Robotica and would take place on June 26 1998 in San Francisco.
Profile Records won the rights to Robot Wars, but Thorpe would remain involved in some capacity.
Profile Records also attempted to take this down in court, but failed.
The first series ofRobot Warswas a typically low-key test bed for the BBC consisting of only six episodes.
It was overseen by Jeremy Clarkson, who brought with him his familiar acerbic wit and characteristic disdain.
They were impressive, and clearly designed to wow kids and adults alike.
The format of the program was clearly a plan in flux.
The heats consisted of the Gauntlet obstacle course, a trial, and one-on-one knockouts.
This was a simple six-robot melee.
Even at this early stage, the contestant robots were pretty impressive, with some clear highlights.
Charles brought undeniable energy and enthusiasm to the series, a whole league ahead of Clarksons somewhat fed-up performance.
He even managed to work in a fewRed Dwarfreferences.
Charles and Forrester would become the most popular and well-known presenting team, and rightly so.
Sir Killalot was a mammoth robot that towered over all others.
This time there was a semi-final where remaining competitors battled for a place in the final.
The major change in terms of the competition here came with the robots themselves.
The build quality of the robots was getting better, and we saw the first effective flippers.
Previously, weapons were mostly rams and the odd hammer.
Series 2 changed that.
It was amazing to see.
Series 3 was by far the biggest yet, spanning 19 episodes with even more teams competing.
Its known to many as the best robot to never win the title.
Other notable entries included Cassius 2, Firestorm, Pussycat, The Big Cheese, and Killerhurtz.
Mortis also returned, but again didnt perform well.
The fourth wars continued in much the same vein as the previous series.
Philippa Forrester was absent, however, as she was pregnant.
She was replaced for the series by Julia Reed.
The series also featured the returning pinball warrior and sumo trials.
A new house robot was introduced, although not as an antagonist.
In truth, it didnt do much, but it was a nice touch.
Some competitors did little work, though, simply returning with the same machine.
The team was disqualified in the last war as their blade shattered dangerously in the arena during a bout.
This kind of tempered blade was not allowed in the competition.
It beat Pussycat in the final.
The format was more in your face, with competitors often filming WWE-style interviews and taunts to their opponents.
The competition was, as always, even better, with more robots and more innovation.
The final saw the reigning champion, the deadly Razer, who won the fifth wars up against Tornado.
This was simply a large metal skirt around the robot designed to prevent Razer from getting close.
It prevented Razer from putting up any offence.
Fans at the event were not happy at all.
The move to Five brought many new changes, including the announcement of a 20,000 grand prize.
Robots above featherweight now had to sport an active (moving) weapon.
This was a move to prevent boring rambots like Tornado from becoming too prevalent.
Interchangeable equipment also came with caveats.
Teams could no longer change the robots body panels and couldnt add more armour.
This was a blatant response to Tornados infamous win in the last series.
Even the PSI rating of pneumatics and hydraulics were limited.
Some thought this simply neutered robots, but it was all done with a deliberate goal.
Clearly, the organisers wanted audience-pleasing bouts and spectacle, and changed the rules to ensure this would happen.
There were a couple of other changes to the show too.
The format of the actual competition was the same, minus any semi-finals.
The heats went straight to the final.
The Tornado team obviously returned to defend their title.
All three, along with X-terminator made it to the final.
If not for the surrounding cage protecting the audience, there could well have been spectator injuries.
Needless to say, Typhoon 2 won.
The final was between Typhoon 2 and Storm II, and once again was a controversial affair.
This lead to another tough judges decision, and one that the audience really didnt like.
In truth Storm II was by far the better robot of the match, and should have won.
That didnt happen, though, an Typhoon 2 was the last Robot Wars champion.
And that was that.
After seven main wars and two series of Extreme, the story ofRobot Warscame to a close in 2004.
The new hosts of the show are Dara O Briain and Angela Scanlon.
Robot Warsreturns to BBC Two at 8pm on Sunday the 24thof July.
