Robot Wars: The Kick-Off (found BNN robot combat special; 2001)

Logo used for introduction titles of Dutch Robot Wars

Status: Lost

Robot Wars: The Kick-Off was a BNN robot combat special broadcast on Nederland 2 on 24th December, 2001. Its purpose was to promote the upcoming Dutch Robot Wars: Series 1, a spin-off of the British robot combat gameshow Robot Wars.

Background

The special was presented by Rob Kamphues and Bridget Maasland, who would go on to be presenter and pit reporter for Dutch Robot Wars: Series 1 respectively. According to a few Dutch sources, the special featured interviews with various groups and individuals connected to Robot Wars. This included the Dutch competitors themselves, who discussed building their matches, travelling to the United Kingdom, and their expectations for the series. Additional interviews included some UK competitors talking about their machines; Steve Clark, the designer of the Robot Wars Arena; Chris Reynolds, who discusses the House Robots; Bill Hobbins, a producer for the show; Derek Foxwell, the show's senior technical consultant on safety issues; Craig Charles, who was the British show's presenter; and Kamphues himself.

The special also acted as a documentary for the original UK series, discussing its progress and popularity. In addition, the Dutch robots would be examined in more detail, while some behind-the-scenes footage of the show would also be shown, in a similar guise to Robot Wars Revealed. Further, zQcentral.nl claimed other specials were broadcast on 10th and 17th December, although the existence of both remains unconfirmed.

Availability

It is not known if Robot Wars: The Kick-Off was ever re-broadcast, although this might have proven unlikely considering it would serve no useful purpose once Dutch Robot Wars: Series 2 aired. Currently, no footage or images of the special is publicly accessible.

See Also

• 1995 Robot Wars UK Open (partially found rejected robot combat TV show pilot; 1995)
• American Robot Wars 2000 (lost MTV pilot of British robot combat game show; 2000)
• BattleBots (found Comedy Central robot combat game show; 2000-2002)
• BattleBots (lost build of unreleased GameCube/PlayStation 2 game based on robot combat TV series; 2003)
• BattleBots Collegiate Championship (partially lost unaired spinoff of robot combat TV show; 2009)
• Mechanoids (partially found BBC robot combat game show; 2003)
• Plunderbirds: Talk Robots (partially found unfinished robot combat mockumentary film; 2019)
• Robot Wars (found cameos of robot combat-themed BBC 2 ident; 1999-2000)
• Robot Wars (lost footage and HSE documentation of behind-the-scenes accidents of BBC robot combat game show; 1998-1999)
• Robot Wars (lost near-death footage of Jeremy Clarkson from robot combat game show; 1998)
• Robot Wars (lost work on unfinished cartoon series based on robot combat game show; existence unconfirmed; 2002-2004)
• Robot Wars (partially found footage of robot combat show qualifying auditions and battles; 1998-2003)
• Robot Wars (partially found unaired or partially aired battles of BBC robot combat game show; 1998-2017)
• Robot Wars (partially found uncut battles from BBC robot combat game show; 1998-2017)
• Robot Wars Extreme: Series 1 (lost original BBC Choice version of robot combat battle; 2001)
• Robot Wars: Extreme Warriors: Season 1 (found TNN robot combat game show; 2001)
• Robot Wars: Extreme Warriors: Season 2 (partially found behind-the-scenes footage of TNN robot combat game show; 2002)
• Robot Wars Revealed (partially found BBC Choice spin-off of robot combat game show; 1998-2000)
• Robot Wars: Series 8 (lost unaired pilot of BBC robot combat game show; 2016)
• Robotica (found TLC robot combat game show; 2001-2003)
• Robots Revenge (partially found Discovery robot combat documentary series; 2001)
• Why Hypno-Disc can't work in an office (found testing video of Robot Wars competitor; 2000, 2007)

External Link

• Robot Wars Wiki article on Robot Wars: The Kick-Off.