Robot Wars (lost near-death footage of Jeremy Clarkson from robot combat game show; 1998): Difference between revisions

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==Background==
==Background==
Best known as being a presenter of the BBC motoring show ''Top Gear'' from 1977-2001, and during its reboot from 2002-2015, Jeremy Clarkson became the host of the first series of ''Robot Wars''. His role as host included opening the show with a written speech, announcing the events the robots would partake in, and interviewing the roboteers post-match. Despite finding the show as "hilarious", he would not return for the following series because of other commitments, mainly ''Top Gear'' and ''Clarkson'', and for not really intending to be involved in a second series. He thus was replaced as host by Craig Charles.<ref>[https://www.grandtournation.com/thegrandtour/watch-jeremy-clarkson-host-robot-wars-back-1998/ ''Grand Tour Nation'' discussing Clarkson's time as host of ''Robot Wars''.] Retrieved 1 Aug '21</ref>
Best known as a presenter of the BBC motoring show ''Top Gear's'' various runs from 1977-2015, Jeremy Clarkson also hosted the first series of ''Robot Wars''. His role as host included opening the show with a written speech, announcing the events the robots would partake in, and interviewing the roboteers post-match. Despite finding the show "hilarious", Clarkson was replaced by Craig Charles for subsequent series due to the former's lack of interest and other commitments.<ref>[https://www.grandtournation.com/thegrandtour/watch-jeremy-clarkson-host-robot-wars-back-1998/ ''Grand Tour Nation'' discussing Clarkson's time as host of ''Robot Wars''.] Retrieved 1 Aug '21</ref>


In a 2012 interview with the ''Robot Wars Wiki'', Mentorn founder Tom Gutteridge revealed that Clarkson had to endure many hours of false starts, mainly because the few robots competing in Series 1 often lacked reliability and required constant fixing for them to compete.<ref>[https://robotwars.fandom.com/wiki/Robot_Wars_Wiki:Tom_Gutteridge_Q_%26_A ''Robot Wars Wiki'' interview with Tom Gutteridge, where Gutteridge explains why Clarkson left after one series, and stating that the incident played no factor in his decision to leave.] Retrieved 1 Aug '21</ref> However, his time on the show almost resulted in his untimely demise. According to a 2008 blog post made by Gutteridge, during day two of filming, Dead Metal, one of the shows House Robots, was cutting into a defeated competitor with his saw. Suddenly, the metal saw suddenly broke away from the House Robot. It flew in the air at over 200mph, before ultimately embedding itself within a concrete wall that was behind where Clarkson was standing.
In a 2012 interview with the ''Robot Wars Wiki'', Mentorn founder Tom Gutteridge revealed that Clarkson was also put off by having to endure many hours of false starts, mainly because the few robots competing in Series 1 were often unreliable and required constant repairs.<ref>[https://robotwars.fandom.com/wiki/Robot_Wars_Wiki:Tom_Gutteridge_Q_%26_A ''Robot Wars Wiki'' interview with Tom Gutteridge, where Gutteridge explains why Clarkson left after one series, and stating that the incident played no factor in his decision to leave.] Retrieved 1 Aug '21</ref> This apparently almost resulted in the erstwhile host's untimely demise. According to a 2008 blog post made by Gutteridge, during day two of filming, Dead Metal, one of the show's House Robots, was cutting into a defeated competitor with his metal saw when it abruptly broke away and flew loose at over 200mph, before ultimately embedding itself within a concrete wall - just behind where Clarkson was standing.


The incident was recorded and analysed in slow motion. The production crew determined that the blade had barely missed Clarkson's scalp by less than two inches. Thus, a change in its trajectory could have resulted in Clarkson being instantly decapitated by the blade. It resulted in the show's recording being put in hiatus for a week so that bulletproof Perspex could be added to the Robot Wars Arena's auditorium, shielding Clarkson from further debris.<ref>[http://www.blogfromthenorth.com/2008/01/blog-post.html ''Blog From The North'', where Gutteridge discussed the incident and confirmed a recording was made of it.] Retrieved 1 Aug '21</ref> As a result, filming resumed with no further safety incidents occurring, with Clarkson fulfilling his host role. Gutteridge claimed in the ''Robot Wars Wiki'' interview that the incident had no influence on Clarkson's decision to leave the show.
The incident was recorded and analysed in slow motion. The production crew determined that the saw blade had missed Clarkson's scalp by less than two inches. A minor change in its trajectory thus could have resulted in Clarkson being instantly decapitated. Filming went on hiatus for a week so that bulletproof Perspex could be added to the Robot Wars Arena's auditorium, shielding Clarkson from further debris.<ref>[http://www.blogfromthenorth.com/2008/01/blog-post.html ''Blog From The North'', where Gutteridge discussed the incident and confirmed a recording was made of it.] Retrieved 1 Aug '21</ref> As a result, filming resumed with no further incident. Gutteridge claimed in the ''Robot Wars Wiki'' interview that the accident had no influence on Clarkson's decision to leave the show.


==Availability==
==Availability==

Revision as of 16:44, 30 October 2021

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This article has been tagged as NSFL due to its discussion of a near-death experience.



Robotwarsjeremyclarkson1.jpg

Jeremy Clarkson as host of Robot Wars

Status: Lost


Robot Wars is a British robot combat game show produced by Mentorn. Broadcast on BBC Two and Channel Five from 1998-2004, and from 2016 to 2017, the premise involved machines built by amateur engineers battling other competitors in combat. Series 1 (also known as The First Wars), had British TV presenter and journalist Jeremy Clarkson as host. During filming for the inaugural series, a robot malfunctioned, which almost resulted in the death of Clarkson.

Background

Best known as a presenter of the BBC motoring show Top Gear's various runs from 1977-2015, Jeremy Clarkson also hosted the first series of Robot Wars. His role as host included opening the show with a written speech, announcing the events the robots would partake in, and interviewing the roboteers post-match. Despite finding the show "hilarious", Clarkson was replaced by Craig Charles for subsequent series due to the former's lack of interest and other commitments.[1]

In a 2012 interview with the Robot Wars Wiki, Mentorn founder Tom Gutteridge revealed that Clarkson was also put off by having to endure many hours of false starts, mainly because the few robots competing in Series 1 were often unreliable and required constant repairs.[2] This apparently almost resulted in the erstwhile host's untimely demise. According to a 2008 blog post made by Gutteridge, during day two of filming, Dead Metal, one of the show's House Robots, was cutting into a defeated competitor with his metal saw when it abruptly broke away and flew loose at over 200mph, before ultimately embedding itself within a concrete wall - just behind where Clarkson was standing.

The incident was recorded and analysed in slow motion. The production crew determined that the saw blade had missed Clarkson's scalp by less than two inches. A minor change in its trajectory thus could have resulted in Clarkson being instantly decapitated. Filming went on hiatus for a week so that bulletproof Perspex could be added to the Robot Wars Arena's auditorium, shielding Clarkson from further debris.[3] As a result, filming resumed with no further incident. Gutteridge claimed in the Robot Wars Wiki interview that the accident had no influence on Clarkson's decision to leave the show.

Availability

As confirmed in Gutteridge's Blog From The North post, a recording of the incident was recorded and viewed by Robot Wars production crew. However, no images or footage of the incident have ever been publicly released. While Mentorn or the BBC may still hold the footage, it is unlikely to ever be available for public viewing, mainly because of its context and for Robot Wars generally distancing itself from Clarkson following Series 1.[4]

Gallery

See Also

References